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    Diatom Ooze: Ooze Clues

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    Johann Trujillo
    The document discusses different types of seafloor sediments called oozes. There are two main types - calcareous ooze, made up of the shells of organisms like foraminifera, and siliceous ooze, made up of the remains of diatoms and radiolaria. Calcareous ooze is the most common biogenous sediment globally. However, below a depth of around 5km called the carbonate compensation depth, calcium carbonate dissolves faster than it can accumulate. The document instructs students to predict locations of oozes using maps, then compare their predictions to actual sediment distribution maps showing calcareous and siliceous oozes are found.

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    Diatom Ooze: Ooze Clues

    Uploaded by

    Johann Trujillo
    23 views5 pages
    The document discusses different types of seafloor sediments called oozes. There are two main types - calcareous ooze, made up of the shells of organisms like foraminifera, and siliceous ooze, made up of the remains of diatoms and radiolaria. Calcareous ooze is the most common biogenous sediment globally. However, below a depth of around 5km called the carbonate compensation depth, calcium carbonate dissolves faster than it can accumulate. The document instructs students to predict locations of oozes using maps, then compare their predictions to actual sediment distribution maps showing calcareous and siliceous oozes are found.

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    Sediment_Activity

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    The document discusses different types of seafloor sediments called oozes. There are two main types - calcareous ooze, made up of the shells of organisms like foraminifera, and siliceous ooze, made up of the remains of diatoms and radiolaria. Calcareous ooze is the most common biogenous sediment globally. However, below a depth of around 5km called the carbonate compensation depth, calcium carbonate dissolves faster than it can accumulate. The document instructs students to predict locations of oozes using maps, then compare their predictions to actual sediment distribution maps showing calcareous and siliceous oozes are found.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    23 views5 pages

    Diatom Ooze: Ooze Clues

    Uploaded by

    Johann Trujillo
    The document discusses different types of seafloor sediments called oozes. There are two main types - calcareous ooze, made up of the shells of organisms like foraminifera, and siliceous ooze, made up of the remains of diatoms and radiolaria. Calcareous ooze is the most common biogenous sediment globally. However, below a depth of around 5km called the carbonate compensation depth, calcium carbonate dissolves faster than it can accumulate. The document instructs students to predict locations of oozes using maps, then compare their predictions to actual sediment distribution maps showing calcareous and siliceous oozes are found.

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    Diatom Ooze: Ooze Clues

    A Bridge Data Analysis Teaching Activity (www.marine-ed.org/bridge) used with


    permission.
    Written by: Lisa Ayers Lawrence, Virginia Sea Grant, Virginia Institute of Marine
    Science.

    The activity can be found at:


    http://www2.vims.edu/bridge/DATA.cfm?Bridge_Location=archive1103.html
    (Accessed April 2011)

    Grade Level: 9-12


    Lesson Time: 1 hr.
    Materials Required: global map, Sediment Distribution Patterns map
    Natl. Science Standards
    Science as Inquiry
    Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (K-4, 5-8, 9-12)

    Life Sciences
    Populations and ecosystems (5-8)
    Matter, energy, and organization in living systems (9-12)

    Earth and Space Sciences


    Structure of the earth system (5-8)
    Geochemical cycles (9-12)

    Related Resources: Search the following terms Geological


    oceanography,Plankton, Benthos at (www.marine-ed.org/bridge)

    Summary
    Plot the distribution of various oozes using information from sediment maps.

    Objectives
    Describe the characteristics of different types of seafloor sediments and oozes.
    Predict distribution of calcareous and siliceous oozes.
    Compare and discuss locations of sediments and oozes.

    Vocabulary
    Terrigenous, Biogenous, Hydrogenous, Cosmogenous, Calcareous ooze,
    Siliceous ooze, Foraminifera, Diatoms, Radiolaria, Carbonate compensation
    depth
    Introduction
    Just as ocean beaches display a variety of sediment types, the ocean floor may be
    made of sand, rock, remains of living organisms, or other material. The grains and
    particles that make up the seafloor sediments are classified by their size and their
    point of origin. Sediments can come from land (terrigenous), from living organisms
    (biogenous), from chemical reactions in the water column (hydrogenous), and even
    from outer space (cosmogenous).

    Terrigenous sediments dominate the edges of the ocean basins, close to land where
    they originated. As you move deeper into the ocean basins, biogenous sediments
    begin to dominate. Biogenous sediments can consist of waste products or remains of
    organisms, including those of microscopic phytoplankton and zooplankton. When
    skeletal remains of microscopic organisms make up more than 30% of the sediment,
    it is called "ooze."

    There are two types of oozes, calcareous ooze and siliceous ooze. Calcareous ooze,
    the most abundant of all biogenous sediments, comes from organisms whose shells
    (also called tests) are calcium-based, such as those of foraminifera, a type of
    zooplankton. Foraminifera are one of the most abundant types of zooplankton and are
    widely distributed throughout the surface of the world's oceans.

    Siliceous oozes are made up of the remains of diatoms, a microscopic


    phytoplankton, and radiolaria, a microscopic zooplankton. Diatoms are one of the
    most important primary producers in the ocean. Because they are primary producers,
    diatoms are found in nutrient-rich areas of the ocean especially in areas of upwelling
    like the polar seas. As you move from continental shelf to open ocean areas, the
    number of diatoms present decreases. Radiolarians, the other source of siliceous
    ooze, feed on phytoplankton and thus are also more abundant in nutrient-rich water.
    However, radiolaria favor the equatorial upwelling zones as opposed to the polar
    upwelling zones.

    Another factor that affects where biogenous sediments will occur is the depth of the
    ocean floor. Calcium carbonate dissolves readily under pressure and in cold water,
    therefore deeper ocean floors will have less calcareous ooze. At a depth of about 5
    km, the rate of dissolution (how quickly calcium carbonate dissolves) is faster than
    the rate at which calcium shells are raining down from above. This depth is called the
    carbonate compensation depth or CCD.

    Data Activity
    Using what you've learned about the distribution of diatoms, radiolaria and
    foraminifera and about the carbonate compensation depth, predict where you think
    you would find calcareous and siliceous oozes. Mark your predictions on your global
    map.
    Next, look at the General Sediment Distribution Patterns map. This map shows
    the general location of biogenous sediments. Compare your map to the sediment
    distribution map.

    Questions

    Were your predictions close to where calcareous and siliceous oozes actually
    occur?

    How does your map compare with the sediment distribution map?

    Which type of ooze dominates the ocean sediments, calcareous or siliceous?


    Why?

    What parts of the oceans do not have calcareous ooze? What might be some
    reasons for this? (Hint: depth, distribution of organisms)

    Where are large deposits of siliceous diatom ooze? Are these deposits mostly near
    the edges of continents or in the middle of the ocean basins? Why? (Hint: areas of
    upwelling/high nutrient levels)

    Where do you see large deposits of siliceous radiolarian ooze? Why?


    Global Map

    1
    Outline map created from: http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/
    Siliceous-Pelagic sediments are rich in the remains of
    diatoms, silicoflagelattes and radiolaria. They occur
    most commonly below the CCD and in areas around
    the Antarctic and tropical and coastal upwelling zones
    where extremely high production of siliceous
    organisms occurs resulting in great export production
    of siliceous microfossils. Note that there is no such
    area in the GIN Seas or the North Atlantic because the
    diluting effects of large amounts of terrigenous and
    carbonate material in sediment

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