The Entire Ocean Floor Is Covered By Sediments

Ocean basin ocean basin deep sea sediments.

The entire ocean floor is covered by sediments.

Sediment thickness in the oceans. The ocean basin floor is everywhere covered by sediments of different types and origins. Those consisting of material washed from the land into the sea and those comprising the skeletal remains of. Abyssal plain a marks the site where old oceanic lithosphere begins its descent into a subduction zone.

This sediment is composed of clay particles and microskeletons of oceanic organisms that sink slowly through the water column to the ocean floor. The ocean floor is a sort of ultimate collection pan for the entire globe. For many years scientists have studied the ocean s creatures the effects of introducing chemicals to the water and the geologic floor of the world s vast oceans. Plankton is the contributor of oozes.

This is enough to cover the entire ocean floor with 97 500 feet 18 5 miles of sediment. The features of the ocean floor are covered by a layer of sediments the thickness of which depends on the age of the feature the local topography and on the abundance of the sediment sup ply. Terrigenous sediment is the most abundant sediment found on the seafloor followed by biogenous sediment. The only exception are the crests of the spreading centres where new ocean floor has not existed long enough to accumulate a sediment cover.

Some may call this sediment biogenous sediment and this sediment roughly covered 75 of deep seafloor and one of the most important constituents of ocean sediments. Submarine sediments are of two main types. There are two types of oozes. Calcareous oozes and siliceous oozes.

The only exception are the crests of the spreading centres where new ocean floor has not existed long enough to accumulate a sediment cover. The sediment in areas of the ocean floor which is at least 30 biogenous materials is labeled as an ooze. The fact that most of the earth is covered in water has spurred much interest in the world s oceans. Calcareous oozes are.

The sediments that accumulate there come from a variety of sources. An is the vast relatively deep flat sediment covered portion of the deep ocean basin. Sediment thickness in the oceans averages about 450 metres 1 500 feet. Ocean floor sediments sediment on the seafloor originates from a variety of sources including biota from the overlying ocean water eroded material from land transported to the ocean by rivers or wind ash from volcanoes and chemical precipitates derived directly from sea water.