Ooze Formation

Deep ocean sediment containing at least 30% biogenic material is called ooze Oozes are named after the dominant remnant organism constituting them When these organisms die, their shells settle slowly toward the bottom, mix with fine grained terrigenous silts and clays, and accumulate as ooze.

Tend to accumulate at depths above the Carbonate Compensation Depth (CCD) and is generally absent below. Calcareous ooze forms mainly from shells of amoeba-like foraminifera, small drifting mollusks called ptereopods, and tiny algae known as coccolithophores. When conditions are ideal, these organisms generate massive volumes of sediment.

Rate of Formation
Oozes accumulate slowly
Rate: ~ 1-6 cm (1/2 to 2 inches) per thousand years.

Accumulation of any ooze depends on

A delicate balance between the abundance of organisms at the surface The rate at which they dissolve once they reach the bottom The rate of accumulation of terrigenous sediment.

Only a small proportion of calcareous ooze is precipitated inorganically. For the most part, calcareous ooze comprises the fossil hard parts of planktic and benthic single-celled marine organisms whose calcium carbonate skeletons are discarded upon death or reproduction. Generally white to pinkish-white in color Calcareous ooze is distinguished by its main biogenic component into:
foraminiferal ooze (Animal) coccolithophore ooze (Plant) pteropod ooze (Animal)

Foraminiferal Ooze
Contains foraminifera Divided into planktic (floating) and benthic (bottom) foraminifera Inhabit upper few hundred meters and bottom of the world oceans Low number of modern species Vast quantities produce a sediment cover that occupies ~ 1/3 earths surface Utilized to interpret marine sediments

Coccolithophore Ooze
Contains coccolithophorids Belong to marine nanno-phytoplankton (algae) whose cells are covered by calcite platelets Live in all oceans. Species dominance varies by geographical zonation Once dead, coccolithophorids disintegrate into single coccoliths that lastly are preserved as cooze Small in size but occur huge in numbers in the sediment

 Coccolithophores surround themselves with a microscopic plating made of limestone (calcite). These scales, known as coccoliths, are shaped like hubcaps and are only three one-thousandths of a millimeter in diameter.

White Cliffs of Dover

The remains of countless coccolithphores have been compressed and lithified (transformed into stone) to form the impressive White Cliffs of Dover in SE England. Though formed at moderate ocean depth about 100 million years ago, tectonic forces have uplifted Dover's chalk cliffs to their present prominent position.

Pteropod Ooze
Contains pteropods (marine gastropod mollusks adapted to pelagic life that have a foot with wingshaped lobes used as swimming organs) Most species seem to prefer the circum-global tropical and subtropical regions. Distribution limited by water depth, temperature, salinity, oxygen content, and nutrient supply. They form very thin and fragile shells that hardly preserve under biochemical (i.e. dissolution) or physical (i.e. ingestion) attack. For this reason, preservation is mostly restricted to shallow parts of the oceans (i.e., continental shelf, slopes, ridges and rises)

Clio pyramidata

Clione limacina

Deep Sea Sediment Distribution

Worldwide distribution of recent shelf sediments by composition is strongly related to latitude and climate. Calcareous biogenic sediments dominate tropical shelves

Type
Foram. Ooze Pteropod Ooze Diatom Ooze Radiolarian Ooze Red Clay

Composition Calcium Carbonate Calcium Carbonate Silica

Atlantic %
65 2 7

Pacific %
36 0.1 10

Indian %
54 20

Global %
47 0.5 12

Silica
Aluminum Silicate

26

5
49

0.5
25

3
38

Global Distribution
The blue indicates areas of calcareous ooze coverage. (~48% of Seafloor)