Chapter 4 Study Guide: Marine Sediments
1. Define “sediments”:
2. List 4 things that can be learned about the Earth’s history by analyzing marine sediments
a.
b.
c.
d.
3. What type of rock is associated with marine sediments?
4. Sediments are classified by their origin (where they come from). Name 4 sources of sediments.
a.
b.
c.
d.
5. What are the two characteristics that are used to determine the origin of a sediment sample?
a.
b.
6. What two characteristics are used to determine the texture of sediment?
a.
b.
7. List and Describe the four types of sediments.
Sediment type
Description (origin & composition)
4.1 What is Lithogenous Sediment?
8. What is another name for lithogenous sediment?
9. By what process are sediments created from rock?
10. By what two processes is sediment carried from continents to eventually end up on the ocean
floor?
&
11. List 4 ways that sediments can be transported?
a.
b.
c.
d.
12. Where are lithogenous sediments deposited?
a.
b.
Earth’s crust composition
Use the graph to answer the following questions 13 & 14.
13. What is the most abundant element in the Earth’s crust?
14. What is the second most abundant element?
15. What mineral is the most abundant in the Earth’s crust?
16. Lithogenous sediments differ in grain size. List the following in order from smallest to largest.
Sand
Clay

Cobbles

Boulder
Silt
Granule


Pebbles

Smallest

Largest
17. Which sediments above would be classified as “gravel”?
18. What is the relationship between the size of the sediment and the rate at which it will settle?
19. Differentiate between neritic and pelagic deposits.
20. Fill out the table with descriptions of each type of lithogenous deposits.
Lithogenous (Neritic)
Beach deposits
Continental Shelf
deposits
Turbidite deposits
Glacial deposits
Lithogenous (Pelagic)
Abyssal clay
4.2 What is Biogenous Sediment?
1. If you were to pick up a handful of biogenous sediment, list 3 things that you would possibly see.
a.
b.
c.
2. The two types of biogenous sediment are
or
3. Shells of microscopic organisms such as diatoms are called
.
.
4. In order for a sediment to be classified as an “ooze”, it needs to contain at least
biogenous material.
% of
5. The two main type of organisms that make up biogenous sediment are
.
and
6. Fill out the table with the information about the two most common minerals of biogenous sediment.
Mineral Name
& Chemical formula
Elements
Biological source
7. For each organism, indicate whether it is photosynthetic (P) or heterotropic (H)
diatoms
foraminifers
coccolithophores
radiolarians
8. Biogenous sediment is one of the most common pelagic deposit. Briefly describe the 3 processes
that determine the distribution of this type of sediment.
Productivity
Destruction
Dilution
9. Why are biological oozes more common in pelagic areas and uncommon in the neritic area of the
continental margins?
10. Fill out the table with descriptions of each type of biogenous deposits
Biogenous (Neritic)
Carbonate deposits
Stromatolites
Biogenous (Pelagic)
Siliceous Ooze
Calcareous Ooze
11. As calcium carbonate tests sink they begin to dissolve at an increasing rate. This is referred to
as the
.
12. What is meant by the CCD?
13. What happens to calcite below the CCD?
14. What is the average depth of the CCD?
15. Identify A – F in the diagram below.
A
B
C
D
E
F
16. How is it that even below the CCD, some calcareous ooze still exists?
17. Indicate whether each of the following is associated with a siliceous (S) or calcareous (C) ooze.
Warm surface water temp
Dissolves below CCD
Upwellings of nutrients
Sea-floor near equator
Associated with mid-ocean ridges
Low latitudes
High latitiudes
Cool surface water temp
4.3 What is Hydrogenous Sediment?
1. What is the origin of hydrogenous sediment?
2. What does the word “dissolved” mean?
3. Define “precipitate” (not the meteorological meaning):
4. List some changes that may occur to cause minerals to precipitate.
a.
b.
c.
5. A common type of hydrogenous sediment are
.
6. Manganese nodules contain other elements such as
,
, and
. (You need to read the WHOLE section)
,
7. The size of these nodules range from
cm to
cm.
8. Accessory metals found in manganese nodules can be extracted and used to make
a.
b.
c.
d.
9. This resource was first discovered in
by the
10. The rate at which manganese nodules form is
one with a diameter of 5 centimeters, took
11. Another type hydrogenous sediment is
that is less than
meters deep.
.
mm every
years to form.
years, so
, which is usually found in water
12. Concentrations of phosphorus are high in shallow coastal waters due to high
activity.
13. Carbonate compounds are another common hydrogenous sediment. Two of the most common
type of carbonate minerals are
and
.
14. In addition to having a biological origin, carbonate can also precipitate to form
crystals.
15. Additionally, small hydrogenous deposits of calcite called
.
16. Hydrothermal vents are a source of deposits of
.
17. Some metals that are associated with hydrothermal deposits are
,
and
.
,
18. Salts are an example of hydrogenous sediments called
.
19. The most common mineral salt in the ocean is
and
.
,
, but other mineral salts include
4.4 What is Cosmogenous Sediment?
1. The origin of cosmogenous sediment is
.
2. The two main types of cosmogenous sediments are
and
.
3. What is the main difference between these two types of cosmogenous sediment?
4. Spherules are thought to be molten from outer space called
5. Spherules contain the mineral
and
.
but some also have elements such as
.
6. Of all the cosmogenous sediment that enters Earth’s atmosphere...what percentage actually
reaches the surface of the Earth?
%
7.
are examples of macroscopic cosmogenous sediment and are very rare.
8. Chondrites are meteorites made up of
and
.
, while irons are meteorites made up of
Read Box 4.3 on pages 118 and 119 and answer the following questions.
9. What is the K-T boundary?
10. What major biological event does the discovery of the K-T boundary help explain?
11. What element is found in the K-T boundary that is theorized to be cosmogenous?
12. Where do scientists believe the crater of the meteor impact is located?
4.5 What Mixtures of Sediment Exist?
1. Of the four types of sediments found in the ocean, which two are most commonly found as a
mixture?
&
2. Look at Figure 4.8d on page 110. This picture shows that
contain a small percentage of
ooze material.
oozes can
3. Which lithogenous sediment is found in just about every type of sediment?
Why?
4. By definition, an ooze should contain
% of biogenous material, the remaining
typically
sediment.
5. The two types of sediments that are typically found in smaller quantities are
and
.
Use the map on page 121 to answer the following questions.
1. What type of sediment is found close to the shorelines of the continents?
2. Both diatoms and radiolarians both make up siliceous ooze. What do you notice about the
distribution of radiolarian oozes and diatomaceous oozes?
3. What type of sediment is most common in the Pacific?
Atlantic?
% is