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Sea Floor Sediments

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What are the different types of seafloor sediments, and what are the factors that control the distribution of each major sea sediment type? Where does each major seafloor sediment type tend to accumulate in greatest quantity (i.e., discuss the distribution of these sediments)?

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Solution Summary

Identify seafloor types, how they are developed and distributed. Discussion is conducted of where and why the greatest accumulation of each type.

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The deep-sea floor receives a continuous supply, but slow accumulation of sediment. The layers of the sea floor varie in thickness with the age of the oceanic crust. Oceanographers can then study the rate accumulation, the distribution of sediments, their sources and abundance, to record history.

There are three kinds of sea floor sediment: terrigenous, pelagic, and hydrogenous. Terrigenous sediment is developed from land and deposited on the continental shelf, continental rise, and abyssal plain. It is contoured by strong currents along the continental rise. Clay from this sediment accumulates very slowly at rates that are generally less than ...

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