The Sea Floor

E.
Seibold
W. H. Berger
The Sea Floor

An Introduction to Marine Geology
Second, Revised and Updated Edition
With 209 Figures and 9 Tables
Springer- Verlag
Berlin Heidelberg GmbH
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Eugen Seibold

Geologisches Institut
Universitt Freiburg
D-79104 Freiburg
Prof. Wolfgang H. Berger, Ph. D.
Scripps Institution of Ocenaography
Geological Research Division
La Jolla, California 92093, USA
Cover photo:
A new kind of deep sea benthos. Pogonophore-like tubeworms, severa! feet long, and a host of
other creatures crowd around the hot vents of the Galpagos spreading center. "Rose Garden"
vent site, Alvin Dive 984. (Photo courtesy R. Hessler, S.I.O.)
ISBN 978-3-662-22521-9 ISBN 978-3-662-22519-6 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-22519-6
Th1s work is subject to copyright. AII rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the
material is concerned, specifically the rights of translations, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting. reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data
banks. Duplication of th1s publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of
the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and perrnission for
use must always be obtamed from Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH.
Yiolations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyrigt Law.
Springer-Yerlag Berlin Heidelbcrg 1993
Originally published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York in 1993

Softcover reprint of the hardcover 2nd edition 1993
The use of general descriptive names, reg1stered names, trademarks, etc. in this pubhcation
does not imply. even in the abscnce of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protect1ve laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
32/3 145-5 4 3 2 1 O
Pnnted on acid-free paper
Preface
Man's understanding of how this planet is put together and how it

evolved has changed radically during the last 30 years. This great
revolution in geology - now usually subsumed under the concept of
Plate Tectonics - brought the realization that convection within the
Earth is responsible for the origin of today's ocean basins and continents, and that the grand features of the Earth's surface are the product
of ongoing large-scale horizontal motions. Some of these notions were
put forward earlier in this century (by A. Wegener, in 1912, and by
A. Holmes, in 1929), but most of the new ideas were an outgrowth of
the study of the ocean floor after World War II. In its impact on the
earth sciences, the plate tectonics revolution is comparable to the
upheaval wrought by the ideas of Charles Darwin (1809-1882),
which started the intense discussion on the evolution of the biospere
that has recently heated up again. Darwin drew his inspiration from
observations on island life made during the voyage of the Beagle
(1831-1836), and his work gave strong impetus to the first global
oceanographic expedition, the voyage of HMS Challenger (18721876). Ever since, oceanographic research has been intimately associated with fundamental advances in the knowledge of Earth. This
should come as no surprise. After all, our planet's surface is mostly
ocean.
This book is the result of our conviction that to study introductory
geology and oceanography and environmental sciences, one needs a
summary of the tectonics and morphology of the sea floor, of the
geologic processes active in the deep sea and in shelf seas, and of the
climatic record in deep-sea sediments.
Our aim is to give a brief survey of these topics. We have endeavored to write for all who might be interested in the subject, including
those with but little background in the natural sciences. The decade of
the 1980s was characterized by an increasing awareness of man's dependency on natural resources, including the ocean as a weather machine, a waste bin, and a source of energy and minerals. This trend, we
believe, will persist as resources become ever more scarce and as the
impact of human activities on natural cycles escalates in the coming
decades. An important part of this awareness will be an appreciation
VI
Preface
for the elementary facts and concepts of marine geology, especially as

they apply to processes within hydrosphere and atmosphere.
In what follows, we shall first give a brief overview of the effects
of endogenic forces on the morphology of the sea floor. Several excellent summaries for the general reader are available for this topic,
which is closely linked to the theory of continental drift, and has been
a focus of geologic discussion for the last three decades. For the rest,
we shall emphasize the exogenic processes, which determine the
physical, chemical, and biological environment on the sea floor, and
which are especially relevant to the intelligent use of the ocean and to
an understanding of its role in the evolution of climate and life.
The results and ideas we report on are the product of the arduous
labors of many dedicated marine geologists. We introduce some particularly distinguished scientists by portrait (Fig. 0.1). Of course, there
are many more, and most of them are alive today. We have occasionally mentioned the authors of important contributions. However, we
did not find it possible in a book like this to give credit systematically
where it is due. We sincerely apologize to our colleagues for this
unscholarly attitude, citing necessity in defense. For those who wish to
pursue the subjects discussed in greater depth, we append suggested
readings at the end of each chapter, as well as a list of key references.
For this second edition, we have extensively rewritten those parts of
the first edition where substantial and fundamental progress has occurred in the fields of interest. Also, we have incorporated many of the
suggestions for improvements that were communicated to us by several colleagues and reviewers. There are, however, limitations to the
scope of subjects that can be treated in a short introduction such as
this: we attempted neither a balanced nor an encyclopedic survey of all
of marine geology with its many ramifications. We tried to keep highly
technical information to a minimum, relegating certain necessary details to the Appendix.
Both authors wish to express their profound gratitude to collaborators and students who, over the years, have shared the excitement of
discovery and the toil of research on numerous expeditions and in the
laboratory. We also owe special thanks to the colleagues who helped
us put this book together, by sending reprints and figures, or by offering advice.
Freiburg and La Jolla, Spring 1993
E. Seibold
W H. Berger
Contents
Introduction .......................................... .
1
Origin and Morphology of Ocean Basins. . . . . . . . . . . ..
1.1 The Depth of the Sea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2 Endogenic Processes .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
1.3 Exogenic Processes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
1.4 Morphology of the Mid-Ocean Ridge. . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . ..
1.5 Morphology of the Trenches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
1.6 Fracture Zones and Plate Tectonics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
1.7 Seamounts, Island Chains, and Hot Spots. . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
1.8 Evidence for Sea-Floor Spreading: the Magnetic Stripes. ..
1.9 Open Tasks and Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
15
15
16
20
21
25
28
29
32
36
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.10
2.11
Origin and Morphology of Ocean Margins.. . . . . .. . ..

General Features of Continental Margins . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Margins Are Sediment Traps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Atlantic-Type (= Passive) Margins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Unsolved Questions in the Study of Passive Margins. . . ..
Pacific-Type (= Active) Margins. . ... .. .... .. . ... .. . ..
Shear Margins and Complex Margins. .. . . .. .. . . . . . . . ..
The Shelf Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
The Shelf Break.. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. .. . . .. . . . ..
Continental Slope and Continental Rise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Submarine Canyons. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. .. . . . . . . . ..
Deep-Sea Fans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
41
41
44
45
51
51
54
55
56
57
60
66
3
3.1
3.2
Sources and Composition of Marine Sediments. . . . . . ..

The Sediment Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Sources of Sediment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
3.2.1 River Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
3.2.2 Glacier Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
3.2.3 Input from Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
69
69
69
69
71
71
VIII
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
4
4.1
4.2
4.3
5
5.1
Contents
3.2.4 Volcanic Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sediments and Seawater Composition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
3.3.1 Acid-Base Titration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3.2 Interstitial Water and Diagenesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3.3 Residence Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Major Sediment Types. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . .
Lithogenous Sediments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.1 Grain Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2 Sand....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.3 Silt-sized Sediment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.4 Clay-sized Sediment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Biogenous Sediments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.6.1 Types of Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.6.2 Benthic Organisms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.6.3 Planktonic Organisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nonskeletal Carbonates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.7.1 Carbonate Saturation. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.7.2 The Bahamas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.7.3 Dolomite...................................
Hydrogenous Sediments. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . .
3.8.1 Marine Evaporites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.8.2 Phosphorites....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.8.3 Iron Compounds. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .
Sedimentation Rates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
72
73
73
75
77
77
78
78
80
80
82
82
82
83
84
85
85
86
88
89
89
90
90
92
Effects of Waves and Currents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Sediment Transport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.1.1 Role of Grain Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.1.2 Role of Velocity. .. .. .. .. .... .. .. . ... .. .... .. 99
4.1.3 Role of Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 101
Effects of Waves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 102
4.2.1 Waves and Offshore Sediment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 102
4.2.2 Beach Processes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 103
Effects of Currents .................................. 111
4.3.1 Surface Currents .............................. 111
4.3.2 Current Markers ............................. 114
4.3.3 Upwelling .................................. 118
4.3.4 Deep Ocean Currents and Benthic Storms. . . . . . .. 120
4.3.5 Exchange Currents. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 124
4.3.6 Turbidity Currents. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 125
Sea Level Processes and Effects of Sea Level Change. .. 127
Importance of Sea Level Positions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 127
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
Contents
IX
Sea Level Processes and Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

5.2.1 Wave Action ................................
5.2.2 Tides and Stonn Action: the Intertidal Zone . . . . ..
5.2.3 Photosynthesis.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Coastal Morphology and the Recent Rise in Sea Level. . ..
5.3.1 General Effects of Recent Sea Level Rise. . . . . . ..
5.3.2 River Mouths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
5.3.3 Lagoons and Barriers .........................
5.3.4 Mangrove Swamps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Ice-Driven Sea Level Fluctuations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
5.4.1 The Wtinn Low Stand ........................
5.4.2 Pleistocene Fluctuations ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
5.4.3 Effects on Reef Growth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Tectonically Driven Sea Level Fluctuations. . . . . . . . . . . ..
5.5.1 Sea Level and Sediment Bodies ................
5.5.2 Reconstruction of Sea Level Changes. . . . . . . . . ..
5.5.3 The Causes of Change ........................
5.5.4 Geologic Aspects ............................
Sea Level and the Fate of Venice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
5.6.1 Venice Is Sinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
5.6.2 What are the Causes for the Subsidence? . . . . . . ..
5.6.3 What Can Be Done About It? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
129
129
132
134
135
135
138
140
141
143
143
144
145
147
147
147
149
151
152
152
152
155
Productivity and Benthic Organisms - Distribution,

Activity, and Environmental Reconstruction. . . . . . . . ..
The Ocean Habitat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
6.1.1 Diversity of Organisms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
6.1.2 Productivity and Supply of Organic Matter. . . . . ..
6.1.3 Sunlight and Nutrients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
6.1.4 Salinity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
6.1.5 Temperatures... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
6.1.6 Oxygen.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Benthic Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
6.2.1 Types .....................................
6.2.2 Food and Substrate ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Organisms and Rocky Substrate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Sandy Substrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Muddy Bottom Substrate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Trails and Burrows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
6.6.1 Trace Fossils. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
6.6.2 Lebensspuren........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
6.6.3 Preservation.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Bioturbation......................................
6.7.1 Effects of Mixing ............................
157
157
157
157
161
162
162
165
166
166
167
168
171
172
175
175
176
177
177
177
6.8
6.9
7
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6
7.7
8
8.1
Contents
6.7.2 Mixing Model .............................. 179

Limits of Paleoecologic Reconstruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 180
"Hot Vent" and "Cold Seep" Communities. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 182
Imprint of Climatic Zonation on Marine Sediments. . ..
Overall Zonation and Main Factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
7.1.1 The Zones ..................................
7.1.2 Temperature and Fertility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Biogeographic Climate Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
7.2.1 Paleotemperature from Transfer Methods ........
7.2.2 Transfer Equations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
7.2.3 Application of Transfer Methods:
Climatic Transgression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
7.2.4 Limitations of the Transfer Method .............
Diversity and Shell Chemistry as Climatic Indicators .....
7.3.1 Diversity Gradients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
7.3.2 Oxygen Isotopes ............................
7.3.3 Carbon Isotopes .............................
7.3.4 Other Chemical Markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Coral Reefs, Markers of Tropical Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
7.4.1 Global Distribution .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
7.4.2 Reef Building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
7.4.3 Atolls........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Geologic Climate Indicators .........................
7.5.1 Chemical Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
7.5.2 Physical Geologic Indicators ...................
Climatic Clues from Restricted Seas ...................
7.6.1 Salinity Distributions and Exchange Patterns ......
7.6.2 The Baltic As Humid Model of a Marginal Sea . ..
7.6.3 Conditions of Stagnation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
7.6.4 The Persian/Arabian Gulf As Arid Model
of a Marginal Sea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
7.6.5 Application to Large Ocean Basins . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Global Change: The Problem of Detection ..............
7.7.1 An Unusual Decade ..........................
7.7.2 Santa Barbara Basin ..........................
7.7.3 EI Nino ....................................
7.7.4 The Coral Record ............................
7.7.5 Global Change: The Role of Marine Geology .....
185
185
185
185
188
188
189
190
191
191
191
192
193
194
194
194
195
196
199
199
199
201
201
203
205
206
207
208
208
209
210
211
211
Deep-Sea Sediments - Patterns, Processes,

and Stratigraphic Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 215
Background ....................................... 215
8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5
8.6
8.7
9
9.1
9.2
9.3
Contents
XI
Inventory and Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

8.2.1 Sediment Types and Patterns ...................
8.2.2 Biogenous Sediments Dominate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.2.3 Sedimentation Rates .........................
8.2.4 Thickness of Deep-Sea Sediments ..............
The Pelagic Rain...................................
8.3.1 Importance of Fecal Transport .................
8.3.2 Flux of Organic Matter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.3.3 Seasonality of Flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
"Red Clay" and Clay Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.4.1 Origin of "Red Clay": the Questions . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.4.2 Composition of "Red Clay" ...................
8.4.3 Distribution of Clay Minerals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Calcareous Ooze. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.5.1 Depth Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.5.2 Dissolution Patterns in the Deep Sea. . . . . . . . . . ..
8.5.3 Peterson's Level and the Lysocline ..............
8.5.4 Dissolution Patterns near Continents . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.5.5 Why is there a CCD? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.5.6 A Global Experiment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Siliceous Ooze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.6.1 Composition and Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.6.2 Controlling Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.6.3 Geochemical Implications .....................
8.6.4 Deep-Sea Cherts .............................
Stratigraphy and Dating .............................
8.7.1 General Considerations .......................
8.7.2 Aspects of Biostratigraphy ....................
8.7.3 Magnetostratigraphy..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
8.7.4 Chemostratigraphy ...........................
8.7.5 Cyclostratigraphy ............................
215
215
216
217
219
220
220
220
220
222
222
222
224
225
225
226
226
228
229
229
231
231
231
233
234
236
236
236
238
239
240
Paleoceanography - The Deep-Sea Record. . . . . . . . . . ..

Background.......................................
The Ice Age Ocean .................................
9.2.1 Why an Ice Age? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
9.2.2 Conditions in a Cold Ocean ...................
9.2.3 The 18 K Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
9.2.4 Pulsed Deglaciation ..........................
The Pleistocene Cycles ..............................
9.3.1 The Evidence ...............................
9.3.2 The Carbonate Cycles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
9.3.3 The Faunal (and Floral) Cycles .................
9.3.4 Oxygen Isotope Cycles .......................
241
241
242
242
243
244
246
247
247
247
249
249
XII
Contents
9.3.5 Milankovitch Cycles and Dating ................

9.3.6 A Change in Tune ...........................
The Carbon Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
9.4.1 A Major Discovery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
9.4.2 Paleoproductivity ............................
9.4.3 The Long-Range View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Tertiary Oceans: The Cooling Planet. ..................
9.5.1 Trends and Events: Oxygen Isotopes ............
9.5.2 The Great Partitioning ........................
9.5.3 The Grand Asymmetries ......................
9.5.4 The Onset of the (Northern) Ice Age ............
9.5.5 The Mid-Miocene Cooling Step ................
9.5.6 The End-of-Eocene Cooling ...................
The Cretaceous!fertiary Boundary ....................
9.6.1 The Evidence for Sudden Extinction ............
9.6.2 The Causes of Extinction .....................
Plate Stratigraphy and CCD Fluctuations ...............
9.7.1 Backtracking and CCD Reconstruction ..........
9.7.2 Atlantic and Pacific CCD Fluctuations ...........
9.7.3 Possible Causes of CCD Fluctuations ...........
Cretaceous Oceans: a Question of Oxygenation. . . . . . . . ..
9.8.1 A "Stagnant" Ocean? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
9.8.2 Modem Analogs ............................
9.8.3 Oxygen in a Warm Ocean. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
9.8.4 Milankovitch in the Cretaceous? ...............
9.8.5 "Anoxic Events" and Volcanism ................
251
253
253
253
254
257
257
257
259
260
261
262
264
265
265
265
266
266
269
270
270
270
271
272
273
273
10 Resources from the Ocean Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

10.1 Types of Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.2 Petroleum Beneath the Sea Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.2.1 Economic Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.2.2 Origin of Petroleum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.2.3 Where Offshore Oil Is Found. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.2.4 Present Oil Exploration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.3 Raw Materials from Shelves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.3.1 Phosphorites ................................
10.3.2 Shell Deposits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.3.3 Placer Deposits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.3.4 Sand and Gravel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.4 Heavy Metals on the Deep-Sea Floor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.4.1 Importance of Manganese Deposits. . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.4.2 Nature of Manganese Deposits .................
10.4.3 Origin of Manganese Nodules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.4.4 Ores from Spreading Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.4.5 Red Sea Ore Deposits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
277
277
277
277
279
280
283
285
285
287
287
288
289
289
291
292
294
297
9.4
9.5
9.6
9.7
9.8
Contents
10.5 Waste Disposal and Pollution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

10.5.1 A Change in Pace ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.5.2 Sewage and Sludge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.5.3 Oil Spills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.5.4 Chronic Hydrocarbon Pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.5.5 Radioactive Pollution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
10.5.6 Assessment of Risk ..........................
XIII
298
298
298
300
300
300
302
Epilog ................................................ 303

List of Books and Symposia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 307
Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Al Conversion Between Common US Units and Metric Units.
A2 Topographic Statistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
A3 The Geologic Time Scale ............................
A4 Common Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
A5 Grain Size Classification for Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
A6 Common Rock Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
A7 Geochemical Statistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
A8 Radio-Isotopes and Dating ...........................
A9 Systematic Overview for Major Groups of Common
Marine Organisms Important in Sea floor Processes. . . . ..
315
315
316
317
318
319
320
322
323
327
Index of Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 333

Subject Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 339
Introduction
Pioneers of Marine Geology: Identifying the Basic Questions

Marine geology is a young offshoot of geology, a branch of science which begins
with James Hutton (1726-1797) and his Theory of the Earth (Edinburgh, 1795).
Among other things, Hutton studied marine rocks on land. Changes of sea level
("encroachment of the ocean", and "the placing of materials accumulated at the
bottom of the sea in the atmosphere above the surface of the sea") was a central tenet
of his "Theory". Thus, the question of what happens at the bottom of the sea was
raised at the beginning of systematic geologic investigation. This question had to be
attacked if the marine deposits on land were to be understood. Hutton was not alone
in these concems. A few years before the Theory of the Earth appeared, the great
chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) distinguished two kinds of marine
sedimentary layers, that is, those formed in the open sea at great depth, which he
called pelagic beds, and those formed along the coast, which he termed littoral beds.
"Great depth" for Lavoisier was everything beyond wave base. Lavoisier supposed
that sediment particles would settle quietly in deep water and reworking would be
much less in evidence here than near the shore.
Marine geology starts in earnest with geologists going to sea and looking for the
processes which helped produce the marine rocks with which they were familiar on
land. Such work, obviously, began in the intertidal and in easily accessible shallow
waters, and it was undertaken by a great many investigators. The German geologist
Johannes Walther (Fig. 0.1.2) was very familiar with the observations resulting from
this work and was himself a pioneer in these types of studies. Firmly rooted in
classical geology, he set an outstanding example of applying uniformitarianism, that
is, Hutton's doctrine that observable processes are sufficient to explain the geologic
record (Lithogenesis of the Present, Jena, 1894, in German). In his book Bionomie
des Meeres (Jena, 1893), he gave an account of marine environments and the ecology
of their inhabitants, with emphasis on shell-forming organisms and the deposits they
produce. Research on marine sedimentation in the following four decades is summarized in P. D. Trask (ed.) Recent Marine Sediments (AAPG, Tulsa, 1939). This
symposium spans the range of sedimentary environments, from beach to deep sea,
and many of the articles were written by pioneers in marine geology.
As marine geologic studies progressed and moved further out to sea, there was a
gradual change of emphasis in the set of problems to be solved. The sea floor itself
became the focus of attention, not for the sake of the clues it would yield for the
Introduction
Fig. 0.1. Founders of marine geology. Upper row, left to right John Murray (\841-1914),
Johannes Walther (1860-1937), N. I. Andrusov (1861-1924).
Lower row Alfred Wegener (1880- 1930), Jaques Bourcart (1891-1965),
Francis P. Shepard (\ 897-1985).
purposes of land geology, but for the clues it contained for its own evolution and its
role in the history of Earth. The new emphasis is first evident in the works of the
Scotsman, John Murray (Fig. 0.1.1), naturalist on the HMS Challenger Expedition
(1872-1876). This expedition, led by the biologist Charles Wyville Thomson (18301882), marks the beginning of modem oceanography. It established the general morphology of the deep-sea floor and the types of sediments covering it. John Murray's
chief opus, Deep Sea Deposits (written with A. F. Renard and published in 1891) laid
the foundation for the sedimentology of the deep ocean floor (Chap. 8). Murray's
studies established a fundamental dichotomy of shaJlow water and shelf sediments on
the one hand, and of deep-sea deposits on the other, and it became a commonplace
Upper row, left to ri8ht N. M. Strachow (1900--1978), Philip H. Kuenen (1902-1976),

Maurice Ewing (1903- 1976). Lower row Harry H. Hess (1906- 1969), Sir E. C. Bullard (1907- 1980),
Bruce C. Heezen (1924-1977).
textbook truism that not true deep-sea deposits are found on land anywhere. This
doctrine was challenged when Ph. H. Kuenen (Fig. 0.1.8) demonstrated by experiment that clouds of sediment could be transported downslope on the sea floor at great
speed and to great depth, due to the fact that muddy water is heavier than the clear
water surrounding it. Sediment transported in suspension in this fashion settles out at
its site of deposition, heavy and large grains first, fine grains last. The resulting layer
is graded, and such layers are indeed common in the geologic record (e. g., Alpine
flysch deposits). Strong circumstantial evidence that Kuenen's concept is important in
deep-sea sedimentation was first presented by B. C. Heezen and M. Ewing, in 1952
(see Chap. 2.10). Kuenen made many other important contributions to marine geo-
Introduction
logy, attacking a broad range of subjects in his book, Marine Geology (New York,
1950), and in numerous pUblications.
Studies in marine sedimentation eventually led into ocean history when geologists
started to take cores. The pioneering expeditions were those of the Gennan vessel
Meteor (1925-1927), which first established deep-sea sedimentation rates, and of the
Swedish vessel Albatross (1947-1948), led by Hans Petterson. The Albatross results
established the presence, in all oceans, of cyclic sedimentation due to the climate
fluctuations during the last million years, which included several ice ages (Chap. 9).
The last (and biggest) effort in this line is the Deep Sea Drilling Project (now Ocean
Drilling Program), using the vessel Glomar Challenger (1968-1983; Fig. 0.6), which
made Tertiary and Cretaceous sediment sequences available for systematic study.
The investigation of the sea floor proceeded parallel to that of marine sedimentation. Coastallandfonns were the most accessible, and considerable infonnation had
been accumulated early in this century (D. W. Johnson, Shore Processes and Shoreline Development, Wiley, New York, 1919). Much additional work on these topics
was done by F. P. Shepard (Fig. 0.1.6) and also by J. Bourcart (Fig. 0.1.5), who were
able to test earlier concepts against field data collected in shallower water. These two
pioneers of marine geology especially attacked the problems of the origin of continental margins, and of submarine canyons, by studying their morphology and associated sedimentary processes.
F. P. Shepard's wide-flung field areas include the shelf off the US East Coast, shelf
and slope off the US West Coast, and the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. His textbook
Submarine Geology (New York, 1948 and subsequent editions) summarizes the results of this work and present global statistics on sea-floor morphology. In the same
year, M. B. Klenova's textbook Geology of the Sea was printed. Amongst other
Russian pioneers, N. I. Andrusov (Black Sea) and N. M. Stnichov (lithogenesis)
should be mentioned (Figs. 0.1.3 and 0.1.7). Other representative works of Shepard
are Recent Sediments, Northwest Gulf of Mexico (Tulsa, 1960, with F. B. Phleger and
Tj. H. van Andel) and Submarine Canyons and Other Sea Valleys (Chicago, 1966,
with R. F. Dill). J. Bourcart carried out similar geomorphologic and sedimentologic
studies off the shores of France, especially in the Mediterranean. His concept of
continental margin ''flexure'', with uplift landward of a hinge line and downwarp
seaward of it, proved useful in explaining the migrations of sea level across the shelf,
and in studying the nature of sediment accumulation on the continental slope (see
Chap. 2).
The marine geomorphologist par excellence was B. C. Heezen (Fig. 0.1.12),
whose physiographic diagrams of the sea floor (dmwn with his collaborator, Marie
Tharp) show great insight into the tectonic and sedimentologic processes of the sea
floor. His graphs now appear in virtually all textbooks of geology and geography (see
Figs. 1.3 and 2.2). Of B. C. Heezen it has been said (somewhat facetiously, by E. C.
Bullard) that he perfected the art of dmwing maps of regions where no data are
available. Much of his work is summarized in the beautifully illustmted book The
Face of the Deep (New York, 1971, with C. D. Hollister).
A satisfying explanation of the overall morphology of ocean basins and of the
various types of continental margins could only come from geophysics, which deals
with the motions and forces deep within the Earth. It is no coincidence that a geophysicist fIrst fonnulated a global hypothesis for ocean-margin morphology which
proved to be viable: the meteorologist Alfred Wegener (Fig. 0.1.4).
A. Wegener became intrigued with the parallelism of the coast lines bordering the
Atlantic Ocean (a phenomenon noted already in 1801 by the famous naturalist-explorer, Alexander von Humboldt). It seemed to Wegener that the continents looked
like puzzle pieces which belong together. He then leamed quite by accident that
paleontologists had invoked fonner land bridges between the shores facing each other
across the Atlantic to explain striking similarities between the fossil records of both
sides of the ocean. After an extensive literature search, he became convinced that the
continents had once been joined, and had broken up after the Paleozoic. Replacing
the concept of land bridges with his hypothesis of continental drift, he started the
"debate of the century" in geology with an article in 1912 (Oeol. Rdsch. 23: 276), and
especially with his book The Origin of Continents and Oceans (Braunschweig, 1915,
in Gennan). He envisioned granitic continents floating in basaltic mantle magma like
icebergs in water (Fig. 0.2a), and drifting about on the surface of Earth in response to
unkown forces derived from the rotation of the planet.
Wegener's hypothesis, in modified fonn, is now an integral part of sea-floor
spreading and plate tectonics (Chap. 1), the ruling theories explaining the geomorphology and geophysics of the ocean floor and of the crust of the Earth in general. It
was the work of sea-going geophysicists which eventually led to the acceptance of
plate tectonis. The pioneering efforts of E. C. Bullard (Fig. 0.1.11) on earth magnetism, heat flow, and seismic sunreying, and of M. Ewing (Fig. 0.1.9) and his associates
in all aspects of marine geophysics were of central importance in this development
(although M. Ewing did not himself advocate sea-floor spreading). These scientists
also were instrumental in elucidating the structure of continental margins (M. Ewing
et al., 1937, Geophysical Investigations in the Emerged and Submerged Atlantic
Coastal Plain, Bull Oeol Soc Am, 51, p 909; E. C. Bullard and T. F. Gaskell, 1941,
Submarine Seismic Investigations, Proc Royal Soc, Ser A 177, P 476).
The turning point in the scientific revolution which shook the earth sciences, and
which culminated in plate tectonics is generally taken to be the seminal paper of H.
H. Hess, History of Ocean Basins, published in 1962. Hess (Fig. 0.1.10) started his
distinguished career working with the Dutch geophysicist, F. A. Vening-Meinesz, on
the gravity anomalies of deep-sea trenches. These investigations resulted in the hypothesis that trenches may be surface expressions of the downgoing limbs of mantle
convection cells. As a naval officer, Hess discovered and mapped a great number of
flat-topped seamounts, whose morphology suggested widespread sinking of the sea
floor. Stimulated by subsequent discoveries on the Mid-Ocean Ridge (rift morphology, heat flow, and others) he proposed his idea of the sea floor being generated at
the center of the Mid-Ocean Ridge (Fig. 0.3 d), moving away and downward as it
ages, finally to disappear into trenches. The tenn "sea-floor spreading" was introduced by R. Dietz (in 1961) for this postulated phenomenon. Sea-floor spreading,
and its offspring plate tectonics have since become the basic framework within which
the data of marine geology are interpreted.
Introduction
----
END OF PERMIAN
END OF CRETACEOUS
Fig. 0.2 a, b. Diagrammatic representation (ours. not his) of the Hypothesis of Continental Drift of
Alfred Wegener. a Continental blocks made of light "sial " float iceberg-like in the heavier mantle
"sima". As they drift apart, mountain ranges form at the bow, while new sea floor forms in between.
b The breakup of Pangaea, first envisaged by A. Wegener, in a modern reconstruction by R. S. Dietz
and J. C. Holden (1970, J Geophys Res 75:4939. simplified)
Seafloor Spreading and Plate Tectonics: the New Paradigm

Only some 35 years ago, it was still possible for geologists to think that the sediments
on the deep-sea floor might contain the entire Phanerozoic record and lead us back
even into the Precambrian (for stratigraphic terms see Appendix A3). Today, there
would be few indeed who would harbor such fond hopes. The most ancient sediments
recovered from the sea floor are about 150 million years old, which is less than 5 %
of the age accorded to fossil-bearing sedimentary deposits on land. Where, then, is
the debris which must have washed into the deep sea, for the several billion years that
continents have existed?
According to the hypothesis of sea-floor spreading, all sediments accumulating on
the ocean bottom are swept towards the trenches, as on a conveyor belt (Fig. 1.20).
Here, some of the sediments are subdue ted into the mantle, others are scraped off
against the inner wall of the trench. Thus, the ocean floor is cleaned of sediments by
constant renewal and destruction.
This remarkable idea did not exactly find a warm welcome when first proposed by
H. H. Hess (1960) and by R. S. Dietz (1961). Somewhat similar ideas had been
advanced earlier (Fig. 0.3 a, b) and had likewise been discounted as premature speculations. Gradually however, as more facts became available to test the hypothesis,
opposition weakened, and by 1970 there were only a very few defenders of tradition
who challenged the concept of a moving sea floor.
The opposition to large-scale horizontal movement on Earth's surface had a long
history. It all began with Continental Drift. an idea that arose early in the present
century, and challenged the prevailing assumption of "fixism" with the new arguments of "mobilism". The most serious challenge, as already mentioned, came from
the German geophysicist A. Wegener, who proposed drastic changes in the distribution of continents and ocean basins within the last 200 million years. He also proposed that the continents actively plowed through the magma which carries them, an
idea that proved to be wrong. In addition, he had a time table for the drifting of
certain land masses which was quite unrealistic. Skeptical geophysicists recognized
these weaknesses in Wegener's proposal and argued forcibly for the rejection of
theory of continental drift. Thus, despite the support from geologists familiar with the
incredible similarities of ancient rocks and fossils in South America and South Africa, Wegener's hypothesis did not find general acceptance before the 1960s.
In essence, evidence for continental drift was dismissed because the proposed
mechanism was wrong. Only in the late 1950s, through the work on geomagnetism
and polar wandering by E. Irving and S. K. Runcom, did it become possible again to
talk about continental drift without being thought ignorant of physical principles. The
most compelling evidence, however, came from the magnetism of the sea floor itself,
and final proof came from deep-sea drilling, as we shall see in Chapter 1.
Toward the end of the 1960s, the new hypothesis of sea-floor spreading had
metamorphosed into the theory of plate tectonics. The theory is based on the mapping
of magnetic anomalies and earthquakes, by which it is posible to define large regions
of the Earth's surface that move as units ("plates"), with earthquakes occurring at the
boundaries of these units. The mathematical tool allowing efficient description of the
Introduction
CONTIN EN TAL BLOCK
'" 10
15
INITIAL
RIFTING
20
2.5
...."'
l
10
15
25
Fig. 0.3 a--c. Models of sea-floor spreading proposed to explain the origin of the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge. a Hypothesis of A. Holmes (1929, Trans Geol Soc Glasgow 18:559). Note the left-over
continental piece in the center (which does not in fact exist). b Hypothesis of the alpine geologist
O. Ampferer, who first discussed magmatic "undercurrents" in 1906. In 1941, he supposed that
rising magma currents break apart continents and eventually produce a mid oceanic ridge through
symmetrical drifting apart of both continental margins. Also, he explained the Atlantic island arcs of
the Caribbean and their trenches using the concept of subduction. (1941, Sitz. ber. Akad. Wiss.
Wien, 150:20- 35). c Hypothesis of B. C. Heezen (1960, Sci Am 203: 98) . Note the exaggerated
mobility of continental margins, and the postulated diffu se injection of mantle material in a broad
ridge area. (In fact , injection occurs in the narrow zone at the center only)
Temperoture lower,
froctures heoled, veioci t y
nor mol
8.1 km/sec
Seismic velocity
decreosed by higher temperoture
ond frocturing, brecciation,
dilation
kmjm
I\~
..-.
Fig. 0.3 d. Hypothesis of H. H. Hess (1962). Note narrow injection area. and stratigraphic onlap of
deep-sea sediments. This is the favored model, although serpentinization (a type of chemical alteration of basalt) was found to be less important than visualized by Hess.
Terreslrlal
Eulerian axis
between A and 6
Eu lerian pole
Tr ansform
fault
Trans for m
fault
Fig. 0.4. a. The principle of plate tectonics: rotation of blocks about an Euler pole. [W. 1. Morgan,
1968, J. Geophys. Res. 73: 1959] b The classical scheme (a) is illustrated in more detail in (b).
Compare with the block diagram of Fig. 1.12. Blocks (plates) rotate around the "Eulerian" axis
(arrows). This axis is independent of the terrestrial rotation axis. At the "divergent" plate boundary
(the ridge between A and B) spreading occurs symmetrically. At the right, at "convergent" plate
boundaries, plate B is subducted into the Earth's mantle beneath trenches. Both ridge and trench are
segmented and offset by multiple "transform" faults. All these transform faults follow small circles
about the Eulerian pole of relative movement between plates A and B. [CO Allegre 1988, Fig. 38,
p. 96]
10
Introduction
Fig. 0.5. Reconstruction of Paleocene geography, based on plate tectonics principle s. Note the nearly
circum-equatorial seaway connecting Atlantic and Pacific , the Tethys. with India far in the south.
The opening of a seaway from the Atlantic 10 the Arctic is just beginning . [1.- Y. Royer et aI., 1992.
Univ. Texas Inst. Geophys. Tech . Rept. 1l7: 1- 38. By courtesy of R. D. MUller and J. G. Sclaterl
movement of the plates is a theorem of the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler

(1707-1783), which states that uniform motion on a sphere is uniquely described by
defining rotation about a "pole". The path of migration of any point on a plate
appears as a portion of a circle about that pole (Fig. 0.4). E. C. Bullard and associates
introduced Euler's theorem to global tectonics, in 1965, to produce a new ,fit" of the
continents bordering the Atlantic (Phil Trans Roy Soc London 258: 4 I) (see Fig.
J.I 9). In the same year, 1. T. Wilson explained the nature of what he called "transform" faults as boundaries between "rigid plates", where there is lateral motion which
ends at a spreading center or a trench (Nature 207: 343).
For the present, and at any time in the geologic past, plate motions on the surface
of Earth are defined by giving the outlines of the dozen or so plates, the geographic
location of the poles of rotation, and the associated angular velocities. The principles
of this approach were presented by W. 1. Morgan early in 1967 (and published in
1968,1. Geophys. Res. 73:1959), and by D. P. McKenzie and R. L. Parker, also in
1967 (Nature 2 16: 1276). Using this methodology, X. Le Pichon, in 1968, made a
global map of the relative motions of the major plates (J. Geophys. Res . 73:3661).
The same concepts and methods allowed the large-scale reconstruction of the past
geographic configurations of continents and ocean basins, back into the Cretaceous
period. An example for the Paleocene, some 60 million years ago, is given in Fig. 0.5 .
Deep-Sea Drilling : Discovering New Worlds
11
Deep-Sea Drilling: Discovering New Worlds

The emergence of the new paradigm greatly stimulated the beginning of a major
venture in marine geology: the systematic exploration of the deep-sea floor by drilling. Up to 1968, before the drilling vessel GLOMAR Challenger (Fig. 0.6) set out on
her first cruise (from Galveston in Texas), knowledge of sediments older than I
million years was entirely based on cores taken in regions of greatly reduced sedimentation and erosion, where younger sediments had been removed. Such a core
would typically represent a short stretch of time somewhere within the long history of
the ocean. Detailed comparison with other cores, from other regions, was hardly ever
possible, because of the difficulty of exact age assignment. The task of reconstructing
a global ocean history for the pre-Quaternary could only be seriously attempted when
more or less continuous sequences of samples became available, through drilling ,
from many different regions.
The materials recovered by drilling resulted in a quantum jump in biostratigraphic
resolution - soon it became possible to date samples within sequences to within less
than a million years relative to some standard. The first major result was full confir-
Fig. 0.6. The 120-m-long deep-sea drilling vessel GLOMAR Challenger, which was working from
1968 to 1983 , sampling the sea floor of the world's ocean. During this period 1092 holes were
drilled on 624 si tes, many in water depths of more than 5 km. The length of core materi al recovered
measures over 90 km. The ship was managed by the Scripps Insitution of Oceanography within the
Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), which was the mo st important earth sc ience project of the 1970s,
funded by the USA. Since the mid-1970s the U.S. National Science Foundation. USSR, Germany.
Japan . the United Kingdom , and France have participated in the Project and helped in providing
support. [Photo courtesy DSDP, S.I.O.]
12
Introduction
mation of the theory of sea-floor spreading: sediments overlying the "basement"

basalt showed the exact age predicred by the geophysicists from counting magnetic
anomalies (Fig. 1.18). Occasionally, sediments were somewhat younger, which
means that the basaltic rock was bare for a while, before it collected sediments. Other
major results were more subtle, but have had far-reaching implications for our understanding of the co-evolution of life and climate, and for the role of the ocean in
climatic change over long periods of time.
In the early years of deep-sea drilling, present sedimentation patterns were assumed to be static, so that changes down-core would be interpreted mainly in terms
of motions of the sea floor. It soon became clear, however, that the ocean's productivity changed markedly through geologic time, which produced large changes in sedimentation patterns. Also, it became evident that changes in ocean conditions (as
reflected in sediments) were quite sudden at certain times, and that such "steps" in
climatic change were associated with reorganizations of the marine biosphere, including extinctions and subsequent radiations. The most intriguing period in the ocean's
history, in this regard, proved to be the transition between the Cretaceous and the
Tertiary, which witnessed large-scale extinction of tropical planktonic organisms.
The importance of the deep-sea record for the reconstruction of Earth's history for
the last one hundred million years or so became obvious very quickly. The record on
land is patchy and incomplete by nature - land is eroded and delivers sediment to the
sea. This renders suspect all arguments about the pace of evolution that depend on a
continuous record. (Darwin pointed this out a long time ago). Only the record in the
deep ocean can promise complete sequences, and even here gaps prove to be quite
common in many settings. The gaps are not distributed randomly, but occur preferentially just where conditions change. This illustrates a certain obstinacy of the ocean in
yielding up the secrets of its history, something that many marine geologists have
come to appreciate.
One of the most notable aspects of deep-ocean drilling - now with the larger
drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution (Fig. 0.7) - is the creation of an international
community of marine geologists - hundreds of scientists from around the world who
were shipmates at one time or another, eagerly listening for the driller's call "core-ondeck", and sharing the thrill of exploring where nobody had gone before.
Further Reading
General Background
(least specialized literature first)
Press F, Siever R (1982) Earth, 3rd edn. Freeman, San Francisco
Emiliani C (1992) Planet Earth: cosmology, geology, and the evolution of life and environment.
Cambridge University Press
Glen W (1975) Continental drift and plate tectonics. Merrill, Columbus
Open University Course Team (1989) The ocean basins: their structure and evolution. Pergamon
Press. Oxford
Deep-Sea Drilling: Discovering New Worlds
13
Fig. 0.7. Layout of the deep-sea drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution. It is the successor of the
GLOMAR Challenger, but is larger, 143 m long. Therefore it can work in rougher seas and in higher
latitudes. The capacity of the many modern laboratories on board allows 50 scientists and technicians to participate. From Level 7 downhole measurements are carried out. At Level 6 drilled cores
are received and distributed to the sedimentological, petrological , paleontological, physical , and
chemical laboratories at Levels 3-6. One half of each core goes to the archives . In 1983 the Ocean
Drilling Program (ODP) began as continuation of DSDP with the participation of 10 US Institutions,
as well as Germany, France, the UK , Canada/Australia, Japan, and a consortium of the European
Science Foundation. JOIDES Resolution has been active since 1985. Texas A&M University is
managing the program [Joides Journal 1985]
Allegre C (1988) The behavior of the earth - continental and seafloor mobility. Harvard University
Press, Cambridge, Mass
Emiliani C (ed) (1981) The sea, vol 7. The oceanic lithosphere. Wiley Interscience, New York
Berger WH, Crowell JC (eds) (1982) Climate in Earth history. Studies in geophysics. Natl Acad Sci ,
Washington DC
Imbrie J, Imbrie KP (1979) Ice ages - solving the mystery. Enslow Short Hills NJ
Turekian KK (1976) Oceans, 2nd edn. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs NJ
Broecker WS (1974) Chemical oceanography. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York
LePichon X, Convenor (1988) Report of the Second Conference on Scientific Ocean Drilling
[Co sod II]. European Science Foundation and JOIDES , Strasbourg
Historial Perspectives
Wegener A (1929) The origin of continents and oceans. Translation by J. Biram, 1966. Dover, New
York
Holmes A (1945) Principles of physical geology. Nelson , London
Kuenen PhH (1950) Marine geology. Wiley, New York
Heezen BC, Tharp M, Ewing M (1959) The floors of the oceans. I. The North Atlantic. Geol Soc
Am Spec Pap 65
Runcom SK (1962) Continental drift. Academic Press, New York
Menard HW (1964) Marine geology of the Pacific. McGraw-Hill , New York
14
Introduction
Phinney RA (ed) (1968) The history of the Earth's crust. Princeton University Press, New Jersey
Takeuchi H, Uyeda S, Kanamori H (1970) Debate about the Earth, revised edn. Freeman Cooper,
San Francisco
Wyllie PJ (1971) The dynamic earth. Wiley, New York
Vacquier V (1972) Geomagnetism in marine geology. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Tarling DH, Runcom SK (eds) (1973) Implications of continental drift to the Earth sciences. Academic Press, New York
Hallam A (1973) A revolution in the Earth sciences. Clarendon Press. Oxford
Kahle CF (ed) (1974) Plate tectonics - assessments and reassessments. AAPG Mem 23, Am Assoc
Petrol Geol. Tulsa Okla
1 Origin and Morphology of Ocean Basins
1.1 The Depth of the Sea

The obvious question to ask about the sea floor is how deep it is and why. The overall
depth distribution first became known through the voyage of H. M. S. Challenger
(Fig. 1.1). We see that there are two most common depths: a shallow one near sea
level (shelf seas), and a deep one between 1 and 5 km (normal deep ocean). The sea
floor connecting shelves and deep ocean is of intermediate depths and makes up the
continental slopes and rises . There is a portion of sea floor which is twice as deep as
normal: such depths occur only in narrow trenches, mainly in a ring around the
Pacific Ocean (Table 2. 1).
AREA
ex
8'
EARTH's SURf"ACE IN 10 K"' "

8000
6 000
4000
2000
o
2000
Fig. 1.1. Overall depth distribution of the ocean floor and land elevations (hypsographic cUlVe).
Left: frequency distribution of elevations [H . U. Sverdrup et al. 1942, The oceans: IS]
16
Origin and Morphology of Ocean Basins
On H. M. S. Challenger, depth soundings were done by laboriously sending a

weight to the ocean floor and measuring the length of the wire paid out. When the
scattered soundings were connected in drawing depth contours, the ocean floor
looked smooth. Only when echo sounding was used routinely did it become obvious
that large parts of the ocean floor consist of immense mountain ranges whose cragginess rivals that of the Alps and the Sierra Nevada. Perhaps the most impressive of
these ranges is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, first discovered by the famous Meteor Expedition (1925-1927) (Fig. 1.2 b).
More recently, it has been shown, largely through the work of M. Ewing and
co-workers, at Lamont Geological Observtory, that the seemingly endless Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Fig. 1.3) is itself only a portion of a world-encircling Mid-Ocean Ridge.
This was, of course, a discovery of immense importance. It identified the one
unifying morphological feature of the planet, the central template to which the
various scattered puzzle pieces of knowledge about the sea floor had to be fitted. The
only other feature of the ocean floor of comparable magnitude is the line of trenches
ringing the Pacific (Figs. 1.4 and 1.13). The complementary significance of these two
features - the Ridge System and the Trench System - became obvious in the 1960s,
from the study of magnetic properties of the sea floor, from earthquakes, and from
heat flow distribution. In the late 1960s, the hypothesis that new sea floor forms at the
center of the Mid-Ocean Ridge and that it travels toward the trenches where it sinks,
gained general acceptance, as outlined in the introduction.
The hypothesis, called sea-floor spreading, explains in an elegant fashion the
major features of the depth distribution of the sea floor.
Before we discuss this striking concept of sea-floor spreading in some detail,
however, let us go back to consider the basic processes which shape Earth's surface,
including the floor of the ocean.
1.2 Endogenic Processes

As is true of all of the face of the Earth, the sea floor is shaped by two kinds of
processes, those deriving their energy from inside the Earth, called endogenic, and
those driven by the Sun, called exogenic.
The forces inside the Earth produce volcanism and earthquakes; we meet them in
the eruptions on Hawaii, in the geysers of Yellowstone Park, in the quakes in California. Working over long periods of time, the endogenic forces, fueled by heat sources
within the Earth, build mountain ranges such as the Sierra Nevada and the Himalayas,
or create gigantic rifts, such as Death Valley and the Rhine Graben. It is reasonable to
suppose that the undersea mountains represent uplift, and that the great trenches
result from down warping of the sea floor by endogenic forces. Such motion, of
course, requires flow of material within the Earth. Thus, matter has to rise to make
the undersea mountain ranges, and must sink to make the trenches. The mental jump
in formulating the hypothesis of sea-floor spreading was to see these necessary motions as part of a convection system (Fig. 1.5).
Endogenic Processes
17
The exact nature of the forces and motions deep within the Earth is not accessible
to direct observation by sampling. Even the deepest drill holes (down to 12 km) only
scratch the surface of the Earth. They do not penetrate the crust, which is defined as
the uppermost layer of the solid Earth. Continental crust is about 20 to 50 km thick,
while oceanic crust is much thinner, 5-10 km. The mantle below the crust is the
source of the endogenic forces working on the crust. It is 2850 km thick and makes
r---------------------------~
4000 - --U-------4--- ~--r_----+_~~
MID -OC EANIC RIDGE

I
2
3
4
S
6
Km
--
Continental
Slope
c Rise
Channel
ABYSSAL PLAIN
Seamount
ABYSSAL
HILLS
Flank
Rift Valley
Cr est
Fl ank
Fig. 1.2 a- c. Topography of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and adjacent sea floor. a Principle of continuous
echo profiling. The depth is given by s = v . t, where v is the sound velocity and 2t is the time the
sound takes to travel to and fro. Record output of the echo sounding device , on a moving strip of
paper. b Results of echo sounding as obtained by the German Meteor Expedition (1925- 1927).
Soundings were taken every 4.5 km. Numhers refer to sampling stations. Note central rift. c Modem
topographic profile with labels of physiographic features
18
AFRICA
SOUTH
AMERICA
Fig. 1.3. Physiographic diagram of the Atlantic ocean floor, from a painting by H. C. Berann
(National Geographic Society). based on bathymetric studies of B. C. Heezen and M. Tharp
19
Endogenic Processes
SEDI MENT
..
5
>
E
:t:
I-
10
CONTI
>
> OCEA NIC CRUST ,
"-
<oJ
0
.
.
..
>
.. 10
>
>
>
15
Fig. 1.4. Cru stal structure of

ocean margin off northern Chile ,
based on se ismic refracti on
studi es. [R. L. Fi sher, R. W.
Raitt , 1962, Deep-Sea Res 9:
423]
>
15
MANTLE
':"'ll!"lll'
250
200
100
50
DISTANCE ( km )
Fig. 1.5. Hypothetical convecti on current s in the upper mantl e, producing sea-floor spreading and
continental drift. Thi s is one of a number of co nvect ion models whi ch have bee n pro posed to ex plain
the origin of mid-ocean ridges and trenches
20
-.....~......-
CRUST
(t hickness exaggerated )
~-~-MANTLE
~~r---~t-- Outer COR E

f5#.~r--,*,"-lnner CORE
Fig. 1.6. Onion structure of the Earth:

crust, mantle, and core. Typically,
figures showing crust and mantle are not
to scale. Remember that on a globe of
diameter 1.75 m (the height of a person)
the average ocean depth would shrink to
1 mm, just the thickness of human skin,
and the lithosphere to a chalk line . This
illustrates the great importance of the
mantle and of mantle processes
up about two thirds of the mass of the Earth (Fig. 1.6). The remaining one third is
mainly core (radius = 3470 km). Only 0.4 % of the mass of Earth is in the crust.
Thus, the mountain ranges and great trenches are but small wrinkles on the planet.
The motions of sea floor and continents are perturbations on the very surface of a vast
globe of hot rock. What kind of rock? And why hot? We do not know for sure. The
kinds of rock dredged from deep clefts in the Mid-Ocean Ridge, and those recovered
by deep drilling into the Ridge basalt, presumably most closely resemble the upper
mantle material (see Appendix A 6). As mantle material pushes up at the Mid-Ocean
Ridge, it changes its character through pressure release, degassing, and especially
through reaction with seawater.
The heat most probably comes from the decay of radioactive elements. Another
possible source of heat is the gravitational segregation of heavy and light material,
which produced the onion structure of Earth in the first place. To receive the "messages from the mantle", that is, information about its structure and the processes in
the interior, geophysicists make seismic measurements, and study the characteristics
of magnetic and gravity fields . Mineralogists and petrologists investigate the behavior
of rocks under high pressures and temperatures, and geochemists collect indirect
evidence on the interior, derived from elemental abundances in the solar system in
combination with the density distribution inside the Earth.
1.3 Exogenic Processes

Although the large-scale features of the ocean floor are shaped by endogenous forces,
the sea floor also reflects the workings of the exogenic forces, that is, the processes
of erosion and sedimentation. The classic example is the type of sea floor called
abyssal plain - incredibly flat areas hundreds of miles in diameter (Fig. 1.2c). On
land, the playas surrounding the Great Salt Lake in Utah can convey a feeling for the
nature of these features.
The abyssal plains are vast undersea playas collecting debris from the continents,
which is produced by the ever-present agents of weathering: rain , wind, ice. The
chippings made by these sculptors, which carve canyons and wear down mountains,
Morphology of the Mid-Ocean Ridge
21
are carried to the ocean by rivers and winds. Here they build up continental margins,
with the left-overs accumulating in abyssal plains.
Much of the sediment comes to the sea through quasi-catastrophic events: floods,
storms, earthquakes or - on a longer time scale - ice advances. Other types of
sediment arrive at the sea floor as a more or less continuous rain of particles: shells
of plankton organisms, wind-bome dust, cosmic spherules. Through geologic time
these gradually accumulating pelagic sediments built up a layer of a few hundred
meters thickness, which forms a veneer on the oceanic crust. This veneer contains a
detailed history of the evolution of ocean circulation and of pelagic organisms, for the
last 100 to 150 million years.
Although exogenic processes tend to level the Earth, by erosion and deposition,
they also can build mountains. The outstanding example is the Great Barrier Reef off
eastern Australia, whose mountain tops rise thousands of meters above the floor of
the Coral Sea. The mesa-like reef mountains are made from the calcium carbonate
secreted by corraline algae, stony corals, mollusks, and small unicellular organisms
called foraminifera. The algae, of course, depend on sunlight. The corals and foraminifera contain unicellular algae within their bodies, in symbiosis: they too depend on
sunlight for growth.
With this briefest of all introductions to the opposing effects of endogenic processes (which wrinkle Earth's surface) and exogenic processes (which mainly smooth
it), let us now return to the nature of the grand morphology of the sea floor - and to
sea-floor spreading.
How does this concept explain the major features of the sea floor?
1.4 Morphology of the Mid-Ocean Ridge

Ultimately, it took geophysical evidence based on crustal magnetism to compel acceptance of the mobility of the ocean floor, and to tum the hypothesis of sea-floor
spreading into the ruling theory. The most obvious achievement of the new theory is
the explanation of the origin of the Mid-Ocean Ridge, the central morphologic feature
of the sea floor. The Mid-Ocean Mountain Range is more than 60000 km long and
takes up one third of the ocean floor, that is, about one fourth of the Earth's surface.
In the Atlantic and along certain other portions, the crest is marked by a central rift,
a 30- to 50-km-wide steep-walled valley 1 km deep, or more (see Figs. 1.2 and 1.3).
The crestal morphology is usually very rugged and complicated, while the flanks tend
to be smoothed by sediment (Fig. 1.7). The following is a brief account of how the
theory of sea-floor spreading explains the character of the Mid-Ocean Ridge.
The crest is characterized by shallow earthquakes (centers at less than about 60 km
deep), by active volcanism, and by high heat flow values. The upwelling and spreading of mantle material pulls apart the crust, producing the central rift, and generating
the earthquakes. It also brings up heat from the Earth's interior. The spreading rate,
that is, the rate at which sea floor on one side moves away from that on the other, is
on the order of 1 to 10 cm per year. The hot mantle material filling the gap is less
dense than old oceanic crust, because of thermal expansion. Away from the central
22
Origin and Morphology of Ocean Basin s
Vi
o
z
o
' ,
~ ~
~m
MID
ATLANTIC
CREST
"
:
9
sec
HA TTE RAS
R I DG E
FL A NK
BE RMUDA RI SE
ABYSS AL P L AIN
Fig. 1.7. Portions of continuous profiling records, from Mid-Atlantic Ridge (left) to Hatteras Abyssal Plain. Note the smoothing of the sea floor by a cover of sediment. with increasing age away from
the central ridge area. [T. L. Holcombe, 1977, Geo Journal I 6: 31]
Ridge, it becomes denser as it cools, but on the whole, the new lithosphere and its sea
floor float up higher out of the mantle and thus protrude, forming the Ridge.
Generally, the Ridge crest has an elevation (i. e., depth) of - 2500 to - 3000 m, all
around the world. From this similarity of elevations, we may conclude that the upwelling material and its temperature are rather uniform.
However, there is much variety on several scales. The ridge is much shallower
than average in the North Atlantic, where it has, not so coincidentally, one of the most
active "hot spots" associated with it, namely Iceland. Along its entire length, the
Ridge is segmented between major fracture zones (Sect. 1.6) and each of the segments (300-500 km long) has its own history and morphology. More generally,
everywhere along the Ridge axis there are subtle changes, comprising a few hundred
meters of elevation, which are in large part due to the way the magma chambers
along the Ridge axis are supplied with melt, from 30 to 60 km depth. This supply is
discontinuous in time and space, giving rise to segmentation in scales of 50-100 and
up to 300 km, with magmatically sated and starved sections. Detailed investigations
of axial morphology, using side scan mapping, submersibles, high resolution seismics, and deep-sea drilling, have greatly advanced our knowledge of the significance
of this segmentation in terms of Ridge dynamics (Fig. 1.8). Mushroom-shaped
magma chamhers (with roofs only 1.5 to 2.5 km below the sea floor) cause local
uplift and the formation of narrow axial graben structures. These valleys can then be
filled , episodically, by lava flows associated with dike intrusions from the underlying
chamber. On fast-spreading Ridge areas, as on the East Pacific Rise (Fig. 1.13), the
supply of lava is such that no big rift valley develops. Instead, there is an axial
summit with or without a narrow graben. However, big deep rift valleys are generated
along the axis of slow-spreading Ridge areas, as seen at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
The upwelling material forms pillow basalts and lava sheets after contact with the
cold seawater. From comparing the seismic sequence of basaltic layers at the presently forming mid-ocean ridges with equivalent (but ancient) slabs of oceanic crust
on land (such as the "ophiolites" of the Troodos Massif, Cyprus, or in Oman), we
Morphology of the Mid-Ocean Ridge
23
Axial s UJlUlll t qraben
DB
('
<.
<.
....
-<-"'7.
<.
~-<-< <-
a
b
Fig. 1.8. a Schematic cross-section of the East Pacific Rise. A halo of hot rock with a few percent
partial melt surrounds a much smaller mushroom -shaped axial magma chamber (black ) with more
than 50 % melt. [K. C. MacDonald et aI. , 1989, Nature , 339: 178]. b Comparison of field observations (left) and se ismological inve stigations (ri[;ht) regarding the structure of oceanic crust. Ophiolite sequence. R Radiolarites; PB pillow basalt; DB basalt in dike sheets; G gabbro (note layering
in lower portion); P peridotite. M denotes position of the Mohorovicic di scontinuity ("Moho", where
sound velocity changes suddenly). Corresponding sections in the seismic stratigraphy assigned by
inference. [CO Allegre , 1988 , modified]
know that these pillow lavas are underlain by basaltic dikes. Seismically, they are
known as "layers 2 A and 2 B", Magmatic gabbros (layer 3) and peridotites ("layer 4")
are separated by the Moho-discontinuity, here normally in about 5 km depth , indicating the thickness of the young oceanic crust (Fig, 1.8b).
With few exceptions, the volcanic rocks forming the oceanic crust on the ridges
are olivine tholeiites. They are dense, heavy silicate rocks rich in iron and magnesium, and belong the basalts, Their minerals are essentially plagioclase feldspar,
pyroxene, and olivine (Appendix A4). Compared with the more familiar basalt on
land, they have low contents of potassium, titanium, and phosphorus (Appendix A6) .
Also, they are depleted in those trace elements (rubidium, cesium, barium, lanthanium) which tend to be preferentially concentrated in the liquid phase during melting
or during fractional crystallization. It is difficult, however, to deduce directly the
composition of the mantle material from that of the tholeiite basalts. Many processes
affect the magmas on their way up toward the sea floor. These processes include
differentiation through partial melting; mixing of, and reactions between various
types of melts; reactions with solutions including seawater, and escape of gases. The
reactions of seawater with hot basalt, and the associated hot springs with their deposits are discussed in Chapter 10. 4.4. High porosities and permeabilities are favorable in these respects.
As the sea floor spreads away from the crest, the lithosphere cools and sinks, about
1000 m during the first 10 mi Ilion years . The next 1000 m of sinking takes about
24
26 million years (Fig. 1.9). It can be argued from physical principles that the depth of
the sea floor on the spreading flanks of the Ridge should be a simple function of age:
depth below crest = k . -V age.
(1.1)
From the relationship given above, we can evaluate k as follows:

k = 1000 and k =
-{fO
2000
-V 10 +26 '
which comes out as k '" 320, when depth is in meters and age in million years. If this
is correct, we can calculate the average age of the deep-sea floor from its average
depth (after correcting for sediment cover). For an average (corrected) basement
depth of 5000 m (= 2400 m below Ridge crest), we obtain an age of 60 million years,
which is indeed close to the average age of the sea floor.
2
a
0
oX
WATERDEPTH
a a
0
8
'"
.to
c~
=>0;~~
.2E4
LLg
(U~
Q)::1.
:I:~
50
4.0
100
1S0
HEAT FLOW
50
.-...
00
100
.-_--.....
150
GROUP VELOCITY
OF RALEIGH WAVES
Sea Floor Age (million years)

Fig. 1.9. a- c. Observations illustrating the cooling of the lithosphere at mid-oceanic ridges. a After
J. G. Sclater et a!. , 1971. "reliable mean values" b After Sclater et a!., 1976 (hars); and Sclater and
Francheteau 197 1 (dots) . c Seismic waves ve locities increase with cooling, after Yoshii (1975) and
Forsyth (1977) cire/cs and dots. [E. Seibold et a!., 1986, The sea floor. Japanese edition ]
Morphology of the Trenches
25
Equation (1.1) occupies a special place in marine geophysics, geology, and paleoceanography. It is one of the very few statements about Earth history that is both
quantitative and simple, and at the sarne time also valid and useful.
During sinking of the sea floor, the rough topography produced by volcanism and
faulting moves down the ridge flanks and is then gradually smoothed by the sediment
cover (see Fig. 1.7). However, abyssal hills with a relief in the 50 to 1000 m range
and with slopes of 1 to 15 remain as expressions of the underlying basement
morphology over large regions. Abyssal-hill morphology is the most common type of
landscape on the face of Earth: in the Pacific Ocean about 80 % of the sea floor
belongs to this category.
1.5 Morphology of the Trenches

In general, trenches are found near the margins of ocean basins, notably the Pacific
Basin. It is not obvious why there are not more mid-ocean trenches. To answer this
question, we need to learn more about processes within the mantle. First, some
observations: trenches are roughly 100 km wide (in their shallower part) and from
hundreds to thousands of kilometers long. For example, the Aleutian Trench is 2900
km long. The cross-section is usually V-shaped (Fig. 1.10.a), and the deepest part
may be flat due to ponded sediment. Such sediments generally show undisturbed
horizontal layering - an observation which was sometimes used as an argument
against subduction when the concept of sea-floor spreading was new. The trench
walls usually have slopes between 8 and 15. However, steep sides (up to 45) as
well as steps have also been mapped. In cases, outcrops of basalt have been observed
by dredging and deep-sea photography.
The greatest depths are in the western Pacific, in sediment-starved trenches off
island arcs: Mariana Trench maximally 10 915 m; Tonga Trench, 10 800 m; Philippine Trench, 10055 m; Japan Trench, 9700 m; Kermadec Trench, 10 050 m. The
values are not exact; they were determined from echo soundings which include
corrections for effects of regional temperature and salinity distribution on the velocity
of sound in the water. Any errors in the determinations, however, cannot mask the
similarity in these depths. As in the similarity of ridge-crest elevations, this coherence
points to the action of similar processes in each of the trenches in the western Pacific.
Elsewhere, trenches are shallower: Puerto Rico Trench about 8600 m; South Sandwich, 8260 m, Sunda 7135 m. The eastern Pacific is characterized by trenches directly adjacent to continents, without intervening island arcs. These trenches are filled
with continental debris and this, presumably, is the reason why they are distinctly
shallower than their western counterparts.
The ring of trenches girdling the Pacific is the site of most of the earthquakes on
Earth: more than 80 % of the shallow earthquakes 60 km deep), 90 % of the
intermediate ones (60 to 300 km deep), and almost all of the deep quake centers (300
to 700 km) are concentrated here (Fig. 1.11).
The rest of the deep and intermediate quakes also occur largely in trenches; some
occur in the Mediterranean, in Iran, and in central Asia at the northern boundary of
26
o
IS.II'N 1
It'.""
.'"
altimeter residuals after

/ ' removing skylab orb~
...... .. :,-......... .
j . PUERTO RICO
trench area
~ -.. ,--~ .,..
~---'
lO .~ '".. .
coastal area
!
. " ...
l00km
<II
lOO
,00
K"ome/~rs
t-- -
Fig. 1.10. a Topographic profiles across trenches in various regions of the ocean. Land or island arcs
to the right. [M. Talwani , 1970, in The sea 4 [I]: 282] . b Defonnation of the sea surface measured
by satellite altimeter. Sea level is influenced by regional gravity. Trenches are well-known gravity
minimum areas. Oceanic high areas not in isostatic equilibrium show positive gravity anomalies,
therefore "anracting" sea water and thus raising sea level. [Skylab Data Catalog NASA 1974,
p. 133]. c Map of the mean ocean surface reflecting ocean bottom features such as seamounts,
trenches, ridges , and fracture zones. Land masses have been masked out. The map was developed
by the US. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 1982. [Courtesy Jet. Prop. Lab,
Pasadena]
the Himalayas. When the depths of the quake centers are plotted below the
epicenters, they are seen to occur on planes which intersect the surface near the
trenches and dip underneath the arcs or the continents at an angle of between 15 and
75, to a depth of about 700 km. It is reasonable to conclude that the earthquakes are
caused by friction on the upper surface of the downgoing slab of sea floor, and that
this friction ceases when the temperature becomes high enough to permit flow (Fig.
1.12).
Fig. 1.12. Relationship of plate motions to plate boundaries and earthquakes. Divergent plate hOllndary Mid-Ocean Ridge , shallow earthquakes; convergent plate bOllndary, trench, shallow, intennediate, and deep earthquakes. Lateral boundary: ji'acture zone. shallow earthquakes on active part only.
Horizontal motions are of the order of I to 10 cm/yr. [Based on a diagram by B. Isacks. J. Oliver,
and L. R. Sykes, 1968, J Geophys Res 73: 5855]
Morphology of the Trenches
27
Fig. 1.11. Earthquake belts in the Pacific. Deep and intennediate earthquakes are restricted to trench
regions. [R. W. Girdler, 1964, Astron Soc Geophys } 8: 537]
Convergent
plote boundory
divergent
plote bound
ory
e r e
28
The "ring of fire" around the Pacific is closely associated with the trenches:
volcanoes sit on top of the dipping earthquake planes, that is, the downgoing lithosphere. Of 800 active volcanoes, 75 % are in the "ring". Where the lithosphere descends before reaching the continents, the volcanoes fonn island arcs; where it descends under a continent (South America), mountain ranges are formed. The magmas
produced by partial melting of the downgoing slab mix with overlying materials on
their way up and form characteristic volcanic rock types, the andesites -named after
the Andes Mountains (Appendix, Fig. A 6.1).
According to the theory of sea-floor spreading, the trenches are produced by the
subduction of the sea floor. The descending lithosphere, some 100 km thick, finally
disappears into the asthenosphere, that is, the "soft" part of the upper mantle. The
descending lithosphere offers up materials to the continent, by the scraping off of
sediment, and by partial melting. These materials contribute to continental accretion,
that is to the growth of continents.
Much of such growth, apparently, also depends on the accretion of "terranes",
slabs of oceanic or continental-type crust which arrive at the trench, but refuse to go
down. Instead, they become part of the adjacent continent. The trench, now clogged,
must move seaward when this happens. Much of the west coast of the USA is thought
to consist of "terranes" moved in from elsewhere. The pieces of foreign real estate are
mapped as having dimensions on the order of 100 to 1000 km on a side.
Continental accretion is one way in which the endogenic forces oppose the wearing down of the continents by exogenic agents. Thus, the continued existence of
continents which rise high above the sea floor is intimately tied to the processes of
sea-floor spreading.
1.6 Fracture Zones and Plate Tectonics

We have earlier mentioned that the Ridge Crest is not continuous but segmented. It
occurs in more or less straight portions which are offset from each other. The consequence of such offset is that a lateral fault must fonn at the two ends of each crestal
portion (Fig. 1.12). Since there is motion along this fault during active spreading,
there are earthquakes on it. These earthquakes are shallow and define the active part
of the fracture zone, that is, the ridge-ridge transform fault. Beyond this active part,
the fracture zone is the frozen trace of the fault; the scarps subside as the sea floor
ages on both sides of the zone. These extensive linear zones have an unusually
irregular topography with large seamounts, steep-sided or asymmetrical ridges,
troughs, or escarpments (Fig. 1.3).
Some fracture zones connect the end of a ridge crest portion to a trench. These
zones are seismically active and constitute the third type of boundary that defines a
lithospheric slab or plate. The other two, of course, are spreading center and trench.
the fact that these boundaries form "plates" was first pointed out by J. T. Wilson in
1965. On the basis of earthquake distributions and first motion studies (that is, observing which way the ground moves upon initiation of a quake), it is possible to
outline a number of large lithospheric slabs dividing the surface of the globe. Each of
Seamounts, Island Chains, and Hot Spots
29
the plates has its own particular motion, which can be read from the magnetism of the
sea floor, as we shall see. The quantitative development of these concepts was initiated in the late 1960s by W. J. Morgan, D. P. McKenzie and R. L. Parker; X.
LePichon; and by B. Isacks, I. Oliver, and L. R. Sykes.
The motions are generally uniform and do not result in deformation of the plates;
hence they can be described as rotations on a sphere, according to a theorem of the
famous mathematician, Leonhard Euler (1707-1783). The fracture zones provide
traces for the latitudinal circles around the pole of rotation (which need not coincide
with that of the rotation of the Earth, see Fig. 0.4). Thus, the pole of rotation can be
determined for each plate. Geometry requires that spreading rates must increase away
from the pole of rotation for separating plates, and this is indeed observed. It will be
noted in Fig. 1.13 that a plate can contain both oceanic and continental lithosphere. In
fact, the continents share the motions of the mobile ocean floor. Thus, the continents
do drift, as Wegener had supposed, but not by plowing through the mantle magma.
Since Morgan proposed his scheme of plates making up the globe, new plates
have been discovered, and several modifications of plate geometry and kinematics
made. One recent model that summarizes progress in this field of research (c. de
Mets et aI., 1990, Geophys. J. 101) distinguishes 12 major plates including Philippine
(PH), Cocos (North of Nazca), and Caribbean Plates, and separate a North American
Plate from a South American one and an Indian Plate from an Australian one by
transition zones with diffuse deformation. The position of the boundary of the North
American Plate in the Arctic realm is likewise not well defined. More than a hundred
mantle plumes have now been defined by different authors, spread around the oceans
and on continents as well. These hot spots (Fig. 1.13 b) ar of interest in the context of
plate movements, as we shall see later.
1.7 Seamounts, Island Chains, and Hot Spots

With few exceptions, oceanic islands are made of volcanic rock, with or without a
crown of reef carbonate. A crown of reef carbonate, of course, can only be precipitated in shallow water because it depends on algal growth. Thus, if a seamount is
found with a top of reef carbonate, and deeply submerged below the present sea level,
it must have sunk. Such seamounts are common in the western Pacific.
It has been said that the discovery of flat-topped seamounts held the key to the
new understanding of the origin of ocean basins. Flat-topped seamounts were first
described in the 1940s by H. H. Hess (Fig. 0.1) in the central Pacific. Hess proposed
that these table mounts, the guyots, as he named them, had formed as volcanic
islands, were truncated by wave erosion, and then sank to their present depths. He
also initially thought they might be of Precambrian age, with lots of time available for
subsidence. However, no rocks older than Cretaceous were ever dredged from the
guyots.
In essence, Hess' hypothesis of guyot formation was an extrapolation of Charles
Darwin's hypothesis of atoll formation (see Chap. 7). The idea of seamount subsidence was easily reconciled with Hess' later concept of sea-floor spreading
30
Fig. 1.13. a. Distribution of earthquake epicenters shallower than 700 km between 1961 and 1967.
Note the close relationship to the plate boundaries in b. However, mid-plate earthquakes are also
quite common. [M. Barazangi and J. Dorman, 1969, ESSA, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and Seismol. Soc. Amer. Bull, 59]
(Fig. 0.3d). Thus, he discovered both a major problem - the origin of guyots - and its
solution: sea-floor spreading. Seamounts in general have elevations of more than
1000 m and typical slopes of 5 to 15. The Pacific has about 10 000 of such
seamounts.
There are a number of striking instances where seamounts - either flat-topped or
not - occur in linear chains. The Hawaiian chain is a prime example. How are such
chains generated? One possible explanation which has been proposed is to assume
that the volcanoes making the chain lie on a long zone of weakness in the crust, a
deep fracture, along which magma can rise to form volcanic islands. Yet, at least in
the case of the Hawaiian Islands, there is clearly a progression from high, large
islands with active volcanoes at the tip of the line , to sunken islands with extinct
volcanoes at the end (Fig. 1.14). It certainly looks as though the big islands are young
and the sunken ones old. Dating of the rocks, by radioactivity, confirms this impression. Thus, in the fracture hypothesis, we have to postulate a propagating crack,
which opens at one end and closes at the other.
A more satisfactory explanation of the origin of island chains was given by J. T.
Wilson (in 1965) and by W. J. Morgan (in 1972). They proposed a stationary source
of hot magma, deep in the mantle, over which the lithosphere rides. Volcanoes build
up on top of the crust over the "hot spot", a site of a "plume" of ascending magma.
As the plate moves, a trail of extinct volcanoes forms behind the active tip of the line
(Fig. 1.14).
Seamounts, Island Chains, and Hot Spots
a)
-c)
---
d)
31
e)
Fig, Ll3. b. Major lithosphere plates of the Earth, as proposed by W. J. Morgan (1968, J. Geophys.
Res. 73: 1959). EU Eurasian plate; AM American; PA Pacific; fA Indo-Australian; AF African; AA
Antarctic; PH Philippine; NAZ Nazsca Plate. Convergent plate boundaries (a) occur mostly around
the Pacific. Convergent plate boundaries both of which have continental crust occur in the Himalayas (c). Divergent plate boundaries mostly as midoceanic ridges (e) are dissected by transfonm
faults (b). Uncertain boundaries (d) occur in the Southern Ocean and between the Eurasian and
American plates. Some of the many hot spots are indicated by black dols. Arrows show direction of
plate movement relative to hot spots. Spreading rates in em/year are generalized. Newer models
have modified this picture somewhat, as mentioned in the text. [R. TrUmpy, 1985, Z. Nat. forsch.
Ges. ZUrich, 5: 13 , modified]
This trail, then indicates the direciton of movement of the lithospheric plate, with
respect to the (more or less stationary) mantle source. Changes in direction of the
trail, as between Hawaiian islands and Emperor seamounts, would indicate changes
in the direction of plate motion,
Hot spot plumes (with diameters of a few hundred kilometers) are thought to
originate from the lower mantle. They constitute an important component of the
mantle's convection. Basalts from this source are enriched in so-called incompatible
elements (potassium, rubidium, cesium, strontium, uranium, thorium, and rare earth
elements), compared with Ocean Ridge basalts. Presumably the upper mantle was
stripped of these elements in its long history of making continents, and this process
continues.
The global distribution of the more than a hundred hot spots and a few larger
plumes with diameters of 2000 km, so-called superplumes, is unexplained as yet. Is the
mantle in control of these pattems? A relationship seems to exist between the general
distribution of hot spots and mantle-wide upward convection as indicated by low
32
a

EXT INC T VOLCANOES
STATIONARY MANTLE
PLUME (HOT SPOT)
10;60~':------;;!1..<l'-
- --;'-::""----:-,40'::.,------,J,~.O
Fig. 1.14. a--<: Origin of Haiwaiian islands, submerged coral banks, and Emperor Seamounts, according to the "hot spot" hypothesis as envisaged by J. T. Wilson (1963, Can J Phys 41: 863) and
W. J. Morgan (1971, Nature, London 230: 42). a Sketch of hypothesis. b Ages in million years along
Hawaiian Ridge [K-Ar determinations, summarized by S. Uyeda 1978 and biostratigraphic ages of
basal sediment in Glomar Challellf!.er Sites, 430-433 Leg 55 , 1977]. c Selected hot spot tracks from
the Indian Ocean basin. Numbers are radiometric ages in million years determined on basaltic rocks
from islands, seamounts, continental locations, and underneath sediments penetrated by deep-sea
drilling. The linear chains of volcanoes again grow older in the direction of plate motion. In
1987-1989 four legs of ODP were devoted to the investigation of hot spots in the Indian Ocean. The
results indicate that plumes may be stationary over periods as long as 100 million years as seen on
the "Ninety-east Ridge" and that the Kerguelen and Reunion hot spots appear to have begun with
massive outpouring of flood basalts (Deccan and Rajmahal). [R. A. Duncan, 1991, GSA Today
(1,10: 213-219, simplified]
seismic velocities in the lower mantle in these regions. Or are weaknesses in the
lithosphere responsible? One suspects that both aspects will prove to be important.
1.8 Evidence for Sea-Floor Spreading: the Magnetic Stripes

We use the concept of sea-floor spreading for explaining many or most of the important morphological features of ocean basins. What proof do we have that the theory is
sound? This question was raised well into the 1970s.
Evidence for Sea-Floor Spreading: the Magnetic Stripes
33
What is "proof' in the geologic sciences? Can we prove that a fossil was once part
of a living organism? Can we prove that the Earth has an age of 4.6 billion years?
Can we prove that large continental glaciers once covered vast areas of North
America and northern Europe?
It all depends on what one is willing to accept as proof. Certainly, all the above
questions were once vehemently answered with NO by experts, and would be
answered with disbelief today - diesbelief that anyone would ask such a silly question.
What, then, about proof for sea-floor spreading? Since 1968, the year in which
several major articles appeared on the subject, "sea-floor spreading" has joined the
various other propositions about the Earth which are accepted as fact.
Why can we be so confident that the sea-floor spreading story is correct?
Our confidence derives from the global pattern of magnetic anomalies on the sea
floor (Fig. 1.15). For each of the observations on morphology, heat flow, seismic
activity, etc., which are so nicely explained by sea-floor spreading, it is possible to
conceive of some other way to produce the phenomenon. However, for the magnetic
anomalies no reasonable alternative to sea-floor spreading has ever been proposed and not for lack of trying.
The patterns, the "magnetic stripes", were first discovered by geophysicists at
Scripps Institutions of Oceanography (R. G. Mason, A. D. Raff, V. Vacquier). However, their origin remained a complete mystery for several years. One of the problems
was that the area for which they had been mapped is tectonically complicated, and the
symmetry of the patterns about the Ridge, which holds the key to the explanation, is
not obvious at all there.
The first successful attempt to account for the "stripes" was by F. J. Vine (then a
graduate student at Cambridge University) and D. H. Matthews (his advisor), in 1963.
Their suggestion was strinkingly simple: put together the ideas on sea-floor spreading
of H. H. Hess and of R. S. Dietz, and combine them with the evidence for periodic
reversals in the Earth's magnetic field, as presented by A. Cox and co-workers (in
1963). The newly upwelled, hot material at the Ridge Crest (or within the central rift)
is magnetized upon cooling below 525 0 (the Curie Point), in accordance with the
prevailing magnetic field. If this field reverses periodically, and, they said, "if spreading of the ocean floor occurs, blocks of alternately normal and reversely magnetized
material would drift away from the center of the ridge and parallel to the crest of it."
Here, in a nutshell, was the key to proving the reality of sea-floor spreading (Fig.
1.16). The sea floor could be seen to act as a tape recorder of the earth's magnetic
field.
Eventually, the magnetic anomaly sequence on each side of the ridge, in every
major ocean basin, was found to be exactly the same as in the lava flows studied (and
dated) on land.
The tape recorder is perhaps not of the finest quality, but it works remarkably well
(Fig. 1.16a). With a time scale at hand (Fig. 1.16c), we can now read off the spreading rate, simply by matching the sea-floor anomalies to the magnetic reversal scale.
Thus, we can make an age map of the sea floor (Fig. 1.17).
If the age map is correct, we should then find that the oldest sediment lying on the
basaltic substrate shows the same age progression. The deep-sea drilling ship Glomar
34
Fig. 1.15 a, b Magnetic lineations on the sea floor. a Anomaly patterns of A. D. Raff and
R. G. Mason (J 961, Geol Soc
Am Bull 72: 1267). These anomalies remained unexplained for
several years. They are now
recognized as being generated at
the " spreading centers" (arrows).
b Mechanism of generating magnetic anomalies , as proposed by
F. 1. Vine and D. H. Matthews
(1963 , Nature London 199:
947). [F. J. Vine in R. A. Phinney, 1968. The history of the
Earth 's crust, Princeton Univ.
Pre ss pp 73- 89]
Evidence for Sea-Floor Spreading: the Magnetic Stripes
35
PLI O
w
z
w
'O" ~
u
0
j;
Sl
. 0 l1li
....
~
w
z
w
<.:>
::::;
0
!i'
w
z
w
.\;
;;
0
K'
u
0
20
w
z
w
u
0
..J
<t
"-
60
<II
::>
0
30
.-W<t
Q:
'"
Fig. 1.16. a--c Magnetic lineations on the sea floor and the time scale of magnetic reversals, fo r the
last 80 million years. Pattern on Reykjanes Ridge from 1. R. Heirtzler et al. (1966. Deep-Sea Res.
13: 427). Time scale after Heirtzler et al. (1968) 1 Geophys Res 73: 2119) . Biostratigraphic boundaries (c) modified
36
Fig. 1.17. Age of the sea

tloor in the Atlantic Ocea n.
based chiefly on the magnetic reversa l . calc. The
grad ua l increa e in size of
the Atl antic is ev ide nt. It
grows at the expense of the
Pacific (whose age di strib uti ons are Ie. swe ll estabIi hed . IW. H. Berger.
E. L. Winte rer. 1974. lnt
soc edime nt pec Publ
I: III
Challenger set out in 1968 to test this prediction. It was first found to be correct
during Leg 3 (1968/69). Since then, most magnetic and micropa1e-ontological age
determinations have coincided with an astonishing exactness (Fig. 1.18). In the end,
this agreement had to the accepted as "proof' of the new theory.
1.9 Open Tasks and Questions

Plate tectonics brought a wealth of answers to fundamental questions - such as the
origin of mountains! - that had long resisted the most painstaking inquiries. However,
as any good theory should, it raised a host of new problems. Many of them simply
concern refinement of existing concepts, for example the details of processes active
at the plate margins (Fig. 1.20).
37
Open Tasks and Queslions
Paleomagnetic
CRETACEOUS
LOWER
UPPER
JURASSIC
Million .
(j
>-0
0::: W
I.
'60
'\0
Ages
140
M 20
1]0
15
110
no
100
to
TERT IARY
PALAEOGENE NEOG.
'"
10 M 1 Magn Anomal,E'S
lCr
HI
.... 0
.. 0
20
30 25
15
)0
10
,.
<{Z
I- W
,.
W <.9
1- 0
W
'"
Z
a:: W
<{
-.J
rt.
til
til
0
......
0
....
u
:E
Lf)
~
a::
W
a l, !
0 Q..
W ~
<{
""
Q..
l-
a:: a::
w
Mognetlc oge
I Mlcropoleon to IOgicOl07
~
0
...J
U
i7)
Lf)
<{
a::
-,
,/I
10
IN
io
'9
14.
i.
lEo
depth '.,.'~ """" ~ ~
I\.OlIll
:!CO
fm
;;
L Sites
lEIS,...,
all.""
distance """'"
Fig. 1.18. Comparison of magnetic anomaly ages ("basement age s") and biostratigraphic ages for
oldest sediment. Glomar Challenger Sites I ~417 (l968 ~ 1976). Compiled by M. Sarnthein, Kiel.
Note that most of the sediment ages are slightly younger than the pal eomagnetic basement ages as
is expected. Insert Age-distance plot of DSDP Leg 3 data, on a profile across the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge off Brazil at 30 S. These data (published by A. E. Maxwell et aI., 1970, Science 168: 1047)
first demonstrated the agreement between paleomagnetic dating based on the hypothesis of sea floor
spreading, and the dates deri ved from biostratigraphy
Both the physics of motion and the chemistI)' of the fractionation of materials
constitute the focus of such studies. How exactly are sulfide deposits formed near the
Ridge crest? What is their fate in the subduction zones? Do they contribute to the
formation of ore bodies there? What is the role of hydrothermal fluids in both environments? More fundamentally, how do these processes bear on the composition of
seawater and the atmosphere? We shall return to some of these questions, especially
in Chapter 10.
38
~
/
/ ~,
)'
'
.'
t:JJ Continent
0 Shelf
Overlap
Gap
Basin
N. Atl. folq. belts

:. ~-f-
'r-
- .-
'.
,0
b'
Fig. 1.19. The fit of the continents bordering the Atlantic , as proposed by E. C: Bullard et al. (i n
Blackett et al. 1965). The fit is based o n matching the 500 fathom (900 m) contour. Note the Niger
Delta overlap. which is expected, and the Bahamas overlap, which is unexplained. Note also the
position of Gibraltar relative of Africa, and the "closure" of the Bay of Biscay. The ali gnment of the
Paleozoic fold belt s in North America and Europe and in South America and Africa (here added) is
remarkably good. a Caledon ian fold belt; h Hercy ni an fold belt; c Panafrican fold belt. [From
various sources, Panafrican belt after C. 1. Archanjo and 1. L. Bouchez, Bull. Soc. Geol. France,
1991 , 4: 638]
Open Tasks and Questions
39
Other problems have to do not so much with processes, but with a better grip on
historical reconstruction.
For the marine geologist interested in reconstructing the history of the oceans,
reliable paleogeographic maps showing the distribution of land and water through
geologic time are perhaps the most pressing need. E. C. Bullard et aI., in 1965,
demonstrated how to reassemble correctly the drifting continents and continental
fragments in a sphere (Fig. 1.19). Bullard's co-workers and others since have greatly
extended this type of work and have supplied a series of maps with ancient positions
of continental masses. These, of course, are extremely useful for historical geology,
both continental and marine. However, we know that mountain building and other
processes active at the transitions between oceanic and continental crust have
changed significant details of the continental configurations. Some of these changes
are crucial in deciding, for example, whether there was a connection between one
ocean basin and another. It will take many years of compilation, fieldwork, and
detailed reassembly just to provide the kind of paleogeographic base maps necessary
for explaining the distribution of ancient fossils, for instance.
These tasks are difficult enough for the time back to the Permian. For earlier
periods the challenge takes on intimidating dimensions.
Continuous improvement of the time scale of magnetic reversals, for example, is
an important task, because this scale forms the basis for discovering rates of change
in Earth history, including continental drift or sedimentary processes. A more difficult
task in this context is to determine the duration of magnetic reversals (less
than 10 000 years mostly) and why the reversals occur in the first place. Or, the same
question put differently, why reversals did not occur for considerable time spans, as,
for example, in the middle Cretaceous (see Fig. 9.22). Was the release of plumes from
the lower mantle (which apparently expressed itself millions of years later as outpouring of basalts on the seafloor) in any way related to the cessation of magnetic
reversals? If so, why should this be? Reversals, then, pose problems a-plenty - and
not just for migrating birds using the magnetic field to orient themselves.
Many fundamental questions have been raised (see Fig. 1.20). What determines
sea-floor spreading rates? What is the reason for changing spreading directions and
rates? What is the significance of the enormous clusters of islands and seamounts in
the South Pacific (between the Bikini Atoll, some 2000 km southeast of the Marianas
stretching parallel and inside the andesite line (Fig. A6.1) for about 8000 km to the
Tuamotu Archipelago)? Presumably, they have to do with details of mantle processes
which we are far from grasping as in other tectonic and volcanic intra-plate
situations.
Clearly, all the major features on the thin skin of planet Earth, the crust, must
ultimately owe much to such mantle processes. What does convection in the mantle
actually look like? Are upper and lower mantle convection largely decoupled or not?
What is the role of downgoing slabs in mixing the mantle? What about the rising
plumes? How important are they within the convection scenario? Where is their
source? How much is the material modified on the way up? How stable are the
plumes through geologic time? Why do they have quite different expressions on the
surface, ranging from oceanic plateaus to island groups?
40

VOLCAN IC ARC
format ion of
C?
OttBOdl e. ~
MI DOCEAN
SPREADING CENTER
Hi Qh T
SulfI d e Oe""si'
Hydn>lherma l
;'
,~ C ircu l a t i o n
~~~~".~
Fig. 1.20. Fluxes associated with plate tectonics and mountain-building at convergent zones. Processes within subduction zones are poorly understood. They include metasomatic activity, whereby
existing rocks are partially or entirely replaced by reaction products of these rocks with invading
matter from below. [European Science Foundation, 1988, Report on the Second Conference on
Scientific Ocean Drilling, Strasbourg, Imprim. Reg.]
Exploration by seismic tomography (three-dimensional modeling of the mantle

based on multidirectional propagation of seismic waves), and the systematic largescale mapping of the chemistry of basalts are providing glimpses of what to expect.
Apparently, the mantle is not just layered, but consists of a complicated patchwork of
interlocking and mixing magma masses with different histories - and different physical and chemical properties. Numerical modelling - mathematical experiments based
on current knowledge of the system - suggests the presence of quasi-cy Iindrical
upwelling bodies, reminiscent of the updraft below cumulus clouds familiar to aviators. Of course, these updrafts in the mantle move extremely slowly on the human
time scale. Downwelling, in the models, is represented by elongated sheets, perhaps
derived from slabs descending in subduction zones. These slabs, being cold and
therefore heavy, are part of the driving mechanism for the convection which we try to
understand.
The various messages from the mantle - in the shape of large-scale topographic
features (e. g., "superswell" in the South Pacific) and unusual isotopic composition
of basalt (e. g., "Dupal anomaly" in the Indian Ocean) - need to be mapped and
coordinated in coherent models, before mantle processes are properly understood.
Further Reading
Cox A (ed) (1973) Plate tectonics and geomagnetics reversals. Freeman, San Francisco
LePichon X, Francheteau J, Bonnin J (1973) Plate tectonics. Elsev ier, Amsterdam
Uyeda S (1978) The new view of the earth - moving continents and moving oceans. Freeman ,
San Francisco
Anderson RN (1986) Marine geology - a planet Earth perspective. Wiley, New York
Kearey P, Vine FJ (1990) Global tectonics. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford
2 Origin and Morphology of Ocean Margins
2.1 General Features of Continental Margins

The continents are very old: they contain rocks aged thousands of millions of years.
Ultimately, they are the product of selective accumulation of low density mantle
material. Because of this low density they float on the mantle. The ocean floor, on the
other hand, is geologically young, as we have seen. The basaltic rock which forms the
ocean floor basement is rather close in composition to the mantle rock it came from.
It is slightly heavier than continental rock (largely due to its high iron content,
Appendix A6). The light-weight continental mass protrudes above the surrounding
sea floor (Fig. 2.1 a). Thick sediment piles accumulate at the boundary between continent and ocean, which build the actual margin (Fig. 2.1c). These sediments may be
CONT I NE NTAL
OCEANIC
Olun
10
= 1.03
CRUST
t ~,:l'2Dim
' 2g.9~1-
:\:::::)::::i:"
I\
,:
.:
:::::::=:::},:::::,:
) J 3:
'S-o
'----I~~~
a
SEDIMENT WEDG E
E{UFllH_ loo km
c
Fig. 2.1 a-c. Schematic isostatic block model for continent-ocean-transition. a Cross-section
through continent " floating" on mantle (Uyeda, 1978). b Density profiles. c Sketch of general nature
of continental margin
42
Origin and Morphology of Ocean Margins
well layered or strongly defonned, depending on the tectonic forces active at the
margin.
The ocean margins, that is, the regions of transition between continent and deep
ocean, differ greatly in their characteristics, depending on whether they occur in
mid-plate areas (on the continent's trailing edge), or on the collision edge of a continent, or along a shear zone. The one thing most of the ocean margins have in
common is the occurrence of large masses of sediment. Ocean margins are generally
referred to as continental margins - a reflection of our landlubber point of view.
The importance of the continental margins in the overall geography of the ocean floor
can best be illustrated with a few statistics (Table 2.1). The various numbers reflect in
essence the efficiency of the exogenic and endogenic processes which provide the
balance between the extent of continents and of ocean basins. This balance is produced by erosion of highlands, deposition around the continents, and the mountainbuilding processes briefly alluded to earlier.
The bulk of the land area, about 70 %, is within 1000 m above sea level. Continents wear down toward sea level because it is the baseline of erosion. Sea level is
also the top level of deposition. Hence the sediments deposited offshore tend to build
up to sea level. The great plains of the lower Mississippi Basin, and the entire Gulf
Coast are prime examples of this tendency for large continental areas to be near sea
level. These areas are underlain by sediments deposited close to sea level during
times when the sea invaded the continent.
Large parts of the low-lying portions of continents are covered with marine deposits. Actually, such areas are part of the shelf of a continent, a part which is
frequently submerged in the course of geologic history, but which happens to be
exposed right now. At the present time in our geologic period, an unusually large
porportion of this shelf is exposed. If we put the outer end of the shelf at 200 m water
depth (for convenience - it varies greatly), 28 million km 2 , i. e., about 5 % of the
Earth's surface consists of submerged shelves, that is, between 7 and 8 % of the
ocean floor, or nearly the area of Africa.
Table 2.1. Statistics on continental margins. (After H. W. Menard and S. M. Smith, 1966, J Geophys
Res 71 p 4305. and other sources)
Shelf
World ocean
without
adjacent seas
Continental slope
Average
m) width
106 km 2 (km)
Area
(0~200
Atlantic
6.080
(% of its area) (7.9 %)
Indian Ocean 2.622
(3.6 %)
Pacific
2.712
(1.6 %)
Cont. rise Trenches
Average Area
Average Average Area
Area
(10 6 km 2 ) width
(10 6 km 2) (106 km 2)
slope
slope
(km)
115
028'
91
023'
52
049'
6.578
(7.6 %)
3.475
(4.7 %)
8.587
(5.2 %)
260
1 19'
182
135'
139
3 13'
5.381
(6.2 %)
4.212
(5.7 %)
2.690
(1.6 %)
0.447
(0.5 %)
0.256
(0.3 %)
4.757
(2.9 %)
General Features of Continental Margins
43
The schematic drawing in Fig. 2.2a shows the relationships between shelf, continental slope, and continental rise, and introduces commonly used terms associated
with continental margin environments. The physiographic diagram of the margin off
the East Coast illustrates the various morphologic provinces (Fig. 2.2b).
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
C. Shelf
1.7
0-1700
DEEP SEA FLOOR
(/)
w
I
avo slope (%o)

width (km)
i c environment
w
a::
t-
44
The tenus pelagic and neritic refer to marine organisms as well as sediments, and
mean open ocean and coastal, respectively. Littoral, etc. down to hadal, refer to
water depths. Littoral ist the same as intertidal, meaning between tides. Supralittoral
refers to the spray zone, sublittoral to offshore from the tidal area.
2.2 Margins Are Sediment Traps

The continental margins are the dumping site for the debris coming from the continents,
the terrigenous sediments. The margins are also the most fertile parts of the ocean, where
productivity is high. Thus, much organic matter becomes buried within the continental
debris. If contidions are right, over millions of years, this organic material can eventually
develop into petroleum. This happened, of course, in the Gulf Coast area, where oil is
found buried under immense masses of sediment (see Chap. 10).
Which margins are likely to have thick sediment wedges? It is reasonable to
expect that an ocean basin draining a large land area, per unit area of ocean (Table 2.2), is going to have a thick accumulation of sediment. Indeed, the margins of the
Atlantic Ocean have very thick wedges of sediment, up to 10 km and more. The
Atlantic also has the largest proportions of slope and continental rise areas of the
major ocean basins (Fig. 1.3). The reason for this is not only sediment supply, but
also the fact that the Atlantic margins are old "trailing edges" and have not been
disturbed by tectonic processes, other than sinking, for a long time.
Tabe 2.2. Land and ocean areas and drainage. (After H. W. Menard and S. M. Smith, 1966, J
Geophys Res 71 p 4305, and other sources)
Asia
Europe
Africa
North America
South America
Antarctic
Australia
Pacific
Atlantic
Indian Ocean
Area
(10 6 km 2)
% of Earth
surface
44.8
10.4
30.6
22.0
17.9
15.6
7.8
181.3 a
(166.2)
106.6a
(86.8)
74.la
(73.4 )
Drained
land areab
(10 6 km 2)
Ocean area
land area
Average
depth of water
(km)
8.7
2.1
6.0
4.3
3.5
3.1
1.5
35.4
18
10:1
20.8
67
1,6:1
14.5
17
4,3: 1
4.0
(4.2)
3.3
(3.8)
3.9
(3.9)
a Including adjacent seas (Black sea, Mediterranean and Arctic included with Atlantic).
Numbers in parentheses: without adjacent seas.
b Excluding areas with interior drainage, and Antarctic.
Atlantic-Type (= Passive) Margins
45
2.3 Atlantic-Type (= Passive) Margins

Continental margins differ greatly, depending on their origin. As early as 1883, E.
Suess (1831-1914) coined the terms Atlantic margins and Pacific margins to emphasize the major differences. Essentially, Atlantic-type margins are steadily sinking
regions, accumulating thick sequences of sediment in layer-cake fashion. In contrast,
Pacific-type margins are, on the whole, rising , and are associated with volcanism,
folding, faulting, and other mountain-building processes. Atlantic-type margins also
are called "passive", and Pacific-type margins "active", because of the difference in
tectonic style and the occurrence of earthquakes and active volcanoes.
The orign of the margins must be understood in the context of sea floor spreading.
In the Atlantic, the continental margins originated through a tearing apart of an
ancient continent, along a line of weakness or great stress, and subsequently evolved
through sinking and loading with sediment (Fig. 2.3).
The development can be illustrated taking the Red Sea, as a model. Here, mantle
material pushes up and tears the Arabian Peninsula from Africa.
SPREAD ING CENTER
- 1...-......,...,...~--t.~-.--.......- ...
SEA LEVEL
Fig. 2.3 a-d. Evolution of Atlantic-type continental margins. Uplift of Earth mantle material a expands the continental crust (CC) causing graben structures. Volcanism is common at this stage. The
continental crust thins, subsides, and b splits apart. Coarse terrigenous sediments (dOlled) volcanogenic deposits (h/ack) (and salt in some cases) accumulate. Rifting is followed by drifting , with
further subsidence of continental margins. Mantle material forms new oceanic crust (OC) as shown
in c. This stage resemble s modern Red Sea conditions. d Sea-floor spreading widens newly formed
oceanic crust area. Sediments cover older parts of sea floor, and build up margin
46
The initial phase of this process can be studied in the East African Rift Valley,
where the sea has not entered the rift. The pulling apart (and therefore thinning) of the
continental crust opens a window for mantle material (Fig. 2.3 a, b) intruding from
the asthenosphere. Heat flow further increases and there is a bulging upward from the
rising mantle material, much as at the Mid-Ocean Ridge. However, between the
separating edges of continental crust there is an increasing gap now. Pieces of the
continental crust break off along "listric faults". This process continues to thin and
strech the continental crust. ("Nonvolcanic" margin type as in the Northern Biscay or
at Georges Bank, see Fig. 2.4).
Also, the central graben receives large amounts of sediment from the wall-like
mountains surrounding it. These mountains - first uplifted by the rising mantle material - continue to rise as erosion unloads them. The central valley, which started as
1--50- 150km----,--tI......---50 - 300+km - -..oj
I'
IOO~.
~<::,::: :
~~~I~--~@r----~~I~~
Fig. 2.4 a~. a Comparison of typical structural elements of "volcanic" (A) and "nonvolcanic" (8)
continental margins. I Normal thickness oceanic crust; 2 seaward dipping units; 3 structural high in
continental crust. often occurring adjacent to 2; 6 thinned. subsided continental crust; 7 un stretched
continental crust. Parallel signatures Sediments; douhle line Moho. Mantle underneath. [J. C . Mutter et a. 1987 and I. C. Sibuet and Z. Mascle 1978 in European Science Foundation. Cosod II Report.
Strasbourg. 1987: 92.] b Rifted continental margins in the North Atlantic. "Volcanic" type (A) and
" nonvolcanic" type (8). Iceland as hot spot on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge . [R. S. White et al. . 1987,
Nature. 330: 439.] c Continuous seismic reflection profile across the "volcanic" type of a passive
continental margin, with proposed drill sites for deep-sea drilling and the final drill hole 642 .
(Voring plateau off Norway. see Fig. b). Dipping reflectors between horizons E and K. E Top of
Lower Eocene basalt flows; K base of seaward-dipping reflector sequences; M and 0 Tertiary
unconformities (M Middle/Upper Miocene , 0 Middle Oligocene). [Data from K. Hinz in O. Eldholm et aI. , Proc. ODP Initial Repts. 104, 12.]
47
7S'N
70'N
60' N
S. rddipping
t.fl.ctot.
aa .. llim.
and lIow.
Submarlna
contour. In
kllome'r..
40'N~~----~--~~~~~~----~~~~~~-----r------~
KM
20'e
48
a gap, now sinks under the load of sediments and by cooling. As it widens, the sea
invades and the magmatic accretion process asserts itself morphologically, as a young
mid-ocean ridge with an axial valley.
The processes at depth, in the zone where continental crust meets the melts from
the asthenosphere, are hidden from view, and are correspondingly less well understood. Magma intrudes between blocks of continental crust and partly remelts it and
mixes with it. Some of the magma reaches the surface, producing large outpourings
of basalt, as in the Afar desert of Ethiopia. Examples with volcanic units up to 3 or 5
km thickness from Atlantic rifting are "volcanic" margins as in East Greenland and
Norway Voring plateau, see Fig. 2.4). Here deep-sea drilling confIrmed the character
of "dipping reflectors" as ancient lava flows.
Back to the Red Sea (Fig. 2.3 c), where the submerged margins are sinking on the
cooling lithosphere! Thick reef structures can grow on these sinking blocks, building
up a carbonate shelf, and further depressing the crust with their weight. If the Red Sea
were only slightly less open, salt deposits would form - indeed there is evidence from
thick evaporite deposits that this happened in the past.
In sum, the receding margins sink and a rampart of reef carbonate may build up,
and salt deposits also may form in the early phase of rifting.
Ancient salt deposits and reef ramparts are just what we see along many of the
Atlantic margins (Figs. 2.5, 2.6). Salt deposits, of course, also are well known from
the Gulf of Mexico, where they push up as salt domes (diapirs), providing a path for
petroleum migration (see Chap. 10). In the Atlantic proper, good evidence for salt
deposits exists, especially off Angola. The salt in the South Atlantic was laid down,
presumably, when this ocean was narrow, was closed to the north, and had restricted
exchange to the south due to the Walvis Ridge-Rio Grande Barrier (now near 30 S).
Large petroleum reserves may be associated with these salt deposits, because the
South Atlantic also was the site for deposition of organic-rich sediments, during a
long period in the middle Cretaceous.
The kind of material accumulating on sinking continental margins depends on the
geologic setting of the region. In the tropics, and where no large rivers bring sediment
or freshwater, reef carbonates can grow. Elsewhere, mixtures of lagoonal and riverine
sediments may gradually be buried by offshore deposits - mainly hemipelagic mud,
rich in the shells of planktonic (floating) and benthic (bottom-living) organisms. In
places, the sediments can become extraordinarily thick: 10 to 15 km of sediment are
reported from off the Niger, the Mississippi and from other large deltas (Fig. 2.6).
The end-result of rifting, then, is continental margins consisting of thick sediment
stacks piled both on the sinking blocks of a continental edge (Figs. 2.3, 2.6).
We can generalize these conclusions to all margins which originated by rifting and
are riding passively on the moving plate (hence passive margins). Besides the Atlantic margins proper, there are the East African margin, the margins of India, much of
the margin of Australia, and practically all of Antarctic. In the Antarctic, of course,
special conditions prevail with respect to erosion and deposition, at least since the
formation of ice sheets. Thick ice sheets have been present there since the late
Tertiary and possibly earlier.
49
5fA~RS
5~51
sec
-2
Fig. 2.5 a-c. Evaporite deposition in the early Atlantic. a Geographic distribution of Mesozoic evaporites.
[K. O. Emery, 1977, AAPG
Continuing Education
Course Notes Ser 5: B-1.]
b Salt diapir structures (S)
as seen on air gun profile of
Meteor Cruise 39, off Morocco (near 30 N). Water
depth at triangle is approximately 1800 m. [E. Seibold
et aI., 1976.] c Relationship
of salt diapirs to margin
structure off Angola (SW
Africa). The Aptian salt is
underlain by nonmarine
clastic deposits which fill
graben-like depression
within pre-Cambrian basement [R. H. Beck and
P. Lehner, 1974, AAPG
Bull. 58. 376.]
- ..... . . .
Cretaceous
OJ Pre Combrlon
D Oceanic Basolts
c
5011
50
CD NORMAL CLASTIC (SW AFRICA)
DEPTH
KillS
COAST
o
5
10
2 CARBONATEBANK(SENEGAU
COAST
DEPTH
KillS
o
5
CONTINENTAL CRUST
CD MAJOR DELTA WITH GRAVITY TECTONIC FEATURES (NIGER DELTA)
10
DEPTH
KillS
r--------------~=F~~~~~~77.~~~~~~~~~T1_0
-s
- 10
SALT TECTONICS (GABON)
COAST
ATLANTIC OCEAN
s
10
Fig_ 2.6. Passive or Atlantic-type Continental Margins. Different types off Africa. A Nonmarine;
B marine sediments. [K. T. Pickering et aI., 1989: 252, Deep-marine Environments, Unw in Hyman,
London .]
Unsolved Questions in the Study of Passive Margins
51
2.4 Unsolved Questions in the Study of Passive Margins

The unraveling of the exact origin and evolution of each stretch of passive margin
poses its own problems. The commonly used analogy of the evolution of rifting from the East African Rift to the Red Sea, to the Gulf of California, and finally the
Atlantic - provides guidance as to which processes may be at work. Was there
stretching before, and erosion of a crustal bulge at the site of future rifting? How wide
was the original rift valley? How does the sinking of the outer parts of the continental
edge affect landward crustal blocks? What are the rates of uplift and subsidence, and
of erosion and sedimentation in time and space? With regard to the history of subsidence, what is the relative role of "floating in the mantle" (isostatic equilibrium) of
the blocks, versus gravitational sliding? What are the forces provoking the very long
lasting uplift of certain parts of the continental margin (as off South Africa), and the
formation of long deep-seated barrier ridges along some margins? What is the significance of the lack of sediments of a certain age, in many margins? Was the lack
caused by erosion? By nondeposition? By huge landslides?
One question of fundamental interest is whether and where the thick sediment
stacks piling up on the passive margins will eventually be found in the geologic
record, on land. After all, the Atlantic cannot just go on rifting apart - sooner or later
it runs out of space. One suggestion by J. T. Wilson is that a proto-Atlantic once was
formed by rifting, and then closed again, running the previously passive margins into
each other. The presumed product of this process: the chain of mountains from
Norway through Scotland through Newfoundland and to the Appalachians. Check
their positions on the "Bullard Fit" (Fig. 1.19) - Wilson's suggestion makes good
sense.
If Wilson's hypothesis is correct, the passive margins would have turned into
active margins when colliding with the trench that must have been there to make the
proto-Atlantic disappear. What does such a collision margin look like? Would we be
able to go to the mountains to check for the signs of collision?
To answer this question we must study the Pacific-type margins, that is, the collision margins.
2.5 Pacific-Type (= Active) Margins

We have previously alluded to the collision of a continent with a trench, focusing on
the evidence for subduction (Sect. 1.5). Actually, there are at least three types of
collision margins which we need to consider: those produced by continent-continent
collision as in the Himalayas, by continent-ocean collision as at the Peru-ChileTrench, with a shallowly dipping subduction zone (Fig. 2.7a) and those where the
subduction takes place along island arcs, as along the Marianas, for example (Fig.
2.7b). This type has a deeply dipping subduction zone.
Perhaps the most important characteristics of collision margins are the folding and
shearing of sediments, and especially the addition of volcanic and plutonic material,
from the active vents sitting on top of the downgoing lithosphere. Also, the fractio-
52
L..-._ _ _--'-'.........._
....
Fig. 2.7 a, b. Sketch of collision margins. in profile (not to scale). a Peru-type collision (ocean-continent). Slope sediments are being tectonically deformed. Igneous activity including volcanism
derives from melts generated within the subduction zone. Complicated areal distribution of extension and compression. [J. Aubouin 1984, Bull. Geol. Soc. France. 3.] b Island-arc situation (oceanocean). Volcanic islands build up over subduction zone. Back-arc basin with spreading center.
[Sources: J. R. Curray. D . G. Moore, in C. A. Burk and C. L. Drake 1974, ref. p. 250; and
D. R. Seely, W. R. Dickinson 1977 Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Continuing Educ. Notes Ser. 5.]
nation processes associated with partial melting on the descending slab, and with
hydrothermal reactions, can lead to enrichment of melts with heavy metals - and
hence to the formation of ore deposits, as in the Andes (Fig. 1.20).
The types of rocks which characterize the continental margins next to subduction
zones are extremely varied, which comes as no surprise. The incoming lithosphere
brings an assortment of basaltic rocks, serpentinite, gabbro, peridotite, which were
derived from the mantle and altered by hydrothermal reactions under various conditions of pressure and temperature. In addition, various kinds of pelagic sediments
may be added - deep-sea clay, shell carbonates, biogenous silica. When such rock
Pacific-Type (= Active) Margins
53
assemblages are found on land, they are referred to as ophiolites and are mapped in
the hope of finding ancient subduction zones. It is like hunting for lost oceans on
land. Occasionally the reward is discovery of massive copper sulfides and other ores.
The mechanism allowing these ophiolites to escape subduction by vertical displacement of several kilometers ("obduction") is a matter of speculation.
The steep slopes leading into the trench are favorable for larg-scale gravitational
transport of rock masses from the land side into the subduction zone. The jumbled
masses (melange) thus generated are then sheared, and metamorphosed (i. e., baked
and cooked) under pressure (but at relatively low temperatures). Blue schists, and
subsequently amphibolites can form under these conditions.
In classic geologic literature, the sediments of trailing edges are known as miogeosynclinal, and those of collision edges as eugeosynclinal. The geosyncline part of
terms, of course, stems from the observation that the Earth's crust must have subsided
in order to accumulate the thick masses of sediment found in the mountains.
The nature of the active margins is subject of ongoing research and still holds
many surprises. The early simple concept of an origin from scraped off material left
by the downgoing slabs had to be modified. There is little transfer of material in
places and, in fact, there is "tectonic erosion", whereby portions of the margin are
swallowed by the subduction zone. This may be initiated by massive slumping into
the trench (e. g., Japan Trench), which delivers materials for building continental
roots, and for metasomatic processes within an island arc.
The role of fluids has received increased attention. Both tectonic motions (faulting, overthrusting) and chemical reactions within the accretionary prism are generally
influenced by the presence and composition of such fluids expulsed by tectonic
compaction and from dehydration reactions of commonly very high pore fluid pressures (Fig. 2.8). Gases are important, too. In the Caribbean Barbados Ridge Complex,
for example, the low-angle fault between the accretionary wedge and the underthrusting oceanic crust is greased by methane bearing fluids, which keep the wedge detached from the downgoing slab.
Special complexity is added to the subduction system by the phenomenon of
"back-arc spreading" (Fig. 2.7b). This is localized sea floor spreading, which occurs
landward of volcanic arcs, as in the Philippines or west of Guam. More than 75 % of
these marginal basins are concentrated in the Western Pacific. That extension
(necessary to let magma rise) should be associated with collision is surprising. Are
the island arcs drifting oceanward, pulled to the east by subduction?
Of course active, Pacific-type margins also are sediment traps. However, here
sediments are piled up into chaotic mixtures of various types of rocks. In addition,
one must keep in mind that enormous masses of material simply disappear deep into
the mantle. The scale of the subduction activity is difficult to imagine - the lithospheric slab now entering the Japan Trench is more than 10 000 km long! At present
rates, it will vanish in about 100 million years.
54
DECREASING INTERGRANULAR PERMEABI LITY

INCREASING FRACTURE PERMEABILITY
CHEMICALLY EXOTIC
FLUID FLOWS TO
X : RFACE
HIGH ~~i;aILIT,~;;~:;:,i:l;m~rr;i!i!!ll! l l li!
DECOLLE MENT
IV
MINERAL DEHYDRATlG.'1 AND

HYDROCI\R130N GENERATION '
"
Fig. 2.8 a Reflection seismic profile from the subduction zone at the Nankai trough southeast of
southern Japan. 7WS Two-way travel time in seconds; BSR bottom simulating reflector. Note the
downgoing oceanic crust of the Philippine plate with the decollement zone (in Miocene sediments) .
The accretionary prism above it consists of turbidites and hemipelagic sediments and is intensively
deformed , thus opening paths for fluids . [A. Taira and Y. Ogawa, 1991 , Episodes 14, 3: 209.]
b Diagram showing paths for fluids in a sandy accretionary pri sm. [J. C. Moore et aI., 199 I, GSA
Today, I, 12: 269.] Where these paths reach the surface, seepage-related biological communities
may occur, as obse rved by submersibles in the Nankai trough (see Chap. 6.9).
2.6 Shear Margins and Complex Margins

Passive or trailing continental margins normally are parallel to mid-oceanic ridges , as
clearly seen in the North and South Atlantic. What about the nearly east-west-running
margins of North Brazil and the African Guinea Coast? They are parallel to the many
fracture zones near the Equator there and represent a third type, shear margins, with
narrow shelves.
The Shelf Areas
55
Not all margins can be readily classified. Some of these rim the marginal basins
behind island arcs and elsewhere in adjacent seas. Some are originating from a
combination of continent shearing and rift extension, with examples on both sides of
the South Atlantic. Some have an extremely complex history, such as the Californian
margin, which not so long ago used to be dominated by accretionary processes and is
now characterized largely by tectonic shear (San Andreas Fault) and extension
(Southern Californian Borderland). However, the task of the marine geologist is not
so much to devise classifications which fit all possible instances, as to identify those
processes which characterize various types of margins and set them apart from others.
2.7 The Shelf Areas

The submerged part of a continent is the shelf. We have seen earlier that emerged
low-lying regions also can be argued to be part of the shelf. However, here we are
concerned with the actual sea floor, covered by water.
Typically, shelves are flat and are not very deeply submerged. An average depth
for the shelves rimming the Atlantic is near 130 m. Some shelves are quite wide,
especially those on passive margins. These are, on the whole, depositional features,
that is, they are built up by sediments. Narrow and rocky shelves, on the other hand,
are common on active margins (see Fig. 2.7a). Here, erosional processes play an
important role in shaping the shelf.
Some shelves extend deep into continents, and hamor shelf seas such as the
Hudson Bay, the Baltic Sea, or the Persian Gulf. Most of the marine sediments found
on land were originally deposited in shelf seas. To understand these sediments which cover the greater portion of the continents - one needs to study sedimentary
processes in modem shelf seas (see Chaps. 3 to 5).
Quite generally, present shelf environments and sediment types show considerable
variety over short distances. In part, this variability stems from the fact that the sea
level stood much lower only 15 000 years ago. Conditions were entirely different
then, and many portions of the present shelf still reflect those conditions in topography and sediment cover. The reason for the low sea level, of course, was the
presence of continental ice sheets which locked up enough water to make the ocean
go down by about 130 m.
We see that the nature of shelves reflects tectonics (active versus passive) and the
recent rise of sea level, on a grand scale. On a regional scale, climatic conditions and
sediment supply are of prime importance. In low latitudes buildup by reef forming
organisms is (or was) important in many places. In high latitudes ice has been an
important agent for the last several million years.
In the northern North Atlantic, for example, shelves everywhere show the effects
of ice. The growth of ice not only led to exposure of the shelves, it also dumped
enormous amounts of debris in places, the moraines. This material still sits on the
shelves, off Newfoundland, and in the North Sea. The ice, moving far out onto the
shelves, also actively carved deep ravines and depressions, which have not yet been
56
filled. The fjords of Norway, Greenland, and western Canada are witnesses to this
powerful action of the ice.
Shelves fonned by large deltas off river mouths (Amazon, Mississippi, etc.) can be
very flat and monotonous, in striking contrast to both the rugged ice-carved shelf and
the irregular coral reef shelf. The rich supply of fine sediment associated with delta
environments allows redistribution and smoothing by waves and currents. Of course,
waves and currents can also build up dunes, barriers, beach benns, and sand waves,
depending on circumstances (see Chap. 7). Examples for these conditions of high
terrigenous sediment supply include the North Sea, the shelf off the Siberian rivers,
the shelf of the Yellow Sea. A prime example is the Senegal delta, where the shelf has
less than 10 cm relief over several miles!
In any study of present shelves, we are chiefly faced with the question of how
much of the observed morphology and sediment cover is inherited from the past and
how much may be ascribed to the activity of the sea today. The task is complicated
by the fact that "today" includes at least the last several hundred years. Within such
time spans the sea can produce effects whose causes may not be obvious, especially
if they include rare but powerful hurricanes and large earthquake-generated waves
(tsunamis).
Tsunamis are produced chiefly in the trenches rimming the Pacific; they travel
over thousands of miles in a few hours. They are very long waves, and so low in the
open sea that they are not noticed on board a ship. When such a wave reaches a shelf
area, however, it slows down and builds up, reaching enonnous heights (tens of
meters) where conditions are right. In this condition it can wreak havoc on the coasts
of exposed shelves and also influence shelf morphology through the powerful bottom
currents it produces.
2.8 The Shelf Break

The shelf break, where shelf joins upper slope, is a prominent morphological feature
of continental margins. In principle, the break marks the depth below which the
influence of sea level on erosion and deposition wanes rapidly (Chap. 5). The details
are by no means understood, however.
The shelf break is commonly represented by a distinct increase in the slope at
about 100 to 150 m. The global mean is near 130 m. In the Antarctic and Greenland
it is very deep, down to 400 m. Here the break may mark the depression by the ice
load and the maximum depth of carving by ice. However, it is equally deep off
southwest Africa, where this explanation does not work. Generally, the break in slope
is distinct (Fig. 2.9), but it can also be gentle in places.
The fact that the shelf break is commonly between 100 to 150 m deep, strongly
suggests that it marks the lowstand of glacial sea level. Apparently this lowstand was
reached repeatedly in the maximum glaciations during the late Quaternary, thus exerting considerable control on shelf evolution. In any discussion of the shelf and the
shelf break in a particular geographic area, the regional isostatic responses of the
shelf to loading and unloading with water due to the changing sea level also must be
Continental Slope and Continental Rise
57
80
m
100
..... 5km
NW
---
120
SE
Fig. 2.9. Shelf break at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, subsurface echo profile by the research
vessel M eteor (1965). Note the accumulation of soft, layered sediment behind the rugged reef
structure. Upper slope collects reefal debris. The reef is dead. Shelf break is some what above 100 m
depth.
considered. However, such responses are difficult to separate from regional uplift and
subsidence.
2.9 Continental Slope and Continental Rise

The classic profile of Atlantic-type continental margins shows a steepening of the
slope at the shelf break and a gradually diminishing descent toward the deep sea floor
(Figs. 2.2 and 2.6). The relatively steep part below the shelf break ist the continental
slope; the gently descending part leading into the deep sea is the continental rise. The
boundary between slope and rise is ill-defined. Perhaps we can say that the slope is
definitely part of the margin, whereas the rise is built on oceanic crust and is essentially part of the deep-sea environment.
Not all slopes and rises , of course, fit the textbook outline of the ideal Atlantic
type - even in the Atlantic. Deep marginal ridges, as off Brazil, sheer walls of
outcropping ancient sediments, and deep-lying plateaus such as the Blake Plateau off
Florida can interrupt the ideal sequence.
The collision margins off Peru and Chile (Fig. 2.7a) are characterized by a steep
slope, without a rise - the trench swallows the material which would normally build
the rise. A descent in a series of steps is typical for the collision slope.
Rather complicated conditions prevail off much of the western US coast. While
the slope and rise off Northern California can be described simply enough in terms of
coalescing deep sea fan deposits (Fig. 2.10 northern part), no such description is
possible for the margin to the south. The Southern California Borderland looks much
like an extension of the basin-and-range topography familiar from the Mojave Desert,
into the sea. The tops of the ranges protrude as islands (Fig. 2.10 south-eastern part).
58
Fig. 2.10. Physiographic diagram of the ocean margin off California. Note the narrow shelves
bounded by sea cliffs toward the land (uplift!). The Continental Borderland in the south is a
submerged basin-and-range province. The continental slope essentially consists of enormous coalescing fans which transgress over the abyssal hills province. [Sketch based on physiographic diagram
of H. W. Menard, 1964.]
The various physiographic diagrams commonly depicting the rapid descent from
shelf edge to deep sea are somewhat misleading in that the slopes are in reality quite
gentle: between I and 6 (see Table 2.1). A 1 slope, of course, would appear as a
plain if one were standing on it.
From the variety of types of slopes, it is clear that a number of different forces are
at work in shaping them. We have referred to some of the endogenic forces when
comparing Atlantic-type and Pacific-type margins. Changes in the thickness of continental crust, trough remelting and assimilation into the mantle (subcrustal erosion),
have been proposed as one mechanism influencing the evolution of margins. Such
processes may be active, for example, in the Southern California Borderland.
Basically, most slopes are the surfaces of thick accumulations of sediment washed
off the continents and mixed with marine materials of biologic derivation. The deep
sea receives a rather miserly share of the continent's products: the bulk accumulates
on the margins . The high rate of accumulation on many slopes leads to a precarious
balance in places, especially off deltas. When there is not enough time to de-water
and solidify the sediment, immense landslides can result from rather small disturbances, even in very gentle slopes. The slides tend to move on surfaces defined by
clayey layers with high water content. Water pressure may be unusually high in such
Continental Slope and Continental Rise
59
horizons, thus "floating" the overlying sediment stack. Slides can be coherent over
large areas, preserving much of the original stratigraphy, or they can be chaotic
(called slumps), producing a jumbled mess. Earthquakes can trigger slides, especially
in the active margins, but also elsewhere.
Off Cape Hatteras, a tongue-shaped mass of displaced sediment on the Upper
Continental Rise is 60 km wide and over 190 km long, and has a hummocky relief of
up to 300 m in places. During and following slope failure, deformation can span a
number of processes, from rigid-block motion to turbulent flow. Probably most of the
slope failures occurred during Pleistocene low sea level stands (1. S. Schlee and J. M.
Robb, Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull ., 1098, 1991).
An example of a large-scale is shown in Fig. 2.11; the jumbled masses have come
to rest at the foot of the slope and now form part of the continental rise. The seismic
profile was obtained by echo-sounding into the sea floor with powerful "booms" of
sound, rather than the "pings" used to define the surface of the floor. (The method is
called continuous seismic profiling).
The arrangement of the sedimentary layers below the sea floor in Fig. 2.11 shows
that erosion has taken place in earlier times, altemting with periods of deposition.
Erosion can be produced both by slides and by the action of strong deep currents
flowing horizontally along the slope. Such currents have been dubbed contour currents, to distinguish them from the turbidity currents which are mud-laden bodies of
Fig. 2.11. Submarine mass movements off Dakar (NW Africa). Air gun record of Meteor Cruise
25/1971. Shelf edge upper right. Slide starts at 1050 m depth (return time for outgoing sound pulse:
l.4s). Thickness of slide - 200 m. Material came to rest below about 2300 m depth (= 3.6 s) at the
foot of the continental slope. Insert left Air gun system with air guns as sound source. Acoustic
signals are reflected by the sea floor and by subbottom layers and are recorded by hydrophones in
the stre amer.
60
MUD DIAPIRS AND

GROWTH FAULTS (CREEP)
SHELF. DELTA PLATFORM
(HIGH SEDIMENTATiON RATE)
SEDIMENT
ACCUMU
LATION IN
CANYON
HEAD
SOFT AND SEMI

CONSOLIDATED
~\~~~ ~~~~~~TS,
SHELF
BREAK
EROSION
(STRONG
RELIEF)
AND MUD FLOWS
DEEP-SEA
DELTA FAN
LARGE ACTIVE
AND BURIED
SANDFILLED
CHANNEL
SYSTEMS.
MAl LY MUD
TURBIDITES.
SOME MUD
FLOWS
CANYON
DEEP-SEA FAN
SYSTEM
UPPER FAN: SOME

SLUMPS. FLOWS OF
GRAINS. DEBRIS
AND MUD.
CHANNEL FILLS.
LOWER FAN: MAINLY
SAND TURBIDITES,
SOME CHAN EL FILLS
SLOPE APRON
SLUMPS. MUD FLOWS

PREDOMINANTLY
MUD TURBIDITES
TRANSITION
TO HIGH AND LOW
DENSITY TURBIDITY
CURRENTS,SAND
AND MUD TURBIDITES
ROCKFALL.
SLUMPS,AND DEBRIS
FLOWS (POLYMICT).
UNDERCUTTING OF
SLOPE BY CONTOUR
CURRENTS
Fig. 2.12. Compilation of exogenic processes shaping (passive) continental margins. [G. Einsele et
al. (eds.). Cycles and events in stratigraphy, Springer, Heidelberg, 1991: 318.]
water flowing downhill (Sect. 2.11). It is now thought that much of the sediment on
the continental rises is carried there originally by turbidity currents and by slides
starting somewhere near the shelf break, and that subsequently it is redistributed by
contour currents.
A compilation of different exogenic processes shaping the continental margin is
given in Fig. 2.12.
2.10 Submarine Canyons

The continental slope is commonly cut by various types of incisions, ravines, and
valleys, the most spectacular of which are the submarine canyons. The origin of these
impressive features (Fig. 2.13) has long puzzled marine geologists and is still a matter
of debate.
Many large submarine canyons are very much like their counterparts on land:
tributary systems in the upper parts, with meandering thalwegs (similar to river beds),
and steep sides in places (20 to 25, even 45). Overhanging walls also occur (Fig.
2.14). Walls may consist of hard rocks, even granite in some places. As in river
Submarine Canyons
Fig. 2.13. Profile of Monterey Canyon compared with that of the

Grand Canyon of Arizina. [F. P.
Shepard and R. F. Dill, 1966.]. The
resemblance is coincidental, but illustrates the enormous size of the
Monterey Canyon (see Fig. 2.10.)
61
5km
Fig. 2.14. Illustration of morphological similarities of subaerial canyon (Grand Canyon lef) and
submarine canyon (La lolla Canyon right). Note steepness and overhang in both cases [Photo left ,
E. S.; underwater photo courtesy R. F. Dill.]
canyons, there is a continuous descent of the deepest point of the valley, with maximum slopes of 15 % near the coast and gentle slopes of about 1 % farther out to sea.
Quite commonly, canyons cut right through the shelf and may line up with valleys
on land. Ancient fishing vil\ages are sometimes located at the heads of submarine
canyons: the greater water depth disperses high waves away from the coast and
provides some safety for boats and houses on shore. Examples are Nazare in Portugal. Monterey Canyon of Central California, and Kayar in Senegal. Some canyons,
however, start only at the edge of the shelf. The seaward extension of submarine
canyons can reach to the end of the continental rise and beyond, and run for hundreds, even thousands of kilometers across the deep-sea floor (Fig. 2.2b, Hudson
Canyon; Fig. 1.3. Mid-Ocean Canyon, off Eastern Canada).
62
Canyons and various other types of slope valleys can be extremely abundant in
places, such that the slope is dissected like the remnants of a mesa on land. Nor do
those canyons necessarily run straight downhill; they may be cut at an angle to the
slope. In other places, submarine canyons seem to be absent, presumably by reason
of low sediment supply (insufficient for producing downhill currents) or because of
gentle slopes, or both. The best-known canyons are associated with the mouths of
large rivers - the Congo, Indus, Ganges and the Hudson. The fan valleys which
continue these canyons down slope are bordered by levees (Fig. 2.17).
A large number of hypotheses have been put forward over the years to account for
the origin of submarine canyons. In fact, different types of canyons must have different origins. For example, it has been demonstrated through deep-sea drilling, that the
Mediterranean became isolated from the world ocean some 5 to 6 million years ago
and dried up during periods of evaporation. At those times, deep canyons could have
been carved by the familiar action of rain and run-off, into the margins of the Mediterranean. Indeed, the true floor of the Nile Valley is very deep, supporting the idea
of canyon cutting curing desiccation. At present the river runs on top of a thick pile
of sediment, which has since filled the canyon. However, we can hardly invoke such
drastic falls of sea level everywhere in the world ocean. Thus, there must be a way to
make submarine canyons by cutting them under water. The fact that so many canyons
are off river valleys suggests a mechanism: some sort of submarine river flowing on
the sea floor. This submarine flow cannot be an extension of the river entering the
sea: its water is fresh and therefore less dense than seawater. River water floats on
seawater. But water with a high mud content is heavy enough to flow downhill on the
ocean floor.
One way to stir mud into the water is to have slides start in the soft sediments
deposited off river mouths. Large amounts of mud are brough down the river during
floods, and such mud is rather unstable. Hurricanes and wave action may produce
large amounts of heavy, muddy water through stirring up of the sediment. Earthquakes may be agents for starting mudslides which tum into muddy downhill flow, or
turbidity currents.
During glacial periods, when sea lev en was greatly lowered by the buildup of ice
caps, the exposed shelves could not act as mud traps for the rich sediment load
coming from land. Also, wave attack must have been strong and its effects may have
reached much greater depths than today. Storms and stonn waves were probably
more frequent then, so that sediment on the outer shelf and on the upper slope could
be resuspended periodically, providing for mud-laden, heavy water bodies, which
could then move downslope and initiate powerful turbidity currents.
The realization that such currents play an extremely important role in present-day
marine processes as well as in the geologic record, came only in the 1950's, largely
through the work of Ph, H. Kuenen (Fig. 2.15a).
Kuenen established, by experiment, that such heavy downhill flowing currents can
exist in nature and that they would deposit layers which show the grading familiar
from hitherto unexplained sediment-series (f7ysch) in the Alps and other mountain
ranges (Fig. 2.15b).
Turbidity Currents
63
a
Bouma (1962)
Divisions
Interturbidite
(generally shale)
Interpretation
Pel agic
sedimentation or
fine grained, low
density turbidity
current deposition
0>
C
en
0(1)
Plane parallel
lam inae
~E
u--
(1)0>
-o~
~I ~
0
:::l'+-0
'-(.!)
b
Fig. 2.1S a, b. Origin of graded layers. a Experiment of Ph. H. Kuenen . J Turbid, sediment-laden
water is introduced into the tank; 2 water in tank remains still and clear over the bottom, where the
denser muddy water rushes downslope; 3 turbulent front of the turbidity current. Depending on its
strength, a turbidity current can erode and redeposit enormous amounts of sediment. [J. Gilluly et
aI. , 1968 , Principles of geology. W. H. Freeman. San Francisco, after photos by H. S. Bell, Cal.
Tech.] b Standard sequence of divisions in a turbidite laye . as proposed by A. H. Bouma. The lower
parI is the graded bed. produced by a turbidity current. The upper pari results from " normal"
sedimentation; it contains almost all the geologic time represented. Sudden loading of these pelagic
clays may produce "load casts". High velocities of the currents are indicated by drag and flute marks
at the base of the turbidite. [G. V. Middleton, M. A. Hampton. 1976, in D. 1. Stanley, D. J. P. Swift.
Marine sediment transport and environmental management, John Wiley, New York.]
Before the turbidite hypothesis became a standard tool in the interpretation of

sediments, the "desolate thousand-fold alternation of sandstone, limestone, and shale"
which faced the alpine geologist in the flysch was a complete mystery. Now these
alternations are generally regarded as a record of pelagic sedimentation with periodic
64
influx of mud-laden bottom-hugging water bodies. These muddy waters, upon decelerating, drop their load within a short time as graded layers. Such layers are found
within the fan deposits of continental slopes and in the sediments building the abyssal
plains (Fig. 2.(7).
Kuenen's work inspired marine geologists to look for direct evidence of the action
of turbidity currents in the present ocean. A well-known example of this search is the
investigation of the succession of telegraph cable breaks down the continental slope,
which occurred after the 1929 Grand Banks Earthquake off Newfoundland. From the
timing of the breaks (as recorded by the telegraph companies involved). B. C. Heezen
and M. Ewing concluded (1952) that the quake had set off turbidity currents which
moved downhill at high speed and snapped the cables (Fig. 2.16). The speeds they
estimated were on the order of 25 to 50 miles per hour (10 to 20 m/s) - velocities of
powerful super-currents. (For comparison, the fastest normal ocean currents run at
EX PLANAnONS
PISTON CORE STATIONS

ATLANTIS CR UISE A180
SUBMAR INE TELEGRAPH

CABLES
... ' \~\l/,

\ '1'-/
_
-~.-'11\~
::;..--
..
AREA OF SLIDES AND

SLUMPS NEAR EPICENTER
AREA TRAVELLED BY
DESTRUCTIVE TUR81DITY
CURRENT. CABLES BROKEN
AND REMOVED
~
~
MARGINAl AREA OF
WEAKER CURRENT. CABLES
BURIED BUT NOT BROKEN
HIUS AND MOUNTAINS.

BERMUDA RISE. WESTERN
FOOTHILLS O F THE
MIDATLANTIC RIDGE
60
50
Fig. 2.16. Grand Banks 1929 earthquake. The cable break sequence (later combined with the
stratigraphic record in the cores) was interpreted by B. C. Heezen and M. Ewing (1952. Am J Sci
250: 849) as evidence for high velocity turbidity currents. The land area, in hlack, is Newfoundland.
[B . C. Heezen, in M. N. Hill , 1963 , The Sea, 3: 744.]
Turbidity Currents
65
Fig. 2.17. Build up of deep-sea fans. 1 Canyon cutting through shelf and upper slope, traps and
funnels sediment to the fan; 2 upper fan valley, walls with slump features (U), bottom with debris
flows (V) and mostly graded coarse grained beds, forming conglomerates in fossil examples. Levees
with thin-bedded turbidities (X). Levees can be breached (note dead channels); 3 active suprafan
with distributary channel, filled with pebbly or massive sands (Y); 4 outer fan with classical turbidites (2); 5 abyssal hill region beyond fan. Valleys between hills may have distal fan material.
[Based on a sketch by W. R. Normark, 1970, Am Assoc Pet Geol Bull 54: 2170 and R. Walker,
1978, Am. Assoc. Petrol Geol. Bull. 62: 932.
about 2 mis, or 5 miles per hour.) While their calculations were not generally accepted, their studies did raise the possibility that such currents exist.
There are but few direct observtions of turbidity currents in the marine realm.
These currents are rare events, and when they do occur, instruments for measung
velocities or suspended matter are in much danger of being lost. We do not know,
therefore, what a "typical" turbidity current might look like. In Bute Inlet, in British
Columbia, where direct observations were made in the 1980s, floods from two rivers
entering the inlet produce muddy flows with velocities of about 3 m/s. The thickness
of the currents is more than 30 m, and coarse sand occurs at least up to 7 m above the
sea floor. Fine sand is transported far offshore; it was seen out to 50 km, and at a
depth of 620 m. The transport channel has bottom slopes of generally less than 10
(D. P. Prior et aI., Science 237, 1330, 1987).
Back to the submarine canyons! Normally, nothing much is happening in them
except for the gentle back and forth motion of the tides and internal waves. But from
66
time to time, perhaps once in a century or a millenium, a great turbidity current

rushes down-canyon, moving enormous masses of sediment. Additionally, undercutting of canyon walls causes mass wasting similar to land slides. Such currents, with
high velocities and inertia, and carrying sand or even pebbles and boulders, are
certainly able to deepen and widen the canyons by erosion, even in hard rock. As the
power of the current wanes downslope, particles settle out, generally first the coarse
and later the finer ones. These deposits form huge semi-conal sediment bodies, the
deep-sea fans .
2.11 Deep-Sea Fans

Deep-sea fans consist of overlapping tongues of sediment, variously dissected by
channels, which are in turn re-filled when abandoned (Fig. 2.17). Details of the fan
landscape, with its distributary system (including channels, levees formed by spillover, slumps, and slides), have become available through sides-scan surveys. Meanders of several km width have been mapped off the Amazon River, and elsewhere.
Fans are of interest from an economic point of view, as potential reservoirs for
hydrocarbons, with their huge dimensions, and their many meters thick sand bodies
offering high porosity and permeability.
Much or most of the sediment in deep-sea fans consists of turbidites, which is
what the deposits of turbidity currents are called. Turbidites are also common both
within slope sediments and in the abyssal plains (Fig. 2.18). Depending on their
magnitude, turbidity currents rushing down a fan valley leave the distributary channels at various points, and build up turbidites as their velocity slows (Fig. 2.17).
Most turbidites are thin and are soon destroyed through reworking by bottom-living organisms and by bottom currents. Thick layers, of course, can survive this
process and are then recognizable in the sediment sequence.
O~________~
IO~________~~________~
3~
O ____________~
4~
O ____________5
~O
~________~6~O~M~I~L~E~
S~
Fig. 2.18. Abyssal plains. Seismic echo profile across a stretch of abyssal plain. (Courtesy
C. D. Hollister). Note that the sediment surface is perfectly horizontal regardless of the underlying
basement topography. (2800 fathoms = 5100 m; 3600 fathoms = 6600 m)
Deep-Sea Fans
67
The very distribution of abyssal plains supports the idea that turbidity currents run
along on the floor over extremely long distances. This can be observed in turbidites
off river mouths such as off the St. Laurence, Hudson, Mississippi, and Amazon
Rivers and more than 3000 krn to the south of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta.
For such currents, trenches would form an absolute obstacle, and we should not
find abyssal plains beyond them. Once a trench is filled, however, plains can develop
on the other side. This is exactly the distribution seen in the Gulf of Alaska. As the
supply of turbidity deposits run out, far in the deep sea, the abyssal ocean floor starts
showing its typical bumpy morphology: the familiar abyssal hills, which are covered
by pelagic oozes and clay.
It reflects the youth of the science of marine geology that major processes of
sediment erosion, transport, and deposition, which are responsible for much of ocean
margin morphology, were essentially unknown until the 1950s. It took yet another
decade for the tectonics of ocean margins to come into focus, through the theory of
seafloor spreading. The history of ocean margin development is still, in the whole,
poorly understood because of the lack of samples from within the sediment wedges:
recovery by deep drilling is now possible, but is extremely expensive.
While turbidity currents and turbidites are of great importance in helping shape the
morphology of continental margins, they are but one aspect of the large-scale transfer
of material from the continent to the ocean. To appreciate the scope of this subject,
we next discuss marine sediments in general.
Further Reading
Shepard FP, Dill RF (1966) Submarine canyons and other sea valleys. Rand McNally, Chicago
Burk CA, Drake CL (eds) (1974) The geology of continental margins. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg
New York
Dickinson WR, Yarborough H (1981) Plate tectonics and hydrocarbon accumulation. Am Assoc
Petrol Geol, Continuing Education Ser I, revised edn. Tulsa, Okla
Watkins JS, Drake CL (eds) (1983) Studies in Continental Margin Geology. AAPG Mem, 34. Am
Assoc Petrol Geol, Tulsa, Okla
Bally AW (1981) Geology of passive and continental margins: history, structure and sedimentological record. Am Assoc Petrol Geol. Education Course Note Ser 19
3 Sources and Composition of Marine Sediments
3.1 The Sediment Cycle

Marine sediments show great variety: there ist the debris from the wearing down of
continents, shells, and organic matter derived from organisms, salts precipitated from
seawater, and volcanic products such as ash and pumice (Fig. 3.1).
Most sediments ultimately derive from the weathering of rocks on land. The
action of ice and water, of hot and cold, breaks up the rocks into small particles and
leaches them, destroying the more soluble minerals. A special type of "weathering"
occurs at the ridge crests and other young volcanic features in the sea: the reactions
of heated seawater with basalt. Such reactions may contribute considerable amounts
of matter to seawater. Just how much is not known, however.
The sea itself takes a toll from the continents: waves and tides can eat into land,
taking debris offshore. The material may stay on the shelf, or it may bypass the shelf
to accumulate on the slope or below.
Sediment which stays on the shelf, of course, essentially stays on the continent.
The other sediment is eventually carried back to the continents or to the mantle by
sea-floor spreading, completing the cycle.
3.2 Sources of Sediment

3.2.1 River Input. The dissolved and particulate load of rivers constitutes the main
source of sediment: the coalescing fans which build the continental slope off California (see Fig. 2.10), for example, are largely riverine mud, with an admixture of shell
and organic matter. These precipitates (calcium carbonate, CaC03; and opal, Si02, x
nH20) also derive to a great extent from river input, namely from the dissolved load
of rivers entering the ocean. We can make a rough estimate of how much material
enters the sea. Deep-sea sedimentation rates are between 1 and 20 mm per 1000
years. Slope sediments accumulate at a rate of up to 100 mm per 1000 years, approximately (Fig. 3.13).
Let us take the value of 100 mm/lOOO years for 10 % of the ocean, and a value of
5 mrn/lOOO years for the rest: the average is near 15 mrn/lOOO years (0.1 x 100 + 0.9
x 5). The ocean floor covers more than twice the area of the land. Hence, the
continents - if they are the ultimate source of all sediment - must wear down at a rate
of near 30 mm/lOOO years. Not a bad guess, actually. Recent estimates of denudation
70
Sources and Composition of Marine Sediments
SOURCES
Weathering and Volcanic Ejecta
Erosion
and Gases
on Land
Water
ExtraterrestrlOl
Matter
Hydrothermal
Reactions.
Ridge Crest
Wind
Ice
TRANSPORT
Dissol ved Matter Suspended Matter
PRECIPIT A TE S
Biogenous
Ca- Carbonates
Opal
Organics
CLASTICS (OETRITAL)
Hydrogenous
Lithogenous
Evaporites
Silicates
Ferroman (Quartz.
Pyrite genese Feldspars etc)
Rock fragments
Zeolites
Phosphorites
Cosmogenous
Cosmic
Spherules
Clay minerals
DEPOSITS
rl DIAGENESIS ICompaction
Recrystallization
Cementation
ROCKS
r-
Limestones
Shales
Sandstones
Graywackes etc
riREDEPOSITk)Nr-
~----.
Sliding and slumping

Debris flow
Grain flow
Turbidity and other
currents
HALLOCHTHONS~
SlIde- slumps-.
etc - deposits
Turbidites
Intraclasts
Fig. 3.1. Sources. transport. and destination of marine sediments
of the US portion of North America suggest 65 mm/lOOO years. Of course, man's

agricultural activities have greatly increased erosion rates, although we may not yet
be able to define this effect unequivocally.
Another rough calculation may be based on an estimated sediment supply from
rivers of 12 km 3/year. If we distribute this amount on the 362 million km 2 of sea
floor, we have a sedimentation rate of about 30 mm/1000 years, and a corresponding
erosion rate of 60 mm/1000 years for the continents. These calculations, of course,
neglect the dissolved influx of silicate and calcium from reactions of seawater with
the oceanic crust, a process that has tumed out to be of considerable importance (see
Chap. 10.44).
The Sediment Cycle
71
In general, mechanical weathering dominates in high latitudes, where water acts

mostly as ice, and in deserts, where it is subdued as an agent. Chemical weathering
(leaching) is favoured by high rainfall and high temperatures and dominates in tropical areas. In extrapolating these and other present-day patterns into the past, we must
always remember that we live in a highly unusual period. The growth of mountain
ranges and the powerful abrasive action of the continental ice masses have greatly
increased mechanical erosion for the last several million years.
3.2.2 Glacier Input. The great importance of ice in delivering sediment to the sea in
high latitudes is readily appreciated when contemplating the immense masses of
outwash material they bring to the shores, to be reworked on the shelves. Less
important as concerns sediment mass, but vel}' interesting for paleoclimate reconstruction, is the fact that calving glaciers can transport both fine and very coarse
material far out to sea. When the icebergs melt they drop their load. Around Antarctica this type of transport reaches to about 40 S. The "drop stones" record not just
the movement of ice, but also the geology of the hinterland: each glacier carries
samples from the mountains where it originates: this is very helpful in obtaining
materials from ice-covered Antarctica. In the North Atlantic the drop stone limit
roughly follows the present boundary between very cold and temperate waters (Fig.
3.2). During the last ice age, this limit extended much further south, to a line between
New York and Portugal (Sect. 7.2.3). At present, about 20 % of the sea floor receives
at least some ice-transported sediments.
3.2.3 Input from Wind. In contrast to ice transport, wind can move only the fine
material. Medieval Arabian scientists had noted the dust coming out of the Sahara
into the "dark sea" of the Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 3.3). In the 1800s, Charles Darwin
assumed (correctly) that the dust must build up the ocean floor. As the dust blows out
to sea, the larger particles settle out first and the grain size becomes continuously
finer. Particles from a large Saharan dust storm, in 1901, had an average size of about
0.012 mm in Palermo, and 0.006 mm in Hamburg. (This would be classified as
extremely fine silt, see Appendix AS). During this same storm, up to 11 g of dust per
m3 were measured over the Mediterranean. Occasionally, rather large particles can be
transported over great distances. Recently, for example, particles larger than 0.075
mm were found in the air over the North Pacific, 10 000 km from their sources in
China, where their journey started in a huge dust storm (P. R. Bener, 1988, Nature,
336: 568).
The rate of dust-fall from the air can best be measured in snowfields and ice cores
with annual layering. Even in the Antarctic and in Greenland - far from desert
sources - the rate is quite appreciable: 0.1 to 1 mm dust in 1000 years. Exactly how
much dust is falling on the sea floor is not known. Some estimates suggest that much
or most of the deep sea clay is derived from wind input. Such clay accumulates at
between 1 mm/l000 years in the North Pacific, and 2.5 mm/lOOO years in the Atlantic.
The rates undoubtedly vary considerably through time, being high during glacials,
during periods of loess input (see Sect. 9.1).
72
'.
'~
..
.
.
. . ... .
.. ...,
~
Fig. 3.2. Distribution of ice-rafted materials in the North Atlantic. Present limits of drift ice (normal
and extreme) run from around Newfoundland toward Greenland and Iceland. During the last ice age,
this limit went from New York straight acro ss lO Portugal. Triangles Surface samples; da shes dredge
samples; circles core samples. [H. R. Kudrass , 1973, Meteor Forschungserg Reihe C 13: I]
3.2.4 Volcanic Input. A substantial amount of material is delivered by volcanoes,

especially those associated with active oceanic margins. While much of the "volcanic
ash" carried by winds is finely dispersed, several-cm-thick layers are not uncommon
in deep-sea sediments. Some of these correlate over great distances, and mark periods
of major volcanic eruptions. A well-known example is the Toba super-eruption in
Sumatra (Indonesia) 73500 years ago, which produced a layer 500 to 3500 km in
extent. The consequence of volcanic aerosols in the stratosphere is a strong cooling,
which in this case could have lasted for several years. If so, this cooling could have
contributed to a rapid reglaciation at the end of the last interglacial. Near island arcs,
volcanic ash layers ("tephras") build aprons that are several thousand meters thick.
In times past, volcanism was a dominant source of sediment over large regions of
the ocean. The composition of deep-sea clay (Chap. 8) suggests that in the time
before 10 million years ago, before mountain-building and glaciation drastically
changed conditions, the main source of deep-sea clay in the Pacific was the decomposition of volcanic ash.
Sediments and Seawater Composition
73
.25-35
.15-25
b,:,:.:.! 10- 15
[ :',:: 1 5-
::':'.>~ ... ::.: '
K)
. .. .-:.::.',:..
.'.:.:.::.::: :::'
Fig. 3.3. Abundance of haze from dust, over the Atlantic Ocean. Numbers are % of observations.
[G. O. S. Arrhenius, 1963, in M. N. Hill, Sea 3: 695)
Not all volcanogenic sediment is brought by wind: pumice, being highly porous,
can float and move with ocean currents for long distances, even transporting attached
organisms.
Of course, volcanic material is also eroded from land and brought into the sea as
terrigenous sediment. Differences in color, mineral composition, glass properties, and
subtle differences in chemistry, "chemical fingerprints", hold the clue as to which is
the source for a given volcanogenic deposit.
Geologically speaking, volcanoes have a short life, and single eruptions are flashlike events. Therefore ash layers can be used for regional stratigraphic purposes
(tephrochronology), for example, in the Mediterranean or around Iceland (Fig. 3.4).
Volcanic activity also adds gases and hydrothermal solutions to the ocean. These
fluxes have an important bearing on the evolution of the chemistry of ocean and
atmosphere and are the subject of intense study at present (Sect. 10.44).
3.3 Sediments and Seawater Composition

3.3.1 Acid-Base Titration. To a first approximation, seawater is a solution of sodium
chloride (NaC\), that is, table salt. Sodium and chloride make up 86 % of the ions
present, by weight (Tabel 3.1). The other major ions are magnesium, calcium, and
potassium (alkaline and earth alkaline metals), and the acid radicals sulfate and
bicarbonate. Since the major cations form strong bases, but bicarbonate forms a weak
acid, the ocean is slightly alkaline, with a pH of near 8, rather than the point of
neutrality (pH = 7). (pH is a measure of the acidity of a solution.) On the whole, the
salty ocean may be understood as the product of emission of acid gases from volcanoes (hydrochloric, sulfuric, and carbonic acid) and the leaching of common silicate
74
.,,-
.'
........
....
..
..
.....
... ..
...
......
' ... .
.. ..
.. ..
...... "
.. ....
'. '.
Distr ibut ion of upprr ash l ayltf
-, -,
..... -.., ....
...... ................ ............. ...
Dis tr ibution of lowrr ash tQyer
Fig. 3.4. Distribution of volcanic ash produced by two large volcanic explosions in the Aegean Sea,
presumably of Santorini. The lower ash layer marks a prehistoric event (> 25 000 yrs.). The upper
layer is less than 5000 yrs old; the volcanic explosion creating it may be the one which brought
catastrophe to the Minoan culture, some 3600 years ago. [D. Ninkovich, B. C. Heezen, Nature
London 213: 1967 , 582, in K. K. Turekian, 1968, Oceans, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey]
rocks whose minerals have the fonn [Me Sia Alb Oc], where Me stands for the metals
Na, K, Mg, and Ca, and the remainder makes insoluble silica-aluminium oxides, that
is, clay minerals.
How stable was the composition of seawater through geologic time? If we use the
above concept of acid-base titration, and assume that seawater is a solution in equilibrium with the sediments on the sea floor, the results is that the composition should
be rather stable. Also, we can obtain samples of seawater salt in the ancient salt
deposits. Their composition indicates that sea salt did not vary much over the last 600
million years: probably by less than a factor of 2 for anyone major component.
Paleontologic evidence certainly agrees with this assessment. Already in the early
Paleozoic there are organisms whose closest modem relatives have rather narrow salt
tolerances: radiolarians, corals, brachiopods, cephalopods, echinodenns. Of course,
adaptation of the organisms to an increasing or changing salt content cannot be ruled
out.
On comparing the average composition of river water with that of seawater, one
notes drastic differences. Essentially, river water is a very dilute solution of calcium
Sediments and Seawater Composition
75
Table 3.1. Comparison between seawater and river water

Average river water
Seawater
Ion
ppm b
Cl-
18980
10 561
soi+
2649
Mg2+
1272
Ca2+
400
K+
380
HC03-, C032140
Br65
23
H3B03
Sr2+
23
F1.4
1
H4Si04
Fe 2+, Fe 3+
0.01
AI (OH)40.01
Na+
Sum
34479
Weight % Rank
55.0
30.6
7.7
3.7
1.1
0.4
0.2
0.1
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
Residence times C
in seawater
ppm
Weight % Rank
in millions of years
7.8
6.3
11.2
4.1
15.0
2.3
58.8 a
0.02
6.4
5.2
9.3
3.4
12.4
1.9
48.6
(5)
(6)
(4)
(7)
(2)
(8)
( 1)
>200
210
10.8
0.5
0.2
(3)
(Si =) 0.04
22
10
OJ-Om
0.09
0.09
13.1
0.67
0.24
= 100 %
120.8
= 100%
a From D. A. Livingstone (1963) U.S Geol Surv Profess Paper 440 G ("Hard" water contains
roughly twice the average total, "soft" water one half).
b ppm = parts per million (g per ton).
C The residence time is the ratio between the mass within the reservoir and the mass introduced
per year. (Data mainly from E. D. Goldberg 1965, in Chemical Oceanography vol. 1, 163-196,
Academic Press, New York)
bicarbonate and silicic acid, with a small admixture of the familiar salts - a substantial proportion of which are recycled marine salts. We see from this discrepancy in
the composition of seawater and river water that the river influx per se is irrelevant to
the makeup of sea salt. What counts is the solubility of the salts. In the simples terms,
the soluble salts are abundant in seawater and the others are not.
3.3.2 Interstitial Water and Diagenesis. Fine-grained sediments (clays and silts)
have porosities of 70 to 90-% by volume when first deposited on the sea floor, while
sands have around 50 %. This pore space is initially filled with trapped seawater. As
the sediments are buried below new material, the load increases, pore space is reduced by compression, and part of the pore water leaves, mostly by escaping upward.
The water thus lost does not necessarily have the same composition as the water
originally trapped. Chemical reactions with the surrounding sediments cause changes
both in the interstitial waters and in the composition of the solids. Compaction and
chemical reactions involving pore fluids (or solids only, as in recrystallization) constitute "diagenesis", which is the process transforming loose sedimenus into rocks.
76
Typically, diagenesis is most active in the uppennost meter of freshly deposited

sediments. "Redox" reaction usually dominate, and these reactions are the more intense the more organic carbon is present. The oxidation of organic carbon leads to
removal of dissolved oxygen from pore waters. Additional oxygen demand is satisfied by stripping oxygen from dissolved nitrate and from solid iron oxides and hydroxides (e. g., coatings on grains). If the demands is strong enough, sulfate is
stripped of its oxygen also . These reactions are all mediated by bacteria. In the
process, gases are produced (carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide), as well as
iron sulfide. Thus, the escaping pore water is enriched in these gases and impoverished in nitrate and sulfate, and the remaining sediments are enriched in sulfide (e. g.,
pyrite). Fermentation of remaining organic carbon compounds can subsequently lead
to methane fonnation , which can react with water (given low temperature and high
pressure) to make clathrates. Such clathrates are thought to be widespread in sediments below coastal upwelling regions, where they produce prominent seismic reflectors. The massive escape of gases from organic-rich muds can produce "mud
volcanoes" (see Fig. 3.5) or smaller "pockmarks".
Besides redox reactions, the dissolution of carbonate and opal is of prime importance in diagenesis. During "early diagenesis", much of the dissolved matter can
leave with the escaping pore water, or depart simply by diffusion out of the sediment
into the overlying waters. Once the sediment is deeply buried, concentrations within
the interstitial waters can increase to the point where reprecipitation occurs. This
leads to cementation of remaining grains by carbonate and silica cements. These
Fig. 3.5. Mud volcano. Side scan record from (he Black Sea bottom. (Side scan principl e see FIg.
4.15). [Courtesy Dr. Glunow. Moscow. from UNESCO-IMS -Newsletter 61 . Paris]
Major Sedimen\ Types
77
various processes, including recrystallization (crystal growth within pre-existing

solids), can be reconstructed by studying the distribution of the elements and compounds involved, within the solids and the interstitial waters. The distribution of
certain isotopes (oxygen, carbon, strontium) is of special interest in this context,
because dissolution, migration, and reprecipitation under various conditions result in
altered ratios of the isotopes.
Of course, diagenetic processes are extremely important for hydrocarbon source
rocks, migration and reservoir rock porosities, and permeabilities (Fig. 10.2).
3.3.3 Residence Time. For steady-state conditions, output must equal input. Thus the
seawater has to rid itself of all new salts coming in, in the same proportions as they
are added. Where are the "sinks" for this material? The quantitative assessment of
sinks is a major geochemical problem. For calcium carbonate the sink is calcareous
skeletons built by organisms; for silica it is opaline skeletons. The metals presumably
leave the ocean in newly formed minerals such as authigenic clay, oxides, and sulfides, and in zeolites, as well as in alteration products resulting from reactions between hot basalt and seawater, at the ridge crest. The sulfur is precipitated in heavy
metal sulfides in anaerobic sediments near the land. Some salt leaves with the pore
waters in the sediments. Under the assumption that the ocean does not change its
composition, we can calculate the average time a seawater component remains in the
water, before going out as sediment. This time is called residence time.
Calculating the residence time is analogous to figuring out how long people will
stay in a museum: count the people present, and the number entering per unit time.
The ratio is the average viewing time. Similarly,
t = A/r,
(3.1)
where A is the amount present, and r is the input. Some residence times are given in
Table 3.1. Clearly, sodium and chloride have a long residence time, and silica has a
very short one. The residence time is, in essence, a measure of the geochemical
solubility (or inversely, reactivity) of the substance in question. Equation (3.1) was
once used to calculate a "salt age" for the ocean, under the assumption that the ocean
had started out fresh and retained all sodium since. This salt age came out near 100
million years. In our museum analogy, calculating the salt age corresponds to figuring
the time the exhibit opened, from the number of people present and the rate at which
they are coming in. The salt age was once useful as a minimum estimate for the scale
of geologic time.
3.4 Major Sediment Types

There are essentially three types of sediments: those that come into the ocean as
particles, are dispersed and settle onto the sea floor; those that are precipitated out of
solution directly; and those that are made by organisms. For convenience we may call
78
Fig. 3.6 a, b. Familiar examples of two major types of beach sand a medium sand, lithogenous,
La 10lla b coarse sand, biogenous, Hawaii. (Photos: W. H. B.)
the first type lithogenous, the second hydrogenous, and the third biogenous (Fig. 3.6;
Box 3.1) . Around the ocean margins, lithogenous sediments are predominant, although there are also salt deposits and biogenic sediments. In the deep sea, biogenous
sediments predominate, especially calcareous ooze.
3.5 Lithogenous Sediments

3.5.1 Grain Size. The bulk of sediment around the continents consists of debris
washed off the continents. This debris resulted from the mechanical breakup, with or
without leaching, of continental igneous and sedimentary rocks. The product is fragments of rocks and minerals. One property that is extremely important for assessing
source and transport processes is grain size (Chap. 4.1.1). One distinguishes gravel,
sand, silt. and clay. Thus sand. for example, is all material of a size between 0.063
mm and 2 mm, regardless of its composition or origin. Silt has sizes between 0.063
and 0.004 min (see Appendix AS).
Likewise, clay is everything below a particle size of 0.004 mm (or 4 11m). (In some
scales 0.002 mm is used as limit.) This terminology is sometimes confusing, because
"clay minerals" are minerals of a certain type, abundant in clay-type deposits, but
they are not invariably of "clay size".
Overall, there is a gradation of grain sizes from source to place of deposition, such
that the bigger, heavier particles remain closer to the source while the clay-size
particles can be carried over large distances. Gravel (2-256 mm) and boulder-size
material (> 256 mm) does not commonly travel far, except when taken along by ice
(which does not care much about the size of its load). Since gravel consists of pieces
of rock which can be identified and matched with the source area, it is commonly
possible to determine the origin of a gravel assemblage. Except on sea floor supplied
by glaciers or by coral reef, gravel is not an important constituent of marine sediments.
Lithogenous Sediments
Box 3.1 Classification of Marine Sediment Types

Lithogenous Sediments. Detrital products of disintegration of pre-existing rocks (igneous, meta
morphic, or sedimentary, see Appendix A6) and of volcanic ejecta (ash, pumice; ash is < 2 mm).
Transport by rivers, glaciers, winds. Redistribution through waves and currents. Nomenclature
based on grain size (gravel, sand, silt, clay). Additional qualifiers are derived from the lithologic
components (terrigenous, bioclastic, calcareous, volcanogenic, etc.), and from the structure and
color of the deposits.
Typical examples are as follows (environment in parentheses).
- Organic-rich clayey silt. with root fragments (marsh).
- Finely laminated sandy silt, with small shells (delta-top).
- Laminated quartzose sand, well-sorted (beach).
- Olive-green homogeneous mud rich in diatom debris (upper cont. slope) (mud is the same as
terrigenous clayey silt or silty clay).
Fine-grained lithogenous sediments (which become shale upon aging and hardening) are the most
abundant by volume of all marine sediments (about 70 %). This is largely due to the great
thickness of continental margin sediments.
Biogenous Sediments. Remains of organisms, mainly carbonate (calcite, aragonite), opal (hydrated silica), and calcium phosphate (teeth, bones, crustacean carapaces) (see Table 3.3). Organic sediments, while strictly speaking biogenous, are commonly treated separately. Arrival at
the site of deposition by in situ precipitation (benthic organisms living there), or through settling
via water column (pelagic organisms; coarse shells fall singly, small ones commonly arrive as
aggregates). Redeposition by waves or currents. Redissolution common, either on sea floor or
within sediment. Nomenclature is based on type of organism and also on chemical composition.
Additional qualifiers from structure, c%r, si~e. accessory matter. Typical examples:
Oyster bank (lagoon or embayment)
- Shell sand (tropical beach)
- Coral reef breccia (slope below coral reef) (breccia is coarse broken-up material, in this case
reefal debris)
- Oolite sand, well sorted (strand zone, Bahamas)
- Light gray calcareous ooze, bioturbated (deep-sea floor)
- Greenish gray siliceous ooze (deep-sea floor)
Biogenous sediments are widespread on the sea floor, covering about one half of the shelves and
more than one half of the deep ocean bottom, for a total of 55 %. About 30 % of the volume of
marine sediments being deposited at the present time may be labeled biogenous, although they
may have considerable lithogenous admixture.
Hydrogenous Sediments. Precipitates from seawater or from interstitial water. Also products of
alteration during early chemical reactions within freshly deposited sediment. Redissolution common. Nomenclature based on origin ("evaporites") and on chemical composition. Additional
qualifiers from structure, COlO1; accessories. Typical examples:
-
Laminated translucent halite (salt flat).

Finely bedded anhydrite (Mediterranean basin, subsurface).
Nodular grayish white anhydrite (ditto).
Manganese nodule, black, mammilated, 5 cm diam. (deep Pacific).
Phosphatic concretion, irregular slab, 15 cm diam., 5 cm thick, light brown to greenish, granular (upwelling area).
Hydrogenous sediments, while widespread (Ferromanganese deposits and metal sulfides around
deep-sea vents). are not important by volume at present. At times in the past. when thick salt
deposits were laid down in the newly opening Atlantic, in the Mesozoic, and much later in a
dried-up Mediterranean (end of the Miocene) the volume of hydrogenous sediments produced
was considerable. The salinity of the ocean may have been appreciably lowered during those
times of evaporite deposition.
79
80
3.5.2 Sand is typical of beach and shelf deposits (Fig. 3.6) Like gravel, it may
consists of rock fragments, a striking example being provided by black beach sands
on Hawaii, which are made of volcanic rock. Commonly, however, sand consists of
fragments of the minerals quartz, feldspar, mica, and others. Except for quartz, these
are compounds of the type [Na, K, Mg, Ca]a [Si, AI]b Dc, that is, alumino-silicates.
Quartz (Si02) is the mineral most resistant to abrasion and to leaching, and sands
which have been extensively reworked are therefore greatly enriched in quartz (mature sands). The first minerals to be destroyed during weathering, transport, and
reworking are the iron-rich minerals. Feldpar also is not very resistant to chemical
destruction.
In many tropical beaches, sand may consist entirely of fragments of calcareous
skeletons, of mollusks, corals, and algae. One might argue whether a deposit made up
of such "bioclastic" material should be counted as "lithogenous", as derived from
pre-existing rocks or as "biogenous". Strictly speaking, there is a cycle of mechanical
breakup and abrasion involved (hence lithogenous), but for geochemical balance
calculations we might include this material with chemical deposits. Carbonate particles are easily abraded and chemically eroded. Thus, in a mixture of carbonate and
quart sand, the quartz will soon dominate when the sand is reworked.
The source areas and dispersal history of sands can also be explored by noting the
compositional types of "heavy minerals" (densities greater than 2.8 glcm 3 ; examples:
the silicates hornblende, pyroxene, olivine, and also magnetite, ilmenite, rutile) (Appendix A4). The heavy mineral association allows the mapping of depositional provinces, which, in tum, provides clues to the action of shelf currents and other factors
(Fig. 3.7).
The shape of sand grains, especially quartz grains, can give clues to their origin.
For example, grains in glacial deposits have sharp edges, whereas reworking by
waves leads to rounding. Dunes especially collect well-rounded grains, and such
grains may be "frosted". One problem with a straightforward application of these
concept is that quartz grains are so resistant that they can be recycled many times by
erosion and redeposition of old sedimentary deposits (polycyclic sands). Another
problem is that etching of grains can take place after deposition, within the sediment,
obliterating and confusing the surface markings.
3.5.3 Silt-Sized sediment is very characteristic of continental slope and rise, but may
occur at any place on the shelf where conditions are quiet, so that it is not washed out
by wave or current action. The composition of the silt is much like that of sand in the
coarser end of the range, and like that of clay in the finder end. Mica is especially
abundant in terrigenous silt.
Sand is commonly studied with a binocular microscope, and the composition of
clay is investigated by X-ray diffraction. The study of silt traditionally fell into the
crack between these two methods and has had a rather low popularity rating. More
recently, the scanning electron microscope has made it possible to investigate this
size fraction in more detail (Fig. 3.8). The composition of the silts is usually closely
related to that of the associated fine sand fractions.
Lithogenous Sediments
81
Fig. 3.7. Heavy mineral provinces of the Gulf of Mexico, based on typical mineral associations .
I East Gulf; /I Mississippi; 11/ Central Texas; IV Rio Grande; V Mexico. Carbonate particles are
dominant off Mexico and Yucatan . The heavy mineral patterns contain clues about the sources and
transport paths of terrigenous sediments. [D. K. Davies , W. R. Moore, 1970, J. Sediment. Petrol. 40:
339]
Fig. 3.8. Recent hemipelagic sediment from Continental Rise off NW Africa (Cape Verde Rise).
SEM photos, hal' 20 /lm. Left Fine-silt fraction (2- 6 /lm) predominantly composed of coccoliths (c)
and of some detrital mica (m) and quartz (q); Rig ht coarse silt fraction, mainly detrital grains
(q quartz) and foraminifera tests and fragments (j). [Photo courtesy D. Fiitterer]
82
3.5.4 Clay-Sized sediment is ubiquitous on shelves, slopes, and in the deep sea. Like
the silt, it indicates low energy environments where abundant, because it is easily
picked up and washed away. Exceptions are clays in those high energy environments
where clay supply is extremely high, as off some tropical rivers. Much of the clay, as
mentioned, consists of clay minerals, products of weathering that are brought in by
rivers and winds and are dispersed by waves and currents.
The common clay minerals, or clay mineral groups, are montmorrilonite (or smectite), illite, chlorite, and kaolinite (Appendix A4). Their distribution and paleoclimatic
significance will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 8.
The high surface areas of clay particles give clayey sediments special chemical
properties. For example, they readily adsorb a large variety of substances, and react
with the ions in seawater and in interstitial waters. Thus, during diagenesis, within
buried sediments, new clay minerals can form slowly. Ultimately, this has important
implications for the chemistry of seawater and for geochemistry in general. Also,
clays can readily form aggregates, in seawater.
Clayey sediments in regions of high sedimentation rate are commonly rich in
organic matter, partly because organics cling to the clay during deposition, and partly
because where conditions are quiet enough for the deposition of clay they also are
favorable for the deposition of the fluffY organic particles. Much of the marine clays
may actually be brought to the floor within fecal pellets of organisms filtering the
water. Such clay is associated with food particles. Recent experiments in the Baltic
Sea, with sediment-trapping equipment, in the open ocean off California and elsewhere, suggest that this "fecal pellet transport" mechanism is a significant agent of
sedimentaiton. The association between clay and organic matter is important in petroleum exploration in the search for source rocks.
3.6 Biogenous Sediments

3.6.1 Types of Components. Organisms produce sediments in the form of shells and
other skeletal materials and organic matter. The label "biogenous" generally refers
only to calcareous, siliceous, and phosphatic hard parts (see Table 3.3).
Virtually all of the calcium carbonate deposited on the sea floor belongs in the
category of biogenous sediments. On the shelf it is chiefly the shells and skeletons of
benthic organisms, while on the slope there is an increasing proportion of planktonic
remains away from the coast. In the deep sea, finally, plankton remains (foraminifers,
coccoliths; Appendix A9) are entirely dominant. Opaline skeletons are also important
- again mainly benthic remains (sponges) on certain shelves, and planktonic ones
(diatoms, radiolarians) in slope sediments and in the deep sea. In addition to carbonate and silica, phosphatic particles are produced by organisms. The sedimentation of
such particles plays an important role in the phosphorus budget of the biosphere, and
is geochemically of great interest (see Sect. 1O.3.l). the various other types of hard
parts - strontium-sulfate, manganese-, iron-, and aluminum compounds - are intriguing from an evolutionary standpoint, but do not noticeably contribute to sediment
pattems. Organic matter (organogenic sediment) will be taken up in Chapters 6 and
10, when discussing hydrocarbons.
Biogenous Sediments
83
Table 3.3. Inorganic constituents and carbonate minerals in hard parts of marine organisms (for
systematics see Appendix A9)

Aragonite (CaC03)
Bacteria
Opal (Si02 . nH20)
Diatoms
Coccolitophores
Calcite (CaC03)
Aragonite
Chlorophyta
Aragonite, Mg-calcite
Rhodophyta
Aragonite
Phaeophyta
Calcite, Mg-calcite, aragonite (rare)
Foraminifera
Radiolarians
Opal, celestite (SrS04)
Mg-calcite, aragonite, opal; rare: iron oxides, celestite (rare)
Sponges
Aragonite, Mg-calcite
Corals
Aragonite, Mg-calcite + aragonite
Bryowans
Calcium-carbonate-phosphate, calcite
Brachiopods
Echinoderms
Mg-calcite; rare: amorphous phosphates, Fluorite. opal
Mollusks:
Gastropods
Aragonite, aragonite + calcite
Pelecypods
Aragonite, aragonite +calcite, calcite
Cephalopods
Aragonite
(Various phosphate minerals and iron-oxides also have been detected in certain mollusks)
Annelid worms
Aragonite, arag. + Mg-calcite, Mg-calcite rare: phosphates, opal, iron oxides
Arthropods
Decapods
Mg-calcite, amorphous Ca-phosphate
Calcite, aragonite (rare)
Ostracods
Calcite, aragonite (rare)
Barnacles
Verte brates
Ca-phosphates
3.6.2 Benthic Organisms are responsible for building up enormous masses of shelf
material off certain coasts. We have earlier referred to the Great Barrier Reef, which
is composed of calcareous shells and skeletons of corals, algae, mollusks, and foraminifera. Much of Florida sits on top of shelf carbonate built by benthos. Both aragonite
and calcite are secreted by various types of organisms (see Table 3.3). The content of
magnesium varies between groups of organisms, but also within the same group.
There is a tendency for higher magnesium values in those skeletons precipitated in
warmer water.
The great importance of carbonate-secreting benthos in producing sediment is
apparent all through the Phanerozoic record, that is, the last 600 million years or so.
Early on, phosphatic skeletons were actually more important than calcareous ones.
The reason for the switch is still unknown. Mesozoic and Cenozoic Platform carbonates were deposited all around the Tethys. the seaway which once linked the western
Pacific and the Atlantic through Asia and Europe. The oil fields in Arabia and in
Mexico are associated with cavernous Mesozoic reef limestones. built up within the
Tethys seaway. In the Paleozoic, shelf carbonates built the Permian reefs in the
Rockies, which contain a rich fauna of ancient corals, brachiopods, and mollusks.
The carbonates of the Caledonian mountains running from Norway to Scotland and
84
Wales into Newfoundland and Appalachia mark an ancient Atlantic seaway (Fig.
1.19).
The older the carbonate deposits, the more recrystallized they tend to be. Aragonite is replaced by calcite in this process, and many original structures of fossils are
destroyed through "diagenesis". "Dolomitization" is an extreme form of diagenetic
alteration, whereby every second Ca-ion is eventually replaced by Mg.
The shallow water limestones of the geologic record, produced in the shelf environments of ancient oceans, commonly contain an admixture of siliceous rocks, as
layers or nodular masses of chert arranged along horizons parallel to the bedding.
Mineralogically, this material is, in the main, finely crystalline quartz; in Tertiary
sediments it may be cryptocrystalline, or it may be still amorphous in parts. The
origin of these flinty masses has long been a mystery (although this did not prevent
their being used for tool-making in the Stone Age, of course). In the Miocene Monterey Formation of California, the source of the silica is shells of planktonic diatoms.
However, in shelf limestones the source may well have been siliceous sponges. Such
sponges are abundant on shelves and upper slopes in the present ocean wherever
there are silica-rich waters, that is, in high latitudes and in upwelling areas.
Why is there no evidence for incipient chert formation in modern shelf carbonate
areas?
The reason is that silicate concentrations are very low in present tropical waters.
Diatoms and sponges precipitate silica, but their skeletons are delicate and are
quickly redissolved in the highly undersaturated seawater, which is stripped of its
silicate by diatoms in upwelling regions. Could ancient oceans have had higher
concentrations of silicate in the water? This is quite possible, if such oceans were
much less fertile than the present ones. Also, it has been suggested that a high level
of volcanic activity favored the formation of siliceous sedimentary rocks by supplying large amounts of silicate to seawater. For the Eocene, this idea has been
offered to explain the abundace of cherts in deep-sea carbonates. These cherts caused
considerable difficulties for deep-sea drilling, since they quickly destroy the drill bit,
and impede recovery of sediment cores.
3.6.3 Plankton Organisms contribute a significant amount of material to slope sediments (Fig. 3.8). Deep-sea carbonates are made almost entirely of planktonic remains
(see Chap. 8). Shelf sediments, especially those of the geologic past, can also contain
considerable amounts of planktonic remains. For example, the English chalk is made
largely of the remains of planktonic calcareous algae, the coccolithophorids (which
produce the little platelets called coccoliths). The role of diatoms in supplying opal to
margin sediments has been mentioned.
In general, the remains of planktonic organisms increase relatively to those of
benthic organisms in the offshore direction. A well-known application of this principle is the determination of the ratio of planktonic to benthic foraminifera in the
mapping of marine facies. In the deep sea, the ratio is greater than 10: 1. On the edge
of the shelf it is close to 50:50. In the Persian Gulf, a somewhat restricted shelf sea,
the plankton-benthos ratio is even lower: about 3:7 near the entrance, and less than
I: 10 in the interior. Thus, the planktonic remains are typical for the open ocean.
Nonskeletal Carbonates
85
3.7 Nonskeletal Carbonates

3.7.1 Carbonate Saturation. In the present ocean, carbonate precipitation is either
within organisms (shells, skeletons) or is associated with their metabolic activity
(algal crusts). This need not always have been so: a certain proportion of the limestones and associated carbonates in the geologic record may have been precipitated
inorganically.
Where would one look for such inorganic precipitation today? To guide us in the
search for likely places, we need to consider briefly the chemistry of carbonate
precipitation and dissolution.
Seawater which spontaneously precipitates a mineral - for example, aragonite,
CaC03 - is said to be supersaturated with this mineral phase. Seawater which dissolves the mineral is undersaturated. When precipitation just equals dissolution,
saturation obtains, that is, the solution is in equilibrium with the solid. The degree of
saturation is expressed as the ratio of the ionic product of reactants present to the
product necessary for saturation (brackets indicate concentrations):
Dsat = [Ca2+] [C03 2-]observed/[Ca2+] [COl-]equilibrium.
(3.2)
Clearly, Dsat equals 1 for saturation, less than 1 for undersaturation, and is greater
than 1 for supersaturation.
Whenever Dsat ist greater than 1, we expect spontaneous precipitation. However,
even though Dsat is indeed greater than 1 in the surface waters of tropical oceans,
inorganic precipitation is negligible. It is commonly assumed that the presence of
magnesium interferes with the expected reaction. Thus we need to find an unusually
high Dsat, if we are to see inorganic precipitation. Additionally, the presence of
appropriate crystal nuclei should be favorable.
Hifh temperature and a low C02 content in the water increase the product [Ca2+]
[C03 -] by increasing the concentration of carbonate ion. The effect of adding or
subtracting C02 is readily seen from the following equations:
C02 + H20 = H+ + HC03- ,
HC03- = H+ + C03= .
(3.3)
(3.4)
Almost all the inorganic carbon in the ocean is in the form of bicarbonate, HC03-.
Removal of C02 drives the reaction of Eq. (3.3) to the left, subtracting hydrogen
ions. In tum, this drives the reaction of Eq. (3.4) to the right, opposing the change in
hydrogen ions. Increasing the temperature lowers the solubility of C02. Also, C02 is
taken up by algae during photosynthesis - hence the precipitation of CaC03 as crusts
on many shallow-water tropical algae.
The following equation summarizes the process surrounding carbonate precipitation and dissolution in a simplified manner:
CaC03 + H20 + C02 ~ Ca2+ + 2 HC03 .
(3.5)
Dissolution proceeds from left to right, precipitation from right to left. Note that C02
is used up during dissolution of carbonate (to help make bicarbonate), and is released
86
upon precipitation. We shall take up this theme again when discussing the greenhouse
effect (see Sect. 7.7.5).
3.7.2 The Bahamas are ideally suited to test for inorganic precipitation. They are
surrounded by some of the warmest, most alkaline waters in the ocean. There is
hardly any terrigenous input, and pure carbonates are accumulating. The Great Bahama Bank is extremely flat and usually less than 5 m deep (Fig. 3.9a). High rates of
evaporation and low rates of rainfall results in increased salinities, which can attain
over 40 %0. Hence [Ca2+] (observed) is increased in Eq. (3.2). Heating of the water
by the tropical sun further increases Dsat. Algae grow abundantly on the sea floor,
removing C02 during the day. Thus, conditions are indeed very favorable for the
precipitation of carbonate.
Two types of calcareous particles on the sea floor of the Great Bank have been
considered as possible products of inorganic precipitation: aragonite needles (length
of a few micrometers) and oolites (consisting of spherical ooids with a diameter near
one third of a millimeter) (Fig. 3.9).
The origin of the aragonite needles has been a puzzle for some time; both direct
precipitation and mechanical breakup (perhaps aided by boring clams, deposit
feeders, etc.) of pre-existing skeletons has been suggested. However, modem investigations, using scanning electron microscopy and stable isotope analysis, indicate that
most of the needles are formed within certain algae.
The oolites are spherical objects formed of concentric layers mostly of aragonite
needles and organic matter. They are quite abundant in the geologic record especially
in subtropical shelf sediments. In the Bahamas they occur especially on the outer rim
of the Great Bank, in the shallowest water. Here, in the zone of growth, they are
altemately moved about by strong tidal currents, or rest just below the sea floor,
buried by other oolites. Recent laboratory experiments suggest that ooids are formed
only if sufficient organic matter is present. According to high-resolution stereos can
investigations, precipitation is largely through biocalcification by unicellular algae.
Hence, carbonate precipitation directly from seawater seems to be negligible under
present-day conditions.
In sum, carbonate platforms and shelves are enormous biological factories generating biogenous carbonates, in competition with the open ocean plankton. The steep
slopes off the carbonate shelves are due to the fact that the carbonate sands and muds
delivered from above can harden quickly by cementation. Coral reefs are responsible
for sharp shelf edges. The alternation from glacial to interglacial sea-level variation,
and between exposure and submergence of carbonate shelves, has important implications for the carbonate budget of the entire ocean, and hence also for the concentration of C02 in the atmosphere (Sect. 8.5).
We have seen that during low sea-level stands more material reaches the deep sea
by turbidity current transport (Chap. 2.10). The reason is an increase of delivery of
terrigenous sediments by continental erosion during glacial time, and a lack of estuaries that could trap the material: it is delivered right to the shelf edge. The reverse
is the case in the region surrounding the Bahama Banks and around similar carbonate
platforms, where biological sediment production dominates. Such platforms deliver
Nonskeletal Carbonates
87
Fig. 3.9. Calcareous oolites, produced within tidal zone by algal activity. Upper Air photo of oolite
sand bars, Bahama Banks. Note tidal channels. [Photo courtesy D. L. Eiche r] . Lower SEM photos of
oiids, scale bar 5 J..lm; left slightly etched section. Three secondarily filled borings (h) intersect the
concentric laminae of primary oolite coating; right close-up of oolite laminae, showing acicular
aragonite needles. [Photos D. Fiitterer]
88
materials during high stands, while yielding little during low stands. When platforms
are flooded, the growth of algae, foraminifers, mollusks, and corals, produces a large
amount of calcareous debris which is then available for transport down the flanks
(and also for making storm ramparts, in cases). In contrast, during low stands, the
platforms fall dry and, while soils or karst from carbonate dissolution mediated by
runoff may develop, there is little production of loose sediment.
3.7.3 Dolomite. Calcite may contain magnesium in different concentrations. "MgCalcites" are, in fact, the rule rather than the exception in the shelf environment.
Dolomite rCa, Mg (C03)z], however, is a different story, and poses many unsolved
problems.
One might expect that dolomite would precipitate from seawater because it is
much less soluble than aragonite. There is, after all, plenty of magnesium in seawater
(Table 3. 1). However, such precipitation has not been observed in today's ocean.
Dolomite apparently forms within calcareous sediments, either through partial replacement of Ca with Mg in preformed carbonate or possibly by precipitation
from pore waters. As mentioned, these processes are part of "diagenesis". A classic
area for the study of incipient dolomite formation is the southern margin of the
Persian/Arabian Gulf (Fig. 3.10). Here, the intertidal flats lie behind barrier islands,
within a lagoon with warm and very saline water. In the pore waters of sediments
above low tide, magnesium is greatly enriched with respect to calcium (and sulfate is
reduced) due to the precipitation of gypsum (calcium sulfate) in adjoining evaporite
pans (i. e. the "sabkha").
O Land
d
c
Sab kha
Algol mo ts
b ~ In lerl idal
Q
bd Lagoon
Fig. 3.10. Present-day dolomite formation .

Lagoon on the southem coast of the
Persian/Arabian Gulf (a), floor covered with
calcareous mud. Intertidal zone (b) and algal
mats of uppermost Iitoral (c) rim the lagoon.
Intermittently flooded evaporite flats
(d, sabkhas) follow landward
Hydrogenous Sediments
89
Obviously, in this instance of dolomite formation, the dolomite is closely associated with evaporation flats, tidal conditions, and unusually warm and saline water an environment unfriendly to higher organisms but favorable for recrystallisation.
Thus, we should not expect many macrofossils in sediments rich in this kind of
dolomite. Stromatolithic textures, however, may be preserved.
Experiments on dolomite formation suggest that the removal of the sulfate ion
from the interstitial waters (by reduction and precipitation as iron sulfide) is the
crucial step allowing dolomite formation. If so, the importance of the precipitation of
gypsum in evaporite lagoons may lie in the decrease of the sulfate concentration
rather than in the increase of the Mg/Ca ratio.
Microbial sulfate reduction in the uppermost few tens of meters of continental
margin sediments also seems to favor dolomitization. According to investigations
with deep-sea drilling cores, this occurs if accumulation rates are less than
500 m/million years and organic carbon contents are greater than 0.5 weight %.
Dolomite has also been found in deep-sea sediments deposited under anaerohic
conditions. This has been explained by bacterial sulfate reduction, removing this
obstacle to precipitation. Sulfate reduction also increases the alkalinity, providing
additional carbonate ions for precipitation. In general, diagenetic signals are strong in
hemipelagic sediments with suboxic processes. Under certain conditions, dolomitization of preformed carbonates may occur by dilution of interstitial seawater by freshwater, penetrating from nearby highs on tidal flats, as happens on the Bahaman
Islands, and on some coral reef islands.
3.8 Hydrogenous Sediments

With the question of dolomite formation, we have entered the evaporite environment.
Within continental margins, the bulk of hydrogenous sediments are evaporitic salt.
Strictly speaking, calcareous shells and skeletons are also hydrogenous, since they
originate in the water. However, we have called the minerals precipitated by organisms biogenous, and set them apart.
3.8.1 Marine Evaporites are those sediments which form on evaporation of seawater. Restriction of exchange with the open ocean, in a semi-enclosed basin, is
necessary to drive the salt content high enough for precipitation to begin. Such
restricted bodies of water are (1) coastal lagoons; (2) salt seas on the shelves; or (3)
early rift oceans in the deep sea. A special case is the Mediterranean, which was
partially isolated in the latest Miocene, 6 to 5 million years ago (see Sect. 9.5.2).
How much salt can be produced by evaporating a 1000-m- high column of seawater? Salt constitutes 3.5 % (or 35 %0) of the weight of the column, its density is
about 2.5 times that of water. Thus, we would obtain about 14 m salt. Most of this
would be table salt (halite) (see Table 3.1). The least soluble salts precipitate first:
calcium carbonate (aragonite), and calcium sulfate (gypsum). To precipitate halite,
the brine needs to be concentrated about tenfold. Many evaporites only contain carbonate and gypsum (or anhydrite), others have thick deposits of halite or, rarely, of
90
the valuable (and very soluble) potassium salts. This sequence of mineral precipitation was experimentally established by Usiglio in 1849.
An evaporite basin, besides having restricted access to the open ocean, must lie
within an arid climate. New seawater must be delivered from time to time. This
seawater must be concentrated by evaporation. If only gypsum is to form, a concentration beyond threefold must be prevented, by new incursions of seawater, or else
halite must be removed during or after each evaporation cycle (Fig. 3.11). If only
halite is to form, left-over brine from a gypsum-precipitating basin must be available,
or the halite must be leached from elsewhere and brought into the basin by nonmarine
waters. Differential preservation, then, and serial fractionation are the key processes
in controlling the chemistry of salt deposits. In lagoonal settings, a periodic covering
of existing salts, by wind or flood deposits, may be necessary to prevent redissolution
by the next invasion of ocean water.
Only very few modern examples for submarine evaporite formation are known:
coastal lagoons of Ojo de Liebre in Baja California (Mexico) or the 20-km-Iong
drowned river valley Bocana de Virrila (Peru), where gypsum is precipitated when
salinities reach 160 %0 by evaporation and halite at more than 320 %0 (type a in Fig.
3.11).
The formation of diagenetic dolomite and gypsum/anhydrite in coastal "sabkha"
environments was discussed in the last section. Features typical for this environment,
such as big gypsum crystals, nodular or intensely deformed anhydrite, and algal mats,
are well known in ancient evaporite series of the Permian period (Lower Clear Formation, Texas; Zechstein, Northwestern Europe). Also, such features were discovered
in uppermost Miocene sediments, underlying the Mediterranean, by deep-sea drilling
(see Fig. 3.12).
3.8.2 Phosphorites. As is true for nonskeletal calcium carbonate, marine phosphorites are in the boundary line between hydrogenous and biogenous origin. After
all, phosphorus is intimately associated with the life cycle on Earth, in the sea as well
as on land. It is an essential component of every living cell. In fact, it is likely that the
availability of phosphorus to photosynthetic organisms ultimately controls the fertility of the ocean, and hence also the formation of biogenous deposits.
Phosphorites deserve special attention for the reason of this tie-in to ocean fertility,
but also because of their economic value (Sect. 10.3.1).
3.8.3 Iron Compounds are abundant in both oceanic margin sediments and in the
deep sea, since iron is one of the most abundant elements on Earth. On the slopes, the
high supply of organic matter commonly leads to oxy gen deficiency, and to sulfate
reduction by marine bacteria, in the uppermost sediment layers. This process results
in H2S formation, and in the precipitation of iron sulfide (pyrite). In the deep sea, on
the other hand, oxygen is generally plentiful, and essentially all iron occurs in its
oxidized form, as iron-oxide/hydroxide (goethite), Here it is especially associated
with manganese deposits (Sect. 10.4).
The reduction of sulfate in anaerobic sediments. and the associated precipitation of
iron sulfide, is a geochemical process of major importance, which bears on the
Hydrogenous Sediments
91
SHALLOW SHELF
II CoCOj"SoWration
NaCl SaturatlM
CONTINENT
OCEAN
DEEP DIVIDED SHELF
.....
\
.)
't
~'~.
"
Fig. 3.11. Possible models for marine evaporite formation. a Serial fractionation in very shallow and
extended basins. Saturation of different salts is reached in a series ocean to land. Terrigenous
particles may be supplied from land. Recent example: Adshi-darja Lagoon attached to the Caspian
Sea by Kara Bogaz Inlet (chemical conditions there are not fully comparable with open sea).
b Serial fractionation and differential preservation in deeper basins divided by sills. Saturation of
differents salts is reached in a series shallow to deep water. Detail Only gypsum is precipitated near
the sill. Halite saturation is not reached, because brine sinks down to the basin escaping further
evaporation. Sill depths can be considerably reduced by carbonate and/or gypsum precipitation. No
Recent example known. [G. Richter-Bernburg, 1955 , Dtsch. Geol. Ges. 105 [4]: 59]
~ CARBONATES
Fig. 3.12. Model of concentric serial fractionation in

the uppermost Miocene
underneath the Western Mediterranean. G Gibraltar Region. where the connection
with the Atlantic was closed
for half a million years; M
Mallorca C Corsica; S Sardinia. [K. J. HsU et al .. 1973
in Ryan, W. B. F. et al. eds.
Initial Repts. DSDP 13, 695.
Washington D.C.]
H/:::;d
SULFATES
1'1..,.""'1
HALITE
'L-~
SOO k,n
__- L__~__~~'
92
control of oxygen abundance in the Earth's atmosphere. Carbon can be deposited as

carbonate or as organic carbon; sulfur as sulfate (gypsum) or as sulfide (pyrite); iron
as iron oxide or as iron sulfide. In each case, the second phase - which is favored by
anaerobism in the ocean - liberates oxygen to the system. Thus, an increase in
anaerobism leads to a decrease in oxygen consumption and to an increase in oxygen
supply. This negative feedback mechanism helps stabilize the oxygen content of
atmosphere and ocean.
An iron-mineral which has been much studied and discussed is glauconite. It is a
greenish silicate common in shallow marine areas. Chemically, it is a poorly crystallized mica, rich in potassium (7 %-8 %) and in iron (20 %-25 %). Geologists tend to
denote as "glauconite" any small green earthy pellet recovered from the sand fraction
of marine sediment. These pellets are commonly shaped like the interior of foraminifera or like fecal material, indicating their locus of growth. Apparently the association with decaying organic matter (fecal pellets, interior of shells) is a necessary
condition of growth: part of the iron in glauconite is reduced iron. A high concentration of iron in interstitial waters (at conditions intermediate between reduction of iron
oxide and precipitation of sulfide) appears to be favorable for glauconite formation,
as is the presence of the right kind of clay for conversion to glauconite mica. Glauconite is commonly found in association with phosphatic sediments, in high productivity regions along continental margins, as, for example, off Angola.
From fossil marine sediments we know types of marine iron deposits which are
not found today, such as the iron oolites abundant in the Jurassic formations of
England, eastem France, and southern Germany. These "minette" iron ores of Europe
have been mined for more than a century. The fact that their origin is still a mystery
once again illustrates how little we know about the chemistry of ancient seas.
3.9 Sedimentation Rates

Consider a fossil reef section exposed in a mountain valley, or a sequence of layers of
limestones or shales, telling about a certain period of Earth's history.
How long did it take to build that reef? How much time is recorded in those
layers?
The idea of geologic time, which is so fundamental to geology, is quite young.
Essentially, it starts with James Hutton (1726-1797), and its chief protagonists were
Charles Lyell (1797-1875) and Charles Darwin (1809-1882).
However, before radioactivity was discovered (in 1896, by Marie Curie) and applied to the geologic record, there was no way of telling just how much geologic time
might differ from the chronology which scholars had derived from the account in
Genesis. Nevertheless, some early guesses proved remarkably close T.M. Reade, in
1893, by observing present-day rates of denudation and of accumulation, estimated
an age for sediments of a time span over 7000 times greater than that admitted by
Bishop James Ussher's 6000 years (1581-1656). J. G. Goodchild, in 1897, estimated
704 million years, a remarkably lucky guess!
A general overview of sedimentation rates is given in Fig. 3.13.
Sedimentation Rates
mml
VERTICAL
1000 V. MOVEMENTS
00.000
DENUDATION
RATES
93
SEDIMENTATION
RATES
SHORT ~ATION
Ice-sheet
areas
10. 000 ~']['"- -.
Mountains
l
l{1"'7'<"--.,.,-..:----:'---:---t
Lf' Coral reef
I
DELTAS
Sea level rise

-10.000 y. B P.
ILONG DURATION
_ Continental
High relief
1.000+-~I--_
a_
re_
a_
s _~
~ Continental
~ Law rel ief

~
ar eas
100
Himalaya
Drainage areas :
Colo rado T
~~~~7:~nks
Mid
Oceamc
Ridges
Amazonas ~
Mississ .
T
Congo
flats
, . since 8OOOY.
I , IKiel Bay
I ,
since 100 Y
-SHELF
I ,
--11--
I 'r
Nlbrth Sea Tidal
CONTINENTAL
"
D
II _SLOPE
DEEP SEA
CALCAREOUS
OOZES
10T---------~--------~~------__t
~ ~ Sill CEOUS
OOZES
I I
: 1 RED CLAY
1~---------L--------~----------~
Fig. 3.13. Rates of vertical crustal motion, of denudation, and of sedimentation rates. Scale in
mm/lOOO years, also called "Bubnoffs" (B), or m/million years. Postglacial sea level rise for comparison: 100 m in 5000 yrs. Note interaction with recently deglaciated land (arrows left) and with
coral growth rates (arrows riJ?ht). [E. Seibold, 1975, Naturwissenschaften 62: 62; modified]
To apply these figures to ancient sediments, one has to correct them for compaction, that is, for a loss of porosity of about 40 % in sands, to about 70 % in muds.
On the whole, high rates occur at the edges of the continents, especially in estuaries and marginal basins with river influx. Exceptionally high values (up to 10 m
per year) are recorded off southern Alaska glaciers. The lowest sedimentation rates
occur in abyssal regions far away from the continents. Characteristic values for
continental slopes are 40 to 200 mm/IOOO years, under upwelling areas even up to
1000 mm/IOOO years, for the deep sea I to 20 mm/IOOO years. Coral reefs can build
up at rates of 1 cm per year, that is , 10000 mm/looO years! (see Sect. 7.4).
The most reliable estimates of sedimentation rates are possible in the case of
annual layers or varves. Counting of the varves in the Black Sea yields a rate near
400 mm/IOOO years, and in a bay off the Adriatic Island Mljet, 250 mm/lOOO years
(Fig. 3.14). In the Santa Barbara Basin off California, varve counts yield 1 mm/year,
in the Gulf of California 1-4 mm/year. Many millenia of temperture variations and
upwelling history can be reconstructed from the varves in the Gulf sediments and in
94
\.
/'
/
(
J
\
\.
-,
'\
\
(
)
...........
...........
'I
)
(
)
./
Mon.
12
11
1o
9
8
I.........
""'"'" ?
Waler
Temperalu re ( OC)
4
3
.....L.....J. 11 1",,111111 lhu..L.uJ

20 10
20
10
0 15 10 5
Air
7
6
5
Daily
Rainfall
Phylopl an klon mass

(Surface.Waler)
(mm)
(ScMmalic)
Fig. 3.14. Annual layers (varves) in the sediment of a bay in the Adriatic Sea (Mljet Island). The
photo shows light and dark laminae. One light-dark pair corresponds to one year. The lower boundary of light layers are generally sharp. they are due to precipitation of carbonate by phytoplankton.which bloom in early summer (record to lhe right) as temperature rises. In fall and winter. rains
bring terrigenous matter which - together with organic detritus - provides for dark colors. The
interpretation of the varves is a complicated matter; recent studies use statistical procedures to
reconstruct climatic conditions in detail. (Photo E. S.)
sediments of Santa Barbara Basin off California using diatoms, dinoflagellates, and
other microfossils (Sect. 7.7.2). Unfortunately, such ideal calendar pages are extremely rare in the marine realm. They can only be preserved where burrowing
organisms cannot live, that is, in the absence of free oxygen above the sedimentwater interface.
It is somewhat hazardous to apply sedimentation rates found for a given type of
sediment to a geologic sequence of such sediments. Episodic or periodic events,
especially erosional events, can change overall rates considerably. In many cases,
sediments of a certain depositional regime are underlain by erosional features of the
same regime: ice-polished rocks under moraines, wind-polished pebble pavements
under dunes, channels under river gravels, lopped-off sea floor beneath graded storm
deposits (shallow water) or turbidites (deep water). Erosion, of course, means loss of
information to the geologists. Missing sections - hiatuses - are erased history, lost
time as it were, whose duration can hardly be estimated. Therefore "accumulation
rates" averaging long time spans and including these losses are smaller than instantaneous sedimentation rates. Of course, the presence of hiatuses suggests we must look
for information about the processes producing them. Also, hiatuses extending over
large regions can be used for the correlation of sediment sequences, especially in
seismic stratigraphy.
In concluding this chapter about sources and composition of marine sediments,
some more esoteric components may be mentioned. So-called "cosmic spherules"
were first described by Murray of the Challenger Expedition. Black magnetic spherical objects up to 0.2 mm in diameter, commonly rich in Fe and Ni, can be isolated
Microtectites
95
from pelagic sediments, typically several per gram pelagic clay. Because it was
thought that they represent a steady influx of matter from space, their abundance was
used occasionally as an indicator for accumulation rates.
Glassy objects, normally up to 1 mm in diameter, may be produced by meteorite
impacts on terrestrial rocks and are called "microtectites". They were found in deepsea sediments in strewn fields around Austmlasia (0.7 million years old), off the
Ivory coast (1.1 million years), and in the Caribbean (33-35 million years), for
example. Where abundant, they can be used as a time marker and serve for correlation by "event stratigraphy".
Further Reading
Selley RC (1976) An introduction to sedimentology. Academic Press, London
Bouma AG, Normark WR, Barnes NE (eds) (1985) Submarine fans and related turbidite systems.
Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Reading HG (ed) (1986) Sedimentary environments and facies. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford
Tucker ME, Wright VP (1990) Carbonate sedimentology. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford
Friedman GM, Sanders JE, Kopaska-Merkel DC (1992) Principles of sedimentary deposits. Stratigraphy and sedimentology. Macmillan, New York
4 Effects of Waves and Currents
We have seen that the morphology of the ocean margins is largely determined by
tectonics and sediment supply (Chap. 2), and we have reviewed the various types of
sediment~ which are involved (Chap. 3). We now tum to the all-important role of
water motion in determining the distribution of sediments on the sea floor. A first
impression of this role can be gained from contemplating Fig. 4.1 which illustrates
the redistribution of sediment supplied by a river in a setting typical for southern
California. The water motions indicated are not the only ones that need to be considered, as we shall see.
Fig. 4.1. Redistribution of sediment on the continental margin, by water motion . The drawing
reflects a West Coast geographic setting ; note river input , longshore transport (powered by wave
energy), interception by submarine canyon. Fine sediment bypasses the shelf, and comes to rest on
slope or deeper. Note starved beaches and rocky shelf beyond canyon. [Based on a drawing in D. G.
Moore, 1969, Geol. Soc. Am . Spec. Pap. 107: 142]
98
Effects of Waves and Currents
Waves and currents leave their imprint on the sea floor in many ways, as depositional and erosional features. Familiar examples are wave forms on the sediment
surface, from the smallest ripple marks to large submarine dune fields. Others are
bedding structures within the sediment, from beach laminations to thick graded
layers, and also the grain size of the sediment, from muddy lagoonal deposits to the
highly sorted on wave-washed beaches. Scourmarks, channels, and clean-swept
banks and submarine plateaus are well-known products of erosion.
Just how effective are waves and currents as sculptors on the ocean floor? And
what are the clues to be studied if we wish to reconstruct the wave and current
regimes from the geologic record?
4.1 Sediment Transport

4.1.1 Role of Grain Size. The details of the relationships between water motion and
sediment response are by no means clear, despite considerable study. One problem is
the complicated feedback between water motion at the interface, and the changing
character of the sediment surface. It is difficult to predict what will happen in one
situation, from studying another, because grain size distributions, porosity, and cohesiveness of the sediment show large variability.
Perhaps the most basic question is, how strong does a curent have to be to move
sediment?
It is reasonable to expect that the coarser grains need more of a push than finer
ones (fig. 4.2). Pebbles with a diameter of 10 mm do not start to move until the
average velocity of the current near the sea floor is near 2 m/s. Grains of 1 mm size
move at 0.5 m/s. We can readily conclude, with a view to the geologic record, that
fine grains will be moved more often than coarse ones in a downstream direction, as
strong currents are less frequent than weak ones. Hence, grain size will normally
decrease in the downstream (or down-current) direction. This is a first clue to direction of transport, a clue which can be applied along the coast, on the shelf, or even in
the deep sea.
However, this simple and obvious relationship between grain size and water velocity is valid only down to sizes of 0.1 to 0.2 mm. When grain sizes decrease below
this value, water velocities may have to increase again to initiate erosion (Fig. 4.2).
Why should this be so?
When settled on the floor, the very fine sediments tend to produce a smooth
surface, which reduces turbulence at the interface and thus the opportunity for impact
of fast water particles on the sediment particles. More importantly, the smaller the
grains, the larger the surface area available for grain-to-grain cohesion, which can
form a strong bond after compaction. In addition, organic matter tends to settle out
with these fines and may provide for increased cohesion, by bacterial growth. Thus,
fine-grained sediment resists erosion more than coarse sediment. Another conclusion
follows: the sand grains between 0.1 and 0.2 mm are rather mobile on the sea floor;
they are the nomads among the sediment grains. They move easily at current velocities of only a little over 0.3 m/s. They are the sands that travel farthest, and they are
commonly found, therefore, on intertidal flats far removed from the source.
Sediment Transport
o
o
o
0
0
'lilt <DQ)-
OOOC>
0000
0 00
~:g~
0 00
~ ~CI:!C>
0 OO~
C>
N
99
COCDO
Grain size. in millimeters
Fig. 4.2. Diagram relating current velocity somewhat above the bottom to the size of particles
of a given class which it erodes ("'Hjulstr0m Curve"). Graph applies to well-sorted sediment only.
[A. Sundborg, 1956, Geogr Ann 38: 127, in J. Gilluly et aI. , 1968, Principles of geology,
W. H. Freeman, San Fraciscol
4.1.2 Role of Velocity. How exactly does water move the grains? The velocity of the
current decreases toward zero at the interface itself. Hence the values of current
velocity given are valid for some distance above the floor. Because of the difficulties
in defining this distance for different conditions, modem investigtions use bottom
shear stresses produced by the flow regime. Exactly how much effect such a current
has near the interface depends on the roughness of this surface and on the turbulence
this creates. The turbulence leads to sudden changes in the impact of water on a grain
sticking out at the surface. As the current velocity increases, the frequency and force
of impact pulses increases, and some grains start to move. This leads to the impacting
of grains by other grains and soon more and more grains start to roll and jump over
the floor. The rolling and jumping grains are the hed load of the current (Fig. 4.3).
If the velocity of a current increases further, turbulence increases and the jumps
become higher, with more grains joining. For anyone grain the contact with the floor
decreases, and we now have a considerable suspended load within the water. Since
fine grains settle more slowly, they spend more time in suspension than coarse ones.
Thus, there is a statistical distribution between bed load and suspended load, corresponding to grain size distributions and turbulence.
The grains traveling in the bed load, naturally, will impact each other more than
those in suspension. We can conclude that there is another clue to direction of transport: signs of abrasion on bedload particles should increase down-current. The degree
100
Groin and bed

motion
Fluid discharge rate

and bed form
--
low discharge
Threshold of groin
movement on flat bed
I incipient motion I
Vortex plume over

ripple crest
Ripple bed, ripple form
- - - - moves down
I dunes I
stream
..
High discharge
Suspension
Sheet flow on smooth bed
Standing wove in fluid

Very high discharge ..
'
....
.. .
,'
..
;:8;~~tf~~W~1~~~?~;~~t~!~0f:?:~f~\:r~'
Suspension
Sand waves, form moves
up-stream
Fig. 4.3. Schematic representation

of change in grain motions as velocity of water increases (flume experiments). [D. L. Inman, in F. P. Shepard, 1963, Submarine geology, 2nd
ed. harper and Row, New York)
of rounding of pebbles, for example, is such a clue. Sand grains, too, may bear this
information, although it is assumed that abrasion is much slower than for pebbles 300 to 400 times less effective. Below a size of 0.25 mm, however, rounding and
length of transport have no simple relationship. In fact, rounding may decrease downcurrent as the sands become finer and hence more irregular.
What if the current velocity of a sediment-carrying water body decreases from
some high value? The coarse material settles out first, and then the finer particles in
regular succession (Fig. 4.4). The values for current velocities at which the sediment
comes to rest are lower (by about 30 %) than the ones for erosion: it is easier to keep
sediment moving than to set it in motion from rest. For the suspended load, of course,
there is no velocity minimum for transport, as in erosion, since settling now dominates over interface conditions. One conclusions is that any current activity will tend
to sepamte clay-size from sand-size material, since the presence of sand facilitates
erosion, and the clay stays in suspension long after the sand settles back out.
Sediment Transport
101
1000 - - -- , - - - - r - -----,
mm
sec
l00 +---~r_--~~--~
10 +-----~~--r---~
Fig. 4.4. Settling velocities of quartz grains in water.

Note that silt and fine sand settles according to
W - 0 2, but coarse sand and gravel according to
W - ..JO. (W - 0 2 is known as Stokes' Law.)
(W is settling rate, D is diameter of grains in mm
[w. W. Rubey, 1933, Am J Sci 25 : 325, in C. O. Dunbar, J. Rodgers: 1957, Principles of stratigraphy. John
Wiley, New York]
~1+----~+----r---~
go
Jl
0.1 ":_:--o-LT---.-+-....,.:.....:;....~-t--..;-r-rl
.L.l.
.1.
1 2mrn8
25S
14
t--SlIt
- _ --SoNI
18
-----t--Gta.,.. -
We have presented the processes involved in erosion, transport, and deposition of

detrital sediments in a very simplified manner. The information given in Fig. 4.2,
seemingly of a quantitative nature, is, in fact, an illustration of a concept rather than
a nomogram. Quite complicated experiments and theories are necessary for quantification of the processes involved, an approach that is especially important for coastal
engineers. Nature serves up complications near the coast perhaps more than elsewhere: Unsteady and reversing tidal currents, "relict" sediments from the past producing armoring layers, different suspension densities, or various types of differently
compacted clays making up the bottom, and so forth. An important consideration is
that in many circumstances the condition of the sediments is inherited from the recent
past, when the sea level was lower, and does not reflect present wave- and current
dynamics.
4.1.3 Role of Events. Only short events producing suspension are needed to allow
considerable transport: once the sediment is brought into suspension by currents,
waves, or animals on the sea floor, even a relatively weak current can keep it moving.
Commonly, such events are associated with winter storms (in mid-latitudes), or with
hurricanes (in tropical regions). In the Yellow Sea, for example, sediment distribution
is entirely dominated by the combined action of strong winter waves and currents.
The occurrence of suitable events may be separated by long time intervals: nevertheless, the sediment will move. Thus, in describing the role of environmental factors
in producing sediment transport there is a problem of scale, that is, time scale. The
coastal engineer knows that storms do much of the moving of sediment - and damage
- along the shores. Yet, his measurements may only include a few years' worth of
changing conditions. The marine geologist, thinking in millions of years, is faced
with a record which may contain a large proportion of unusual events. and which is
hard to compare with the results of laboratory experiments, or even field experiments.
Especially large storms can rework the sediment of shallow areas to considerable
depth below the sea floor. so that a layer remains recording the event. because
102
subsequent reworking does not reach as deep again. Such layers are known as "tempestites". They are commonly characterized by coarse material overlying an erosive
base, followed by intercalations of coarser and finer sediment. In the intertidal "wadden" the coarse material consists of shell.
The existence of tempestites is a reminder that experiments on sediment transport,
for example in artificial waterways (flumes), have a scale problem with regard to
both size and time. Small-scale experiments do not necessarily reproduce the largescale phenomena observed in nature.
4.2 Effects of Waves

4.2.1 Waves and Offshore Sediment. Sooner or later, every marine geologist
becomes familiar with some of the less pleasant effects of waves, when at sea. Here
we are concerned with the effects on the sea floor, however. Waves consist of nearcircular motions of water particles; the upper part of the circle moves with the wave,
the lower part against it (Fig. 4.5).
wove motion
/12
Fig. 4.5 a, b. Wave motion. a Sinusoidal wave, particles describe circles. b Formation of breakers.
The open ocean wave approaches the beach (/), "'feeling bottom", it slows and steepens (2). It
becomes unstable and breaks (3), producing a body of foaming water which runs across the beach
(4) transporting sediment.
Bascom, 1959, Sci. Am. 201 (2) 14 and 1960, Sci . Am. 203 (2) 80
modified)
rw.
Effects of Waves
103
The motion quickly decays with depth. At depths greater than one half of the wave
length there is virtually no motion. Thus, surface waves involve only the uppermost
part of the water column. Internal waves also exist at the thermocline, and at other
density discontinuities in the upper few 100 m. Such waves have been shown to
induce currents in submarine canyons. However, on the whole, their effects are
poorly known.
A surface wave running up onto the shore from deep water "feels bottom" when
the depth of water becomes less than one fourth of the wave length. At this point, the
circular motion of the water particles becomes more and more elliptical, and there is
a back-and-forth motion directly on the sea floor. In general, the maximum depth to
which sand is moved, the "wave base", is near 10 to 20 m. In exceptionally strong
storms, wave motions can reach considerably deeper. Ripple marks are seen on
shelves evep out to the shelf break. However, the relative importance of surface
waves, intemal waves, tides, and currents in producing such ripples is not always
clear. Recently, symmetrical ripples were discovered in fine sands of the outer shelf
off Oregon, at depths to 200 m, with crest-to-crest lengths of 10 to 20 cm, and with
the crests parallel to the coast. These oscillation ripples are thought to be produced by
winter storms on the exposed shelf. The measurement of ripples (Fig. 4.6) yields
clues as to the water motion which produced them.
The nature of the waves working the sea floor helps determine not only the
distribution of various types of ripples, but also the character of the sediment. Above
wave base, fine sediment is put into suspension periodically, and is transported away
by currents. It settles in quiet environments at greater depths. Below wave base, mud
can accumulate. The composition and the rate of production of bottom-living organisms changes greatly across the wave base, pres umably largely because of the change
in sediment character.
The rule "coarse sediment equals shallow water, fine sediment equals deep water"
derives from this general decrease of energy input to the sea floor with depth. However, it is the energy that is important, not the depth as such. Along any shore line, the
less exposed bays also tend to collect fine material, while coarse sediment characterizes the headlands.
4.2.2 Beach Processes. Nowhere are the effects of water motion more obvious than
on the beach (Figs. 4.7 to 4.11). Each uprushing wave moves the sand, leaving swash
marks at its upper limit and V-shaped backwash rills upon retreat. The balance
between erosion and deposition of beach materials produces a typical profile, featuring a berm and a foreshore (Figs. 4.7b and 4.9). The balance between erosion and
deposition shifts through time. After storms, in many cases, a considerable loss of
beach sand can be noticed. The sand is eroded and moves offshore. Typical for this
"dissipative" beach stage are high, steep waves with short periods.
How do beaches hold on to their sand? The answer to this question is that normal,
more gentle wave action with no prominent surf zone moves sand back inshore. The
resulting condition is called the "reflective" stage. Between two extremes, some
intermediate stages with or without longshore bars and throughs or bars transverse to
the beach may form.
104
Fig. 4.6 a, b. Measuring

ripples. a Ripple profiler of
R. Newton. The vertically
movable rods reproduce the
ripple topography on a grid.
With increasing bottom shear
stresses produced by waves,
mixed sediment becomes
coarser and ripple-crest distances increase. b Diver
measuring the inclination of
a lee slope of a giant ripple,
north of Fehmarn Island. Baltic Sea [Photos Diving
Group, Geol. Inst. KielJ
On the beaches of California, and elsewhere on many coasts, the power of wave
action changes seasonally. Thus, winter beaches tend to be lower than summer
beaches, and the out-going sand leaves rocks and gravel exposed, where present
(Fig. 4.8). The sand which collects offshore fonns bars. The position of the bars can
be recognized from the shore by observing the breakers which form on top of them
(Fig. 4.9).
The waves which run toward the shore steepen as they slow in shallow water, and
at some point they break, spilling water down the front (Fig. 4.5b). This breaking
occurs where the water depth is roughly 1.5 times the wave height (from trough to
crest). Waves transport some water in the direction of travel, and this transport greatly
increases during breaking. Thus, water piles up on the beach, or on the foreshore, to
be exact (Fig. 4.9). In many places, the piled-up water returns to the ocean in narrow
streams, the rip currents feared by inexperienced ocean swimmers. These currents
can be fast (I to 2 m/s) and can carry swimmers beyond the breaker zone. Here the
Effects of Waves
105
b
Fig. 4.7 a, b. Beaches. a Hawaiian beach made of coarse shell sand (note steepness of profile).
Breakers form at reef edge, well offshore. Small arrow lower riRhl marks " swashline". b Pebble
beach in East Anglia. Note the distinct berm crest. [Photos W. H. B.]
106
Fig. 4.8 a, b. Boomer Beach , La 101la, California. a Exposed wavecut te rrace with boulder beach.
Sand has moved offshore, and also to southern end of embayment. This is the condition after storms
( usually in winter). b Sand covers the te rrace and much of the boulders. Summer condition . [Photos
W. H. B.]
Effects of Waves
FORE IOFFSHORE
ISHORE
I-
107
BEACH ZONE
-
WINTER SURF ZONE
'-JRANGE
OF TIDE
"
Fig. 4.9. Beach profile (southern California). The summer profile shows the buildup of the berm at
the expense of the bars. During winter the surf removes sand from the berm, and the bars reform.
Note the breakers over the bars (arrows marked B) The vertical scale is exaggerated. Gradients in
sandy beaches are mostly around a few degrees, the finer the sand, the more gentle the slope.
[W. Bascom, 1960, Sci. Am. 203 [2] 80; modified]
currents disperse. They also can carry sediment, and produce channels and ripple
marks within the breaker zone.
Water transported by waves also causes longshore currents, which can move sediment parallel to the beach. Since the breakers are very efficient in suspending the
sediment, the longshore currents (velocities up to I m/s) can move a large amount of
material (Fig. 4.IOa). On both the US East and West Coasts, the longshore drift is
predominantly from north to south. On the shores of Southern California, sand
brought by rivers moves south till it is intercepted by the head of a submarine canyon.
Thus, south of submarine canyons, beaches tend to be starved for sand (Fig. 4.IOb).
The submarine canyon acts as a funnel, moving beach sediment as well as kelp and
other debris down to the deep-sea floor (Fig. 4.11) .
Where beaches are narrow or missing altogether, storm breakers can hit the coast
with full force. Armed with gravel or sand, breakers can dig a deep notch into cliffs,
even if these are made of hard rock. When the notches and sea caves become large
and deep enough, the overlying material collapses and cliff erosion results. By grinding up the fallen rocks, waves produce additional beach sand (Fig. 4.12).
108
b
Fig. 4.10 a, b. Longshore transport of beach sand. a Venice Beach, Los Angeles , looking north. Note
pile-up of beach sand on nothern side of large jetty at bottom. b La Jolla Point. San Diego, looking
south. Sand moves in from the north; beach ends abruptly before reaching promontory. Sand moves
offshore in La Jolla Canyon (arrow) . Dark fields north of point are kelp beds. Note starved pocket
beaches on the point. [Photos W. H. B.)
All over the world, one finds protective structures at the foot of cliffs. People are
more mobile now than ever, they flock to the sea, they enjoy the view from atop the
cliffs, and they tend to be unfamiliar with the realities of coastal erosion, Coastal
engineering - which largely progresses by avoiding previous errors - has evolved
considerably in areas where protection from storm waves has been part of the scenery
for centuries, for example around the North Sea. Walls proved to be vulnerable to
waves. The waves remove the support at the base, so that the wall topples over
toward the sea. A more effective way to tame the sea is to pile up "rip-rap" (boulders)
or "tetrapods", or to construct dams with gentle slopes, where the breakers can spend
their energy gradually rather than all at once (Fig. 4.13). Energy-consuming friction
and turbulence is increased by making rough suIt'aces on these slopes. The words of
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) apply: "Who would rule Nature, must first obey her."
Longshore Sand Transport
109
Fig. 4.11. Sandfall in San Lucas Canyon, Baja California. The fall is about 10 m high. The photo
was taken by Conrad Limbaugh, at a depth of about 55 m, in natural light. [F. P. Shepard, 1963,
Submarine geology, 2nd ed. Harper and Row, New York, Fig. 148. Photo courtesy S. I. 0 .]
110
Fig. 4.12. Sediment from cliff erosion. Encinitas, California. The pebbles act as tools for undercutting of the cliff. Note fallen cliff rocks which are quickly ground up into small panicles. [Photo W.
H. B.]
- -..... b
Effects of Currents
III
4.3 Effects of Currents

4.3.1 Surface Currents. Of all ocean currents, the Gulf Stream is perhaps the most
familiar (Fig. 4. 14a). It is the largest and most important current of the Nothern
Hemisphere, and is mighty indeed, transporting nearly one hundred million cubic
meters per second (100 x 106 m\ For comparison, extraordinary peak floods of the
Mississippi might carry as much as fifty thousand cubic meters per second (50 x 10 3
m 3/s) - one half of a thousandth of the Gulf Stream transport.
The Gulf Stream, of course, is part of the great North Atlantic gyre, complete with
west wind drift in the north, trade wind currents in the south, and an eastern boundary
current (the Canary Current) connecting the two. The center of the gyre is near 30
N, in the Sargasso Sea. There are five such gyres on the globe: North and South
Atlantic, Nqrth and South Pacific, and southern Indian Ocean. In each case, the west
winds and the trade winds are the driving force, and the western and eastern boundary
currents complete the circle (Fig. 4.14b, c). Normally, the currents of the open ocean
reach down to about 100 to 200 m, and their velocities are low: a fraction of a knot
(a knot, a nautical mile per hour, is close to 0.5 m/s). The Gulf Stream, however, and
other fast narrow boundary currents (e. g. Kuroshio off Japan) reach to a depth of
some 1000 m and have velocities of a couple of knots or so (- 100 cm/s). The Florida
Current, which issues from the Gulf through the narrow Florida Straits, reaches
velocities of 6 knots (300 cm/s).
The general outlines of the gyral circulation have been known for some time.
Present research including remote sensing of surface temperatures from satellites,
focuses on the meanders within currents like the Gulf Stream, on the eddies separating from such a current, and on the mechanisms of mixing with the surrounding
ocean.
The surface currents have profound geologic effects. They strongly influence
weather and climate, by transport of heat and moisture. They also write the record of
climatic changes on the sea floor, by controlling the production of biogenous
deposits. Planktonic organisms, which mostly live in the upper few hundred meters,
can actually be used as tracers of currents, much like drift bottles. Those planktonic
organisms which form hard parts, of course, can trace out the path of surface currents
on the sea floor, for the geologic record.
Currents, on the whole, run parallel to isotherms, and are strongest where temperature gradients are strongest. The reason is that temperature distributions are largely
congruent to density distributions, which in tum are generally in equilibrium with
currents. From these rules, ancient currents can be mapped from a reconstruction of
the temperature field, based on plankton remains (see Sect. 7.2.1).
Fig. 4.13 a-c. Defense against surf action. Westerland, Sylt Island, German North Sea. a Power of
storm surf (Feb. IS, 1962) demonstrated by damage to beach wall and transport of heavy tetrapods.
b Gently sloping wall breaks the power of storm tide breakers (fall 1961). c Interlocking tetrapods
serve to dissipate wave energy before it hits the wall. [Photos E. S. a and 1. Newig b, c]
I 12
SlfII(lNG
AlR
RiSlHG~N
AIR~'
0
A
SINKING
AIR
,0'
RISING AIR
SINKING
AIR
rf
SO
",USTERLIES
SUBPOLAR LOW
~/ ' wisTE'IE~I / '
SUBTROPICAL
HIGHo~HORSE
LATS
. /. / /NO/HE/ TyOE:; /
EQUATORIAL LOW
Oil
/'
DOLDRUMS
~ ~ )OU~EA~ T~E~ \
O'VAR IABLE WINOS ANO CALMS

HEAVY PRECI"ITATION
SUBTROPICAL HIGH OR HORSE LATS.
30 ....RIABLE WINOS ANOCALMS

LARGE EVAPORATION
O VARIABLE WINOS AND CALMS

LARGE EVAPORATION
\..
\.. WESTERLIES \.
.
, ~ ~ '-... '-... ~
eo
'"
C5
SUBPOLAR LOW
AstERilis
~ISINQ
AIR
90'
SINKIN~
Alii
Fig. 4.14 a-b . Gulf Stream. and wind-driven ocean circulation. a The Gulf Stream carries warm
surface waters toward the seas of NW Europe. It is part of the giant subtropical gyre of the North
Atlantic whose center is the Sargasso Sea. [Mainly after G. Neumann, W. J. Pierson, 1966, Principles of physical oceanography. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs]. b The global wind system,
schematically. [R. H. Fleming, 1957, Geol. Soc. Am . Mem. 67: 87J
Oceanic Surface Currents
CURRENTS
WINDS
W
..E
-----
113
EASTERLIES
~WESTER~~~~[Jt1~:;~[1Jj~~~r1~kiWJJt]g~[Jilltj[~J~~
-:
..
ANTICYClONES
....
~
~
~
=
---.-...E
--...
SUBTROPICAL GYRE
I \_-- / I 1
t ../ /
/
Ir
'
\
t i J ~)
r .....--..
TRADE W
INDS
DOLDRt.,M;
TRADE WINDS ~.li]28ffiBililg~i]~~0i~~~8ggEffim~
c
Fig. 4.14. c Idealized rectangular ocean with the currents which would fonn as a result of the wind
forces shown on the left. The asymmetry of the gyres is caused by the Earth 's rotation. (From
W. Munk. 1955. Sci . Am 193 (3) 6; modified)
114
Surface currents and associated temperature distributions control not only plankton patterns, but also the growth of benthic assemblages, especially coral reefs (see
Sect. 7.4). The western boundary currents bring warm water to high latitudes, the
eastern ones bring cool water to low latitudes. Thus, the belt of tropical coral reefs is
much wider in the west than in the east, within each ocean basin.
The drift of icebergs and hence the transport paths of their load of rocks is controlled by currents, as ar the paths of various other drifting materials such as trees - some
of which are thought to be responsible for the dispersal of land animals on islands.
The drifting larvae of benthic organisms (meroplankton) reach their uncertain destinations with the aid of currents, and disperse throughout the ocean basins by islandhopping if necessary.
Finally, surface currents can affect the sea floor directly, through erosion on
shelves and even on upper slopes. The deep-reaching Gulf Stream sweeps fine material off the Blake Plateau east of Florida (see Fig. 1.3), keeping the manganese
pavements there clean.
4.3.2 Current Markers. How can we detect the action of currents by studying the
sea floor? The winnowing of fines from remaining coarser material, that is the "sorting" of sediment, was discussed earlier (Sect. 4.1.2). Usually, it is necessary to make
grain size determinations to show that sorting occurred. However, sometimes effects
of winnowing can be seen in bottom photography, which shows pavements of
cobbles, nodules, shells, or other winnowed layers of coarse residual material. Also,
scour marks behind obstacles are common indicators of currents.
The use of side-scan sonar, on the shelf and more recently in the deep sea, has
greatly increased our knowledge about the activity of near-bottom currents, from
their effects on sediment patterns and morphology of the sea floor (Fig. 4.15). Streaks
of coarse material in fine sediments, indicating current action, were discovered in the
entrance to the Baltic Sea by such acoustic sensing (Fig. 4.16).
The direction of a current can be readily deduced from photography and acoustic
scanning. Current strength is more difficult to deduce. Direct observations on the
effects of current strength are possible in tidal flats. The German and Dutch Wadden
flats of the North Sea have long been a natural laboratory for these kinds of observations (Fig. 4. I 7).
We have seen some features which parallel currents. Some are at right angles
also: the current ripples. Much like wind dunes, ripples have a gentle up-current side
and a steep down-current slope (Fig. 4. I 8). This type of ripple differs from the
oscillation type mentioned earlier (Sect. 4.2. I). The internal laminae of the current
ripples consist of the down-current slopes made by material falling over the edge at
the crest. Thus, fossil ripple marks (cross-bedding) yield clues to ancient current
systems in contact with the sea floor (Fig. 5.3c).
The relationship between current velocities and ripple formation has been studied
in the laboratory in some detail. Ripple characteristics depend both on the type of
sediment present, and on velocity distributions in a complex manner. The formation
of ripples of dimensions of centimeters to decimeters starts at current velocities of
about 25 to 100 cm/s. The origin and architecture of giant ripples and underwater
Current Markers
115
Fig. 4.15. Principle of side-scanning echo sounder. a Water surface; b Sea floor with ripples, rocks ,
and a small depression (Ieji); c a section of the acoustic recording (sonograph). To Outgoing pulse
of the towed submerged sound source (the "fish"); Tl, T2, etc. , time markers (= distance to sound
reflecting object); Sh acoustic shadow; Fl, F2 schools of fish , and their acoustic image; d width of
insonification on the sea floor (= resolving power); hw distance "fish" to water surface (WS):
hb distance "fish" to sea floor. [R. S. Newton et aI. , 1973, Meteor Forschungsergeb. Reihe C 15; 55]
116
Fig. 4.16. Comet marks in the channel Store Belt, Baltic Sea, between the Danish islands of
Langeland and Lolland . Upper Sonograph of the sea floor. Length of record about 2 km , width 150 m, water depth about 12 m. Dark spots are boulders (morainal debri s). Some boulders have a
"tail", toward left and down. These "comet marks" indicate currents from the north. [Sonography by
F. Werner, KieJ.) Lower Morphology of a typical comet mark , as seen by divers. , Obstruction
(boulder); 2 crescent scour; 3 till ; 4 residual pebble layer (fossil erosional pavement); 5 "comet tail"
of fine sand, built into erosional depression produced by turbulence behind obstacle. [F. Werner et
aI., 1980, Sediment Geol 26: 233)
Effects of Current
117
b
Fig. 4.17 a, b. Current acrtion in tidal flats. a Mya arenaria in life position uncovered by erosion of
about 20--30 cm of mud, by lateral migration of tidal channel. Note the residual bivalve shells which
collect as a "pavement" on the erosional surface. b Large current-produced ripples, covered by small
ripple marks. German Bight north of Weser estuary. Ripples migrate ocean-ward (to the left) , hence
they are produced by currents of the outgoing tide. [Photos E. S.)
b
Fig. 4.18 a, b. Water a and sand b movement at current ripple marks. Sand is eroded at the luff side
(sector 2) and migrates to the ripple crest. From there sand is transported on the bottom or in
suspension (white arrows) downward , forming lee laminae . Horizontal bottom vortex in the ripple
valley removes fine grains, concentrates coarse material , including shells. Therefore ripples move
over coarser-grained base laminae. [H. E. Reineck, 1961 , Senckenbergiana Lethaea, 42: 51 J
118
dunes is less well known. These features may be several meters high, and tens, even
hundreds, of meters apart. Some resemble the barchan dunes of the great deserts.
What kind of currents are necesary to produce such dunes? Do they only form where
certain types of sediment are available? Are the dunes relicts from periods of unusual
activity on the sea floor? These questions are still open at the present time.
In coastal areas with a sufficiently large tidal range, alternation between high and
low tide produces tidal currents. Considerable erosion can take place where tidal
currents are confined because of the high velocities attained and the large volumes of
water which are commonly involved. In a number of harbors in estuaries, the tidal
currents help flush out the entrance and prevent if from silting up. The inlets of
lagoons on the East Coast are kept open by fast tidal currents. As these currents slow
on either side of the inlet, tidal deltas form (see Fig. 3.9).
4.3.3 Upwelling. So far, we have contemplated the effects of horizontal currents on
the sea floor. Vertical water motion also affects the sea floor, in more than one way.
The overall mixinR rate of the ocean is ultimately tied to vertical motion, and this rate
is closely tied to the productivity of the ocean. In tum, the sea's productivity influences what types of biogenous sediments (carbonate, silica, phosphates) will end
up on what part of the sea floor.
A more obvious example for the effects of vertical motion is upwellinR. Off coasts
with eastern boundary currents, surface water has a tendency to move seaward, due
to deflection by the Coriolis Force which results from the rotation of the Earth.
Deflection is to the right in the nothern hemisphere, and to the left on the southern
one (Fig. 4.19a). The seaward motion is reinforced when winds blow off-shore.
Outward-bound surface waters are replaced by cold, nutrient-rich waters from within
the thermocline (100 to 200 m depth) (see Fig. 4.19b). Hence the low water temperatures off Northwest and Southwest Africa, California, Peru, and Chile, and hence also
the high production of algal plankton, which feeds zooplankton, fish, and even birds
up the food chain. The intensity of upwelling changes seasonally and also from year
to year. For example, during "El Niiio"-years, upwelling is greatly reduced both off
California and off Peru (Sect. 7.7.3). Precipitation tends to be significantly increased
during such periods, along the North Central Coast of Peru large floods can occur and
have been documented in river flood deposits for the last several thousand years. The
upwelling variations are being followed by satellite sensing of temperature and chlorophyll abundance at the sea surface.
The sediments below areas with strong upwelling are typically rich in organic
matter. For example, sediments in the Walvis Bay area, Southwest Africa, have up to
20 % of organic carbon (Corg). Opal also is usually abundant: off Walvis Bay one
finds up to 70 % opal from the frustules of diatoms. Fish debris and other vertebrate
remains also are increased in abundance, presumably delivering part of the phosphate
necessary for phosphorite formation (see Fig. 10.7).
The sediment contains many detailed clues to the intensity of upwelling. The
planktonic species (foraminifera, diatoms) tend to indicate cold water. The high supply of organic matter depresses the oxygen content, due to decay in the deep water
and on the sea floor. In extreme cases anaerobic sediments with annual layers
Upwelling
119
T (C )
~----------~r---------~~---,O m
11
Fig. 4.19. Upwelling currents. Upper Global distribution of main upwelling areas. Note position on
the east side of subtropical gyres, at edge of "eastern boundary currents". Surface water moves
offshore due to Coriolis Force, and is replaced from below. [Science . 1980,208: 39]. Lower Temperature and oxygen distributions in an upwelling area off San Juan . Peru , Sept. 1968. [S oZuta et aI. ,
in R. Boje, M. Tomczak. 1978. Upwelling ecosystems. Springer, Heidelberg] Note the water layer
near 200 m depth in the ocean extends to the surface at the continent. This water is oxygen-poor and
nutrient-rich. The high nutrient supply stimulates algal production (that is, growth of dinoflagellates
and diatoms).
(varves) may develop. Using the clues described, it is possible to follow changes in
position and strength of upwelling , and hence the migration and change of nature of
the subtropic climatic belts in the geologic record. This is a field of active research
involving time scales from centuries to millions of years.
120
Upwelling is not restricted to coastal areas. The divergence of surface waters

anywhere in the open ocean causes replacement from below. The great equatorial
divergences in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans cause the well -known equatorial
upwelling which we shall encounter when studying carbonate distributions (Chap. 8).
The high productivity along these belts not only raises the sedimentation rates of
calcareous and siliceous ooze, but also may be ultimately responsible - through
concentration of trace metals in organisms and transport to the sea floor in organic
debris - for the high values of copper, nickel, zinc, and other metals in Pacific
manganese nodules (Sect. 10.4).
4.3.4 Deep Ocean Currents and Benthic Storms. There was a time, not so long
ago, when the deep ocean was thought to be a quiet, calm environment whose
currents are weak and relatively unimportant as far as shaping the sea floor. The first
indication that this is not necessarily so came from the calculations of Georg Wiist
(1890-1977) and Albert Defant (1884--1974) in the 1930s. They showed that the
temperature-salinity distributions seen in the closely spaced profiles of the Meteor
Expedition in the central Atlantic implied strong bottom-near flows driven by density
differences. Such currents hug the slopes of ocean margins and the flanks of midocean ridges, and they follow density surfaces which are practically horizontal.
Hence, the currents are parallel to bottom contours, and marine geologists refer to
them as contour currents. For physical oceanographers they are deep geostrophic
currents. Their effects are clearly visible on deep-sea photographs (Fig. 4.22). Such
currents can erode, especially where confined to passages. Erosion occurs, for
WSBW
Fig. 4.20. Flow patte rns of deep-sea currents at 4000 m de pth. The main source areas are in the
Northe rn Atlantic (North Atlantic Deep Water, NADW), and in the Weddell Sea (Wed. Sea Bottom
Water, WSBW). Dissipation of these dee p currents is by gene ral upward movement. [E. Seibold et
aI. , 1986, The sea floor. Japane se edition, after Broecker and Peng, 1982, Tracers in the sea. Eldigio
Press. New York]
Deep Ocean Currents
121
ATLANTIC
ANT.
ARCTIC
km
so" 70
60 SO 40 30 20
10 0
10
30 40 SO 60 70"
Fig. 4.21 a, b. Evolution of deep and intennediate water circulation during the Cenozoic as inferred
from isotopic results. The ocean of the Eocene (b) was dominated by halothennal circulation, while
the modern ocean (a) is dominated by thennohaline circulation. AABW Antarctic Bottom Water;
AAIW Antarctic Intennediate Water; NADW North Atlantic Deep Water; WSDW Wann Saline Deep
Water; MED Mediterranean water. [J. P. Kennett and L. D. Stott, 1990; in P. F. Barker and J. P.
Kennett et aI., Proc. Ocean Drilling Program, Sci . Res. 113, 875]
example, where the abyssal Antarctic Bottom Water passes through the Vema Channel off Argentina, or through the Samoan Passage in the eastern South Pacific.
The Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) fills the deepest parts of essentially all
major ocean basins, through such passages (Figs. 4.20, 21 a, WSBW). In the western
South Atlantic and in the South Pacific, the AABW causes dissolution of carbonate
on the sea floor - a process that profoundly affects sedimentation patterns and the
nature of the substrate for benthic organisms. The AABW originates on the shelf of
the Antarctic, mainly in the Weddell Sea (WSBW in Fig. 4.20) by cooling of polar
waters with admixtures of saline North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) (Fig. 4.21 a).
With a salinity near 34.7%0, when reaching a temperature of near -0.4 C, the Antarctic surface water becomes heavier than the underlying water and sinks through it.
Since it is also heavier than almost any water in the deep ocean, it sinks to the abyss
as AABW and fills it from below. Its spreading depends on a deep access to a basin.
For example, the Angola Basin can only be reached through the Romanche Deep, at
the Equator. Hence the AABW makes a long detour to get there (Fig. 4.20).
Besides chemical and mechanical erosion, AABW can produce particle sorting
and small-scale features such as scour and ripple marks, and (presumably) large-scale
ones, such as the giant dunes in the Argentine Basin.
122
b _ _ _ ___
Fig. 4.22a, b. Effects of deep geostrophic currents. a Continental rise off the US. East Coast, 2.5 km
depth. Little or no evidence of current action. (Organism is a "sea whip", pennatulid coral). b Same
area, but 5 km depth. Current action is obvious from scour marks and lineations. Current flow is
ji-om lower rig hi 10 upper leji, about 20-30 cm/s. [Photos courtesy C. D. Hollister; see A. H. Bouma,
C. D. Hollister, 1973, SEPM Pacific Section, Short Course, Turbidites and deep water sedimentation, Anaheim]
Effects of Current
123
Fig. 4.23. Giant dunes in Carnegie Ridge area, eastern tropical Pacific. Side-scan sonograph taken
at 2.4 km depth , covering 1600 x 450 m. Sediment is calcareous ooze. [Recording courtesy
P. Londsdale and B. T. Malfait, S. 1. 0 .]
The deep-towed side-looking sonar developed by F. Spiess and co-workers has

revealed an abundance of dunes, sediment ridges , and erosional ravines in many
places, even where deep currents had not been suspected (Fig. 4.23).
Of course, the possibility always exists that (a) calculations on current distributions are in error, and (b) the features seen have nothing to do with the present water
motion, but are the witnesses of conditions long past.
The NADW sinks in the Norwegian Sea and falls over shallow passages over the
Greenland-Faroe (Scotland) Ridge. West of Iceland, a huge undersea cataract starts at
a sill depth of about 650 m, reaching velocities of more than 1 m/s. Some 5 million
m3/s are added to the NADW, which moves to the south. The NADW then fills much
of the North Atlantic Basin, and rides up the AABW on its way south, where it
eventually joins the Circumpolar Current (Fig. 4.20). Deflection by Corio lis Force
results in the Western Boundary Current, whose effects are seen in water depths of
about 4900 m at the base of the Continental Rise off New York, for example. Coarsening of silts and aligned magnetic grains, mud waves, ripples, and scour marks
around morphological obstacles are indicators for its action, forming "contourites".
Deep contour currents were investigated in detail during the "HEBBLE" Experiment, about 75 km east of Woods Hole in some 4700 m water depth (A.R.M. Nowell
et aI., Marine Geol., Spec. Issue, 99, 3/4, 275, 1991). A surprising result was the
discovery of strongly pulsed "abyssal or benthic storms" lasting between 2 and 20
days and occurring several times a year. Currents of such "storms" can reach velocities of 15--40 cm/s, measured 10m above bottom, and transport sediment concentrations of 3.5-12 mg/I, with particle diameters of 0.004 mm on average, several meters
124
above bottom. During these storms, erosion may remove the uppermost 5-10 cm of
sediment, leaving a smooth bottom, but after a few weeks, bioturbation re-establishes
a rough microtopography. This activity by benthic organisms facilitates erosion during the next storm.
Drift-like storm deposits hundreds of meters high, as well as hiatuses in deep-sea
sediments, may result from these processes. Obviously, the existence and nature of
these storms are of great interest in connection with plans to dump noxious waste into
the deep sea (Sect. 10.5.5).
At this point, it seems that these dramatic abyssal storms are restricted to the
neighborhood of the axes of very cold bottom-water flows, as on the west side of the
North and South Atlantic Basins, around South Africa, in Circum-Antarctic waters.
Also, benthic storms occur in regions with strong large eddies in surface waters.
If confirmed by further invetigations, these results raise the exciting possibility of
a direct link between surface and deep-sea currents.
During the last Ice Age the production of NADW was greatly reduced, for at least
two reasons. One, there was less evaporation in the North Atlantic and less export of
water vapor to the North Pacific. Thus, the necessary high salinities to make the
water heavy enough to displace existing bottom water were not achieved.
Two, the Norwegian Sea probably was largely covered with pack ice which blanketed the water surface and prevented rapid cooling. Thus, the deep circulation in the
Atlantic (and probably also in the Pacific) was entirely different during glacials from
what it is today.
On top of the cold, deep waters there is another layer before we reach the warm
surface waters. This is the intermediate water, which sinks in the subarctic and
subantarctic open ocean convergences, and forms the bottom for the subtropical
gyres. Along the ocean margins, where the intermediate waters intersect the continental slope, the flow tends to be in a direction opposite to that of the surface waters.
In general, the frictional interaction between bottom currents and the sea floor
results in a "benthic boulldary layer" which is on the order of a few hundred meters
thick. Compared with the overlying deep water, it has a high content of suspended
matter, and is characterized by turbulent motion. Also, its chemistry is distinct. This
layer, and the bioturbated mixed layer at the sea floor, form a system within which
seawater/sea-floor interaction is a dominant process controlling sedimentation patterns.
4.3.5 Exchange Currents. Geologically highly significant are the currents which
provide for the exchange of waters between marginal, semi-enclosed seas, and the
open ocean. The exchange entirely dominates the chemistry and fertility of the marginal basin and hence its sedimentation (see Sect. 7.6 and Fig. 7.12).
In arid zones, excess of evaporation over precipitation produces heavy water in the
marginal sea; as it flows out over the sill, it is replaced by surface water from the
open ocean. This is the case in the Mediterranean, and this circulation is called
allti-estuarine. The salty Mediterranean waters are found at 1500 m depth over the
entire central Atlantic, and profoundly affect the development of abyssal and deep
water masses (Fig. 4.21 a). A similar situation obtains, on a smaller scale, for the Red
Effects of Current
125
Sea and the Persian Gulf. Here the saline waters sink to intennediate depths below
the thennocline, and affect the development of the oxygen minimum in the Arabian
Sea. Basins with anti-estuarine circulation tend to collect carbonate on the sea floor,
and tend to discriminate against organic carbon, opaline silica, and phosphatic deposits.
The influx of Atlantic surface waters into the Mediterranean is a strong current
and a huge river: 50 times the Mississippi at flood stage. It is said that the Battle of
Trafalgar (1805) owed its outcome to the Gibraltar Current. The reason given is that
the French and Spanish fleet had to wait for favorable winds to buck the Current,
while Nelson was able to assemble his fleet and poise it for strike. In modem times,
the submarines invading the Mediterranean had to struggle against the deep outflow.
Already in 1820, the British Admiral W. H. Smyth observed the in- and outflow
through the Gibraltar Straits, and gave the correct explanation. It was not, however,
generally accepted for another 50 years of discussion.
The inverse situation - shallow current out of, deep current into the basin - is
typical for estuaries and fjords, and occurs on a large scale in the Black Sea and the
Baltic Sea. Excess precipitation over evaporation is necessary to develop this circulation. At the Bosporus, the connection between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean,
fishennen have known since time immemorial that their nets would pull toward the
Mediterranean at the surface and toward the Black Sea at the bottom. L. F. Marsili
(1681), pioneer in marine geology, confirmed the effect by measurement and correctly explained the currents as being due to density differences. The light excess
water flows out of the Black Sea at the top; the heavy saline water from the Mediterranean falls toward the bottom of the Black Sea, displacing the less saline water
above. Ultimately, anaerobic conditions result from this circulation, called estuarine,
and organic-rich deposits accumulate on the sea floor. The hows and whys are discussed in Section 7.6.
4.3.6 Turbidity Currents. We have already discussed the activity of mud-laden,
gravity-driven currents in connection with the origin of continental slopes, submarine
canyons and deep-sea fans (Chap. 2.10). These currents differ from the others here
listed in several important ways: (1) they are strictly episodic; (2) they derive their
power from excess density due to suspended sediment, and (3) they run downhill,
transporting large amounts of material.
Further Reading
McCave IN (ed) (1976) The benthic boundary layer. Plenum, New York
Komar PD (1976) Beach processes and sedimentation. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs NJ
Allen JRL (1982) Sedimentary structures, their character and physical basis. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Pickard L, Emery WJ (1982) Descriptive physical oceanography - an introduction, 4th ed. Pergamon Press, Oxford
Hollister CD, Nowell ARM (eds) (1985) Deep ocean sediment transport, vol I. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Hollister CD, McCave IN, Nowell ARM (eds) (1988) Deep ocean sediment transport, vol 2. Elsevier, Amsterdam
5 Sea Level Processes and Effects of Sea Level Change
5.1 Importance of Sea Level Positions

When studying sedimentary rocks on land, the first question a geologist will ask is
whether the sediment was laid down above or below sea level, that is, whether or not
it is of marine origin. For marine sediments, the next question usually is about the
depth of deposition, that is, about the position of sea level relative to the sedimentary
environment. On the present sea floor, depth of deposition rather dominates the major
facies patterns of the material accumulating on it: the size distributions of clastic
sediments, the chemistry of biogenous and authigenic matter, the distribution of
benthic organisms. For the past, sea level fluctuations, on scales between thousands
and millions of years, dominate the calendar of geologic history (Fig. 5.1).
Sea level fluctuations are of two kinds: global and regional. Global fluctuations
produce contemporaneous transgressions and regressions on the shelves of all continents. These changes in sea level are called eustatic, they originate from changes in
the volume of ocean water or in the average depth of the ocean basin. Examples are
changes in ice volume, or changes in sea-floor spreading rates, as we shall see.
Regional fluctuations consist in transgressions and regressions on one particular
shelf; they are produced by regional sinking or uplift of the shelf. Hence, such sea
level fluctuations are called tectonic, with the understanding that the tectonics are of
regional importance only.
Where the sea level intersects the continental margin, physical, chemical, and
biological processes are of high intensity. Waves, tides, and currents show maximum
activity. The productivity of tidal lands and of the littoral is exceptionally great, and
the sediment is intimately associated with rapid nutrient cycling, gas exchange, and
life processes in general. Furthermore, sea level is the baseline of erosion and deposition: exposed areas erode, submerged areas build up. The erosional and depositional
processes at and near sea level to a large extent determine the coastal mmphology
that we see. They also leave their distinct imprint in the record; they are sea level
indicators.
On a larger scale, the position of sea level with respect to the global hypsographic
curve is of great importance. It determines the degree to which shelves are submerged. Flooded shelves absorb more sunlight than exposed ones, adding heat to the
global budget.
Also, submerged land experiences practically no chemical weathering, which normally keeps down C02 levels in the atmosphere. Thus, C02 rises and climate warms
128
Sea Level Processes and Effects of Sea Level Change

Nonmarine
Shallow
Morine
ContinMar- Inter For

.
enlal
media t, OffEroSIOn .. dimln- Swamp
lI in al IOh~r~ short
totion
Shale (marin,)
Algol IImeslone (cantainl
nearshort and brac~i'h
water Inverl,bralel)
Limellone (conla inl for
off-Ihort inverlebralel,
.. pecially fUlulinidl)
Limulane, Impur, 10 Ihaly
(conlo inl inlermediQ~-e
off-Ihort inv,rlebralel)
Shale, morin, (con lain,
near-Ihore inv,rl,broln)
COOl
Und.rclay
Nonmar ine Ihal., eommonly
londy
Nonmarine
,and,lone
Oi,conformity
4_ _ _ _ _ __
Shole (marine)
Algal limeslone (conlainl
near-shore Inverlebrotes)
Lim.. tone (conta ins for
~ii~~
off-shore
_ _ _ _
upeciolly inverlebraln,
fUIUlinids)
Limestone, shaly (conlains

intermediate off-Ihore
invertebrates I
Shole, mar ine (conlains

near-shore invertebrates)
Coo l
Nonmarine shale, sandy
Nonmar ine sondston.
.....- - Oisconformity -
r+"""~
Limntone (conta ins

\-""""r---I,- fusul inids)
_ __
Fig. 5.1. Sea level fluctuation s: calendar of geologic history. The diagram shows a section of the late
Paleozoic cyclothem successions in Kansas, which consist of alternating marine and nonmarine
sed iments. Description of facies to the lefr; interpretation in tenns of depositional environment to the
righr. The interpretation uses "Walther's Rule " introduced a century ago, which state s that only
those sed iment types th at are neighbors geographically will be neighbors in strati graphic succession.
lR. C. Moore. as drawn by J. C. Crowell, 1978, Am. J. Sci. 278: 1345]
Sea Level Processes and Indicators
129
when sea level rises globally. In a very simplified way, one might say that climate is
mild during times of high sea level, and harsh during times of retreat of the oceans
into its basins. Sea level fluctuations, then, are closely tied to paleoclimatic evolution.
Global changes in sea level also have important bearing on the production of
hydrocarbons and coal. Sediments rich in organic matter, which have the potential to
deliver petroleum when heated under pressure (Sect. 10.2) accumulate especially
during periods when the continents are extensively flooded. The black shales of the
lower Jurassic and the middle Cretaceous derive from such widespread transgressions. Coal deposits typically form during more regressive periods, when lowlying coastal plains are available for growth of vegetation in swamps and moors.
Thus, sea level fluctuations are of interest in economic geology.
Quite generally, the rates of erosion of the continents and the sites of deposition in
the ocean depend much on continental relief and position of sea level with regard to
the shelves. How sediment is transported to the deep ocean is also controlled by sea
level. During high stands, the transport of sediment by turbidity currents will be
reduced. Turbidity currents depend on supply of mud to the outer edge of the shelf.
This supply is highest when sea level is low, and is greatly reduced during high
stands when submerged shelves and estuaries trap the material delivered by rivers.
Thus, the types of sediment bodies found at the base of the ocean margins should
depend on the history of sea level fluctuation.
Changes of sea level positions through time, then, are of fundamental importance
in the geologic sciences. The dynamics of coastal morphology, the mapping of sealevel indicators, the interaction of sea level and climate, and the origin of sediment
bodies in continental margins are topics which must be considered. However, sea
level is also of the utmost interest to people living at the coast: their livelihood and
their very survival depend on various manifestations of sea level change. This is true
for both short-term fluctuation (tides, storm waves, tsunamis) and long-term trends,
such as the isostatic uplift in Scandinavia or Canada, resulting from the removal of
the ice caps between 15 000 and 8000 years ago, or the steady sinking of major delta
regions (Mississippi, Nile, Ganges, Rhine). Also, the current general rise in sea level
due to global warming over the last 100 years which results in expansion of seawater,
is of concern. The rise is of the order of 2 cm per decade (Fig. 5.22).
We shall next review the evidence for sea level processes and fluctuations, starting
with the short-scale and the obvious, and proceeding to the Pleistocene and pre-Pleistocene changes. At the end we append a story on Venice: the old city is slowly but
surely sinking below the sea.
5.2 Sea Level Processes and Indicators

5.2.1 Wave Action. The most conspicuous indicators of sea level are those associated
with wave action. Familiar examples are wave-cut terraces, and all kinds of beach
deposits. We have already discussed some of the pertinent processes (Sects. 4.2.1 and
4.2.2).
Wave action leaves both erosional and depositional witnesses in the record. Many
coastlines are marked by a steep escarpment where the land ends and the sea begins.
130
Fig. 5.2. Wave-cut terrace at Enoshima, Pacific coast of central Japan. [Photo E. S.]
Such escarpments or sea cliffs are the result of wave attack. The wave-cut platform in
front of a cliff is the most conspicuous lower boundary of wave erosion. It may be
thought of as the floor of a series of notches and caves which are cut into the
retreating cliff (Fig. 5.2). The rate of growth of such a platform varies greatly; it
depends on the force of the waves, the resistance of the cliff material, and the time
available for cutting. In Southern California, rates of cliff retreat are between 1 and
100 feet per century, for example. Rates of sea cliff retreat on the order of I m/yr are
common on certain coasts of the North Sea in the Atlantic , where stormy winter seas
eat their way into unconsolidated glacial deposits. In England, many coastal villages
have been lost through the centuries, due to erosion.
Waves transport and rework the sediment, changing its texture by sorting, and
influencing its structure, for example by producing ripple marks (Fig. 5.3). Caution is
indicated, however, since ripple marks also occur on the deep-sea floor, far below sea
level (Fig. 5.3b). Thick enrichments of heavy minerals, so-called placers, depend on
a process which only exists on a beach (Sect. 10.3.3). Well-sorted skeletal remains shell pavements or coquina - also are indicators of wave action. Waves usually
influence the sea floor only down to about 10 to 20 m. Even great storm waves have
a wave base rarely deeper than 30 m, although wave effects on sediments have been
observed at depths greater than that (Sect. 4.2).
Sea Level Processes and Indicators
131
Fig. 5.3 a--c. Ripple marks as wave indicators . a Oscillation ripples. wave length about 5 em , with
Arenico/a fecal strings: tidal flats. North Sea. b Oscillation ripple s, wave length 30 cm. Top of
Sylvania Sea Mount near Bikini Atoll , depth 1500 m , calcareous ooze . c Internal structure of current
ripples, sandy tidal flats. German North Sea Coast. Frame is 22 cm wide. [Photos E. S. a,
H. W. Menard b, H. E. Reineck c]
132
Waves can also be responsible for producing certain types of sediments, mechanically as well as chemically. Polished beach shingles and calcareous oolites are
examples. Calcareous oolites are characteristic for unusually warm and saline environments (Chap. 3.7.2). Apparently they grow only within the zone agitated by waves
and tides.
5.2.2 Tides and Storm Action: the Intertidal Zone. The tides, those long waves
made by the Moon's daily passage, raise and lower the sea level along the coasts by
a few centimeters or by many meters every day. The tides originate in a complicated
interplay between the rotation of the Earth-Moon system about its common center,
the System's rotation about the sun, the Earth's spin, and the topography of the floor
of oceans and seas. The tides which we witness at the coast are large rotational waves
radiating from points of no motion situated in the central areas of the ocean basins.
The amplitudes of the waves are highest close to the coast (Fig. 5.4).
Thus, tides are strictly tied to astronomical forcing and are shaped by basin morphology. If the distribution of their frequencies and amplitudes can be reconstructed
for the geologic past, we can obtain important clues about changes in the Earth-Moon
system, and about basinal morphology.
Here, we are concerned with the "indicators" of tidal action in a general sense. Of
course the classic sea level indicator facies is represented by the whole of the deposits
of the intertidal zone, which is alternately submerged and exposed by the tides. We
have already introduced one such type of broad intertidal, the "wadden" (Fig. 4.17).
Biological features will be discussed in Sections 6.2-6.6.
Tidal flats can be associated with river deltas as in the Bay of Bengal and at the
mouth of the Amazon River, or with estuaries, as in the Gulf of Korea or around the
North Sea. Characteristic small-scale features of these sediments are flaser- or lenticular bedding, bimodal ("herringbone") cross-bedding, a variety of erosional and
bioturbational markings, channel lag deposits, and graded laminae.
Rain imprints and desiccation cracks may also occur. On a larger scale, a landward
decrease of grain sizes due to decreasing current activities and time of water cover
marks a contrast to normal offshore conditions.
Intertidal flats and adjacent areas are subject to rapid changes in the conditions of
sedimentation. Peak winter storms wreak havoc along the coastal lowlands of the
North Sea from time to time. In 1362, an enormous storm, the "Great Man Drowning", raised the sea level by about 6 m along the Friesian Coast, where Germany
borders with Denmark. The storm flood created new access for the tides into the salt
marshes and moors lying behind natural barriers, inland from the intertidal flats. Soon
the tides brought mud which accumulated on top of the marshes and the peat, producing a storm layer. To the people living there, this geologically common event meant
destruction of homes and pastures. In 1634, another fierce storm produced widespread flooding, destroying villages and killing thousands. The present coastal geography of the area is essentially a product of those two storms. A faint indication of
plowed fields can be seen to this day on certain intertidal flats of the region. Some of
the land has been reclaimed since, aided by the influx of sediment from the wadden,
and by the building of dikes.
Intertidal Zone
133
6
~
l~~~*ffi~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#H
2
I
Immin9hom: semi diurnal type
-.
San Franciso : mixed,dominont semi diurnol type
Manila : mixed, dominont 'ull diurnol type
"11\llVnAvrvrv
AnAAft. - 1\ AnAn Ann. - 1\ nAAAI
vvrV4QF~vlVVV~VVurvrvr~~VlJ
A
Do Son : full diurnal type

to"
'12"
'.e" ',,"( '1 8" '20 ' '22 . i4
26
28
30
Fig. 5.4. Tidal record s from harbor cities. At hallam the date s (March 1936) and the phases of the
moon . [A Defant, 1966, in G. Neumann, W. J. Pierson, 1966. Principles of physical oceanography.
Prentice-Hall , New Jersey]
In areas such as these lowlands, then, slight changes in sea level and the action of
heavy stonns bring marked changes in the type of sediment deposited. Typically, the
record which is preserved on the slowly sinking floor consists of an intercalation of
peat, salt marsh deposits, marine muds, and the sands and shells of the beach. Stonn
deposits are common within the intercalation. Similar sequences are quite familiar
from the geologic record (see Fig. 5.1). They are characteristic sea level deposits in
areas with high terrigenous sediment supply. The sea level controls the groundwater
level by damming up and floating the freshwater. The ensuing lack of drainage can
produce swamps from which peat bogs develop. In the geologic record these appear
as coal beds between marine sediments.
134
Fig. 5.5 a, b. Desiccation cracks in algal mats, in a lagoon on the west coast of Baja California near
San Quintin. a View from a sand dune, toward inner lagoon. Marsh vegetation, stressed by high
sailinty from evaporation , gives way to algal mats toward the intertidal. b Detail of algal mats
(section 2 m wide). The mats separate into polygonal pieces and curl upon drying. Upturned rims
collect evaporites. [Photos E. S.]
In muddy intertidal flats of the sUbtropics similar bedding features can be observed. High evaporation rates can produce widespread desiccation cracks (Fig. 5.5).
Other cIues to an intertidal environment of deposition are rain-drop impressions,
pseudomorphs of cubic halite crystals (that is, infilling of crystal forms by sand or
mud), precipitation of gypsum and tracks of land animals on sediments with marine
organisms.
The sequences of algal mats constructed by cyanohacteria (but also in subtidal,
normal marine settings) are known back into the Precambrian, as stromatolites. They
are preserved as irregular layers, finely laminated mounds, or stubby columns.
Trapped sediments consist mostly of carbonate particles and eolian dust, but additional microbacterial mineralization cannot be excluded.
Cyclically laminated and thinly bedded rhythmites in the Late Proterozoic of
South Australia indicate that 650 million years ago the year had some 400 solar days
(as compared with 365 at present) and 13.1 lunar months (12.4). The day had 21.9
hours (24). Similar clues to a slowing of the Earth rotation - due to tidal friction have been found in stromatolites, bivalves, and corals in younger formations.
5.2.3 Photosynthesis. A large number of different benthic organisms can indicate
shallow water by their presence, but none as convincingly as those dependent on
light. Photosynthesis can only proceed when sufficient light is available. The light
intensity drops to I % of the surface value at anywhere between 10 and 200 m water
Coastal Morphology and the Recent Rise in Sea Level
135
depth - depending on the clearness of the water. Sessile plants, such as the geologically important calcareous algae and algal mats, generally occur no deeper than 100
m or so. Animals living in symbiosis with algae also indicate shallow water. These
animals include large foraminifera, stone corals, even certain mollusks (Sect. 6.1.3).
5.3 Coastal Morphology and the Recent Rise in Sea Level

5.3.1 General Effects of Recent Sea Level Rise. The coastal regions of uplifted
margins are largely shaped by the interplay between tectonic forces and marine
processes, especially wave erosion. Raised marine terraces are a characteristic morphologic feature of such uplifted margings; the West Coast delivers many fine
examples. In contrast, the coastal morphology of slowly sinking margins is entirely
dominated by the processes associated with the sea level itself. In North America, the
Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast provide prime examples of this type of morphology, in Europe the "Wadden Sea" mentioned earlier.
In order to understand the coastal landscape, we must be constantly aware of one
central fact: the recent rapid rise in sea level which began about 15 000 years ago
and lasted till about 7000 years ago (Fig. 5.6). The sea level rose in response to the
melting of glacial ice, chiefly the Laurentian and the Scandinavian Ice Sheets (Antarctic melting is thought to have contributed a comparatively minor amount). The
maximum addition of water to the ocean occurred some time between 14 000 and
9000 years ago. The sea level changed by approximately 120-130 m on the whole;
that is, it rose from the average depth of the shelf edge to the present positions.
As mentioned earlier, sea level is rising right now, after a long period of stability
during the Holocene. During the last few decades it has risen by some 1-2 mm per
year, presumably as the result of thermal expansion of the upper ocean layers, due to
a general warming since the tum of the centul)' (Figs. 5.22 and 7.16).
The effects of the deglacial transgression on coastal morphology and sedimentation were varied and profound. On gently sloping shores the sea advanced vel)'
rapidly. In the upper Persian Gulf, for example, the coastline must have retreated by
some 100 m per year, during the maximum rise of sea level. Whoever inhabited the
Shatt-al-Arab at that time must have been very aware of the invasion of sea.
In temperate humid regions, coastal peat bogs grew upward with the rising
groundwater level; finally they became flooded by salt water and covered by
marine sediments. Dunes were eroded by the approaching surf, except where
cemented by lime derived from shell material. Resistant matter left from the erosional
process collected as a transgression conglomerate below the march of the waves, the
basal conglomerate typical of many marine transgression sequences in the geologic
record.
The exact time sequence of the rise of sea level during the melting of the northern
glaciers has long been a matter of controversy, as the various interpretations in
Fig. 5.6a indicate. Was it an even, rapid change? Did it occur in pulses, as indicated
by terraces in many shelves and coral islands?
136

(I
20
20
~O
:[
a;
101
~
60
60
1111
80
11111
14C ages
100
1211
120
m
10
15
12
IS
III
21
Thousands of years B. P.
Fig. 5.6 a, b. Sea level rise during deglaciation. a Various hypotheses of how the sea level is
supposed to have risen during deglaciation (about 15000 to 9000 years ago), and afterwards during
the Holocene. Dates are based on radiocarbon determinations. [E. Seibold, 1974. R. Brinkmann (ed).
Lehrbuch der allgemeinen Geologie, vol I, 2nd ed. F. Enke, Stuttgart], b Results from thoriumuranium dating on corals (A cropora po/mota off Barbados) suggest that these radiocarbon dates are
too young, by about 10 % for 10000 years, and 20 % for 15000 years. Two major pulses of sea
level rise are indicated. [E. Bard et al.. Nature. 1990345: 405]
Results of research during the past decade indicate that there were two major and
several minor pulses of meltwater addition to the ocean. The pulses are reflected in
rapid changes in oxygen isotope composition of the oceans (meltwater has a low
18 0/ 160 ratio), and this change, in tum, is recorded in the shells of foraminifera and
corals (see Sect. 7.3.2). The two major pulses are dated near 14 000 and II 000
years on the absolute age scale (12 000 and 10 000 years by radiocarbon; see
Fig.5.6b).
We are much closer now than we were even a decade ago to going from sea level
curves to the rate of mass of water added per time to the ocean. This will make it
possible to attack questions related to regional tectonics. What is the local imprint of
vertical coastal motion in each sea level curve? In northern latitudes, what exactly
was the regional uplift of the crust in response to the removal of ice? How much was
the crust depressed by the addition of water on the shelf? How did the Earth's rotation
respond to the shift of weight from Canada and Scandinavia to the open ocean? How
did this shift influence the geoid, the shape of the Earth, and its sea level? The
answers will profoundly affect our understanding of coastal morphology.
An outstanding example for the effects of the rise of sea level is the general
morphology of the East Coast of the USA. It is a coast of drowned rivers (Fig. 5.7a).
Coastal Morphology and the Recent Rise in Sea Level
137
b
Fig. 5.7 a, b. Sea level rise and East Coast morphology. a Drowned river valleys, Cape Cod. Barrier
beaches migrate into the entrance of the estuary, as spits, and restrict access to the open sea. b
Close-up of a migrating spit, Buzzard's Bay. Migration is to the left. Note forced detouring of the
tidal channel. [Photo courtesy D. L. Eicher]
138
Longshore sand transport (Sect. 4.22) tends to close off the estuaries which fill with
sediment to make marshlands (Fig. 5.7b).
Drowned rivers can make good harbors: the East Coast is dotted by ports with
excellent deep-water access. Drowned rivers are sediment traps; they tend to catch in
their estuaries whatever material is brought from the continent. On the whole, therefore, the shelf off the East Coast is starved of sediment. What we find on the sea floor
there is largely relict material from the last ice age. The distribution of such relict
sediments , naturally, is not very indicative of the present-day processes active on the
shelf, except through the evidence for reworking .
With this general background, let us now consider the geologic-morphologic processes at sea level in more detail, first at river mouths, then at lowland coasts between
the rivers.
5.3.2 River. Mouths. A glance at a world map shows that river mouths can be
indentations or protrusions in the coastline - that is, estuaries or deltas (Fig. 5.8) .
Tidal motion can reach far into the esturies. Commonly, salt water intrudes along the
bottom. This intrusion of the marine realm brings marine sediments upriver. Such
sediments are easily recognized within the river deposits: echinoderm remains, foraminifera, marine ostracods.
B I RO F OO T
H IGH
L OBA TE
C U SPA T E
ARC U ATE
" ZII!:RO "
" N E G A TIVE "

(E S T UAR Y)
LOW
Fig. 5.8. Subaerial delta shapes as a

function of sedimenl supply and di stribution al energy (waves. currenls).
[1. R. Curray 1975. in A. G. Fischer.
S. Jud son. eds. Petroleum and global
tectonics. Princeton Univ Press.
New Jersey]
River Mouths
.: :
~.
...., ',.'. "

-
.:....:
"
.. . ~
...
...... : .;;;. , .-: . ..
139
" "
.:,'
B
Fig. 5.9 a-f. Schematic cross-section through a birdfoot delta. a Inter-levee lowlands, marshes
(levees are ridges confining the distributary channels); b delta front; c prodelta; d open shelf floor;
e older base (mayor may not be deltaic); f distributary channel with fill and levees. A Delta builds
up and out, the sea retreats, the sedimentary sequence is "regressive" (a across h, b across c, etc);
B The sea level rises and the delta retreats, the sedimentary sequence is "transgressive" (a below h,
b below c. etc). Note that the regressive or transgressive nature of the sequence cannot be seen on
the surface, but only by studying the sequence of sediments within the delta.
Thus, both the river and the sea bring sediment. Why then are the estuaries not
filled in? River floods, tidal action, and especially the young age of estuaries are the
cause, The drowned river valleys produced by the transgression have not yet come to
equilibrium with the sediment load. Where the river valley runs across the shelf and
into a submarine canyon on the slope, the filling-in of the river mouth is slowed,
because sediment can travel out of the estuary onto the deep-sea floor. The Congo
and the Hudson are examples. The best harbors, therefore, are those with a canyon
offshore like New York, and those where strong tidal action keeps the outer river
channel open, as in London, Bordeaux, or Hamburg.
For the geologist, who must learn to read the record, the river mouth of deposition,
the delta, is of special interest (Figs. 5.9 and 5.10). Why a delta forms and not an
estuary depends on many factors: for instance, low tidal activity as in land-surrounded seas (Mississippi and Nile deltas); high sediment load due to strong seasonal
rains, and high erosion rates in the mountainous hinterland (the Indus, Ganges, Irrawadi or Huangho deltas).
When coast and sea level are stable, the delta builds out to sea, the marine facies
retreats, the record shows regression . A borehole in such a delta shows a regressive
sequence: shallow deposits over deep ones (Fig. 5.9A). If sea level falls, of course,
the regression is accelerated. Conversely, a rise of sea level or a sinking coastline wi II
140
...... .' . .. .. . . ........................... ................................ .. .
"::::;:::;::'::;:::;'::::;:::::;';.::;:::::::::::,:::;:;:;:;:;:::::::::::::::::;::::.::;.:
100km
Fig. 5.10. The bird-foot delta of the Mississippi. The subsidence of the delta allows the sea to
re-invade the areas of abandoned distributaries. [J. Gilluly et aI., 1968, Principles of geology.
W. H. Freeman. San Francisco, after H. N. Fisk]
ideally produce a transgressive sequence , which is the reverse order of the regressive
one.
Deltas are economically interesting because of their oil and gas potential. High
organic productivity and enhanced preservation of organic matter by high accumulation rates may form source rocks. Sands in distributary channel fills or offshore bars
at the delta front can become reservoir rocks. General subsidence, aided by sediment
loading, results in multiple stacks of deltaic sequences, caused by repeated progradation and abandonement of delta lobes, each of them typically several tens of meters
thick.
5.3.3 Lagoons and Barriers. Next to deltas we usually find low-lying coasts showing a facies zonation parallel to the coastline. Offshore bars or barrier islands commonly occur together with a sand beach (Fig. 5.11). The beach may be backed by
dunes, which the wind piled up using sand from the beach. In tum, this beach-dune
complex may form a barrier for interior lagoons, as is the case along much of the
Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast. The narrow barriers can be tens of miles long.
Rivers emptying into the lagoons may cut one or several channels throug such barriers, especially when flooding, chopping them up into a series of barrier islands.
From the seaward side, storm waves may break through a barrier, forming overwash
fans on the laggon beach (Fig. 5.12). Tidal action keeps such channels open, building
deltas on both sides.
How does barrier-and-lagoon morphology reflect changes in sea level? Again, the
balance between the rise of sea level relative to the land and the supply of sediment
141
Lagoons and Barriers
,
,,
,-'
' .'
"
Marsh
L:~~ Lagoonal pond
Iv I
vv v
Flood
plain
(AllUVium)
I~ '" ~ I
'.:.j
Marsh
"
"
",;;
Shore fa~ce;"ir----+---------~
I~""-,'" I
,
longshore bars
Fig. 5.11. Typical geomorphic features of a barrier-type coast. [H. E. Reineck, I. B. Singh, 1973,
Depositonal sedimentary environments. Springer, Heidelberg, based on a diagram by C. D. Masters,
1965]
to the coast is the crucial factor to consider. Since the sea level stabilized, about 6000
years ago, supply of material has been all-important. Off Galveston Bay, for example,
the large supply of sand allowed a rapid building-out of the offshore barrier (Fig.
5.13). On the whole , however, barriers and lagoons must have migrated landward
over the last 15 000 years.
The barrier-type coast is very abundant: of 244 000 km coastline its share is about
32 000 km, that is 13 %. North America and Africa each have about 18 %, Europe
only about 5 %. A stable broad shelf and a high supply of sediment would appear to
be favorable for the development of barriers coasts, as illustrated by the barrier island
coast of the Southern North Sea. Coastal uplift, narrow, dissected, and starved shelves
are unfavorable.
5.3.4 Mangrove Swamps. During the recent rise of sea level, generally speaking, the
various facies zones paralleling the coast migrated landward. In the tropics, one of the
142
Fig. S.12. Overwash fans on SI. Joseph 's Island, Texas. produced by storm waves.
Open Gulf to the left, lagoon to the right. [Photo courtesy D. L. Eicher]
G.- Island
Gatveston - B<;IY
I>:/:>':'~ I
W:;;j
GuH of Mexico
Skm
Isochrons. years before present

barrier sands
t------~
lagoonal and intertidal muds
- - -
marine interlayered sands

and clays with shells
Pleistocene basal sediments
Fig. S.B. Architecture of Galveston Island. Regressive sequence below the barrier beach near
Galveston, Gulf of Mexico. Advance of barrier island is due to high supply of sand and relatively
stable sea level. The dates ( 1200. 2000, 35(0), are based on the 14C content of shells. [J. R. Curray,
1969. in D. J. Stanley. ed. The new concept of continental margin sedimentalion. Am Geol Inst.
Washington DC]
Mangrove Swamps
143
a
Fig. 5.14 a, b. Mangrove vegetation on Bimini (Bahamas). a Rhi:opora at low tide . The roots are
covered at high tide . Plant about 2 m wide. b Al'icennia with air roots. Width of view at proximal
edge 2.S m. [E. Seibold. 1964, Neues lahrb Geol Paleontol Abh. 120: 233]
most impressive migrations of this type must have been the retreat - and landward
invasion - of the mangrove swamps, Mangrove growth dominates many intertidal
zones in the tropics (Fig. 5.14). Mangroves need year-round tempertures of 20C or
higher. In equatorial regions with high annual rainfall, for example off Cameroon and
Guyana, mangrove forests form a broad belt offshore. Here, the mangrove forests
blend into the tropical rainforests at high tide level. The expansion (and successive
burial) of mangrove swamps during deglaciation due to a rising sea level, must have
produced an organic-rich layer on many tropical shelves, much as peat growth did on
temperates shelves. Such layers, when buried, will coalify. The coaly layers in
ancient cyclothems (Fig. 5.1) apparently originated in similar fashion. Rapid burial of
carbon extracts C02 from the atmosphere. The question of possible C02 changes due
to changes in sea level is a topic of active research in marine chemistry and geology
(see Sect. 8.3.6).
Mangrove swamps and other coastal habitats are quite sensitive to disturbance by
human activities. Changes in the coastal environment, whether by nature or by human
impact, can now be readily monitored using remote sensing, from satellites (such as
GEOSAT 3, which circled the globe in 1986--1989). This type of information will
greatly increase our appreciation of the rates of change in tidal flats, mangrove
swamps, deltas , lagoons, barrier islands, and coral reefs , and also provide clues
regarding the processes at work, including human impact through land use and pollution.
5.4 Ice-Driven Sea Level Fluctuations

5.4.1 The Worm Low Stand. In the last section we referred to the rapid rise of sea
level, between 15 000 and 7000 years ago, which was caused by the melting of
glacial ice (see Fig. 5.6) This rise is but one phase in the long series of sea level
144
fluctuations of the Pleistocene. Sea level has been constantly changing over the last
several hundred thousand years as a result of the waxing and waning of large continental ice masses. The rise of the last deglaciation, which was witnessed by our
ancestors, was one of the biggest and fastest sea level changes ever, as far as we
known.
It was the result of a maximum change of climate: from a peak cold period to a
peak warm period.
About 20000 years ago, during the last major ice age (the Wurm in Europe, the
Wisconsin in North America), enough water was tied up in the continental glaciers to
depress sea level by some 120 m. Large shelf areas fell dry as a result of the
ice-caused regression of the sea. Rivers crossed the shelves and entered the sea at the
shelf edge, cutting backward into the shelf. Their sediment load was dropped in a
narrow zone at the upper slope, became unstable there and slid, starting turbidity
flows which rushed down the undersea canyons. In front of the ice, outwash plains
(or moraine ridges next to the terminal ice tongues) developed on the exposed shelf.
Dune fields evolved on shelves where the climate was favorable.
Land animals spread over the emerged shelves and used them as land bridges in
some cases, for example, between Northeast Siberia and Alaska. Mammoths roamed
over the large area covered by the North Sea today. Their remains are found on the
sea bottom now, together with the tools of prehistoric hunters. Could these people of
the late Stone Age have left a memory of the effects of rapid sea level rise, in the
ubiquitous legends of a Great Flood?
5.4.2 Pleistocene Fluctuations. There is an indication that, throughout the late Pleistocene, major transgressions were much more rapid than any of the regressions. In
general, apparently, the buildup of ice (and hence the sea level drop) proceeded at a
slower rate than the melting of ice. The evidence for this concept rests on the oxygen
isotope record of pelagic foraminifera (Fig. 5.15).
How can we measure sea level changes in the chemistry of foraminiferal shells?
The principle of this method was introduced by C. Emiliani in 1955.
The shells of the foraminifera consist of calcium carbonate, CaC03. Hence, they
contain oxygen. The water within which the shells grow, H20, also contains oxygen.
There are three kinds of oxygen, the normal one, with atomic weight 16, and two rare
ones, with atomic weights 17 and 18. The oxygen-17 is very rare and we need pay no
further attention to it. Through mass spectrometry, one can determine the ratio between oxygen-16 and oxygen-I 8 (commonly written 160 and 18 0). The ratio of these
two isotopes in the shells is in equilibrium with the ratio of the isotopes in the water
in which the shells grew. In other words, if the 180/160 ratio in the water changes, it
will change similarly in the shell.
This fact relates to sea level change as follows. Every time the sea level drops, the
18 0/ 160 ratio of the water increases, because the glacial ice is made of water which
is impoverished in the isotope 18 0. Hence, seawater is enriched in 180 during glacials
(Fig. 5.15b). The 18 0/ 16 0 ratio of the carbonate shells reflects this change in the
chemistry of seawater. Temperature also influences the U10/160 ratio of the shells. In
Fig. 5.15a, however, the long sediment core on which the measurements were made
Ice-Driven Sea Level Fluctuations

Br unhes
145
Matuyama
~ -1 .0
234
10
II
12
13
14
15
16
Depth in core (m)
6'18 0
Glacial
~fI~ct
b
Fig. 5.15 a, b. Fluctuation of () 180 in the planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides sacculifer. western
equatorial Pacific. a "Brunhes": present nonnal magnetic epoch, since 790000 years ago. "Matuyama": previous epoch, during which the Earth 's magnetic field was reversed. Eight isotope cycles
are visible within the Brunhes, the average duration is therefore 100000 years . The temperature of
surface waters is nearly constant through time , in the area where the core was taken. Hence, the
isotope fluctiations are produced largely by the build-up and decay of northern ice masses, as shown
in b. [Core data from N. J. Shackleton, N. D. Opdyke; 1973 , Quat Res 3: 39]
comes from an area where the effect of temperature on the isotopic signal can be
neglected in the present context.
Note that the oxygen isotope curve (Fig. 5.15a) indicates that sea level fluctuated
between rather well-defined limits. Sea level was never much higher than right now,
and it was never much lower than during the last glacial. There must be a climatic
factor or factors which prevent a buildup of ice beyond a certain limit, and other
factors which prevent additional melting once a certain amount of ice has been
melted. We shall retum to this puzzling observation in Chapter 9.
5.4.3 Effects on Reef Growth. The sea level fluctuations of the Pleistocene left their
imprint also in the shallow water carbonates, notably in the tropical reefs . Each
highstand of the sea level resulted in a buildup of reef carbonates, while the lowstands resulted in erosion. In fact, the origin of atolls, those ring-shaped islands
dotting the central Pacific, has been contemplated under this aspect (Fig. 5.16). Thus,
while Darwin's hypothesis of submergence is correct in a general sense (see Sect.
7.4.3, Fig. 7.8), the influence of the fluctuating sea level must not be forgotten.
146
REE'S DEAD AND PARTlY [liDDED
e...
WAvE S
II." *"WLI
----------------- -------------------MI-/110. 1 -
5
Fig. 5.16. Daly's Glacial Control Theory of coral reefs. The time sequence is from 1 (124000 years
ago) to 5 (the present). The ring shape of atolls is due to the more favorable situation for coral
growth at the edges of the island (due to cleanness of water, and high food supply). The knolls in the
lagoon grow up on slightly elevated, mud-free ground. [R . A. Daly, 1934, The changing world of the
ice age. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven]
On rising shores with reef belts, such as Barbados in the Caribbean, the fluctuating
sea level translates into raised reef terraces. The terraces correspond to the highstands
in sea level. They have been dated, by measuring the concentration of radioactive
uranium within individual coral heads, and the product of uranium decay, the element
thorium, since at the time of growth of the coral there is essentially no thorium
present, one can tell how much decay of uranium took place from the ratio of these
radioactive isotopes (Fig. S.6b). Results show that the uplifted corals grew during
several high sea level stands, namely 124000 and 103000 years ago - very much as
expected from the oxygen isotope curve shown in Fig. 5.15.
Ice-driven sea level fluctuations seem to have been less pronounced in the earlier
Pleistocene than in the later part of the period. However, even back to the Miocene
there were such fluctuations, since large-scale ice buildup apparently started on Antarctica some 15 million years ago. As far as we can tell from the oxygen isotope
record (see Chap. 9), the strength of the sea level fluctuations increased at 6 million
years ago (in the latest Miocene) and again about 3 million years ago, when northern
glaciations set in.
Tectonically Driven Sea Level Fluctuations
147
5.5 Tectonically Driven Sea Level Fluctuations

5.5.1 Sea Level and Sediment Bodies. Sea level fluctuated considerably all through
the Phanerozoic, even during periods when apparently no ice was present. As to the
present sea floor, fluctuations since the Jurassic are of special interest: essentially
they determined the sequence of sedimentary layers within the continental margins.
The thick sediment stacks in the "passive" continental margins have been much
studied for economic reasons. When a margin sinks more or less continuously, coastal sediment bodies must reach great thickness, provided the sediment supply keeps
pace with subsidence, and deposition remains locked in to the sea level. Tertiary
sandy beach deposits can attain up to 1500 m thickness in the northwestem Gulf of
Mexico, for example, also widths of up to 40 km and lengths of several 100 km
(Chap. 5.32).
The significance of the sand bodies in economic geology lies in their porosity and
permeability. Thus, they can retain (and deliver) great quantities of water, petroleum,
or gas. It is for this reason that the origin, dimensions, and properties of coastal sand
bodies have received much attention from marine geologists as well as oil geologists.
Both drilling and seismic exploration helps define their extent in the coastal areas of
interest.
To interpret the sequences of marine sediments on land, in the margin, and on the
deep-sea floor, and for economic reasons as well, we would like to know how sea
level fluctuated over the last 150 million years. However, in as much as the sea level
variations within this geologic period were not driven by the growth and decay of ice
caps, they were not reflected in the isotopic composition of seawater. We cannot,
therefore, find them in the isotopic composition of the foraminifera in the manner
indicated earlier.
How then can we measure these fluctuations?
5.5.2 Reconstruction of Sea Level Changes. The intensive world-wide exploration
of continental margins by seismic profiling has recently led to the realization that the
sediment-stacking patterns in margins of different ocean basins are quite similar hence, it is assumed, they must be due to global sea level variation. Using this
hypothesis, P. Vail, R. M. Mitchum, B. U. Haq, and their associates developed a
method to derive sea-level fluctuations from the geometry of sediment layers, as
recognized on seismic reflection records. For the time since the beginning of the
Triassic they have found more than 100 major global sea-level changes, about one for
every 2 million years, on average. The basic idea is this: during a relative rise of sea
level (transgression), sediment layers expand into shallower water, and they become
wider as they build up. During a fall of sea level (regression) the reverse occurs, and
erosion sets in on the shelf. Erosion, of course, produces a hiatus: a surface which
joins older and younger sediments in a discontinuous way. Hence, the course of
regression is poorly documented, and it looks as though it happened rapidly. It is
much like cutting a section out of a movie: the change between "before" and "after"
becomes very sudden.
148
E:3HIGHSTAND DEPOSITS
~~388:~ COASTAL
~~~~~~ ON LAP
~ LOWSTAND DEPOSITS
~ OLDER ROCKS
200 KM
MARINE
OFFLAP
~ SUBAERIAl
I.:...:..:J EXPOSURE
UNCONFORMITIES
~ SUBMARINE
- - SUBAERIAL
Fig. 5.17. Effect of sea level position on depositional pattern at the continental margin. Highstand
and lowstand of sea level. [P.R. Vail et aI., 1977, Am. Assoc. Pet. Oeol. Mem. 26: 49]
----------------------------------------------------~ 300
HAO
ef 01. '9 8 1
200
100
PRESENT SEA LEVE L

- 100
60
50
4 0 Myr BP 30
E l LATE
E IMIDDLE I L
PALEOCENE
EOCE NE
20
E I LATE EARLYI M
OLI GOCE NE
10
IL
MIOCENE
~'L
-1
-1
a... a...
Fig. 5.18. Relative changes of sea level as deduced from the geometry of margin sediment bodies.
The underlying model (solid line ) is that given in Fig. 5.17. [P. R. Vail and J. Hardenbol, 1979,
Oceanus 22 , 71]; Dotted line [Haq et al. 1987, Science , 235 , 1156.] [As drawn by W. H. Berger and
L. A. Mayer 1987, Paleoceanography 2,6,620]
The depositional patterns during a highstand and a lowstand of sea level are
illustrated in Fig. 5.17. In essence, the sediment pile moves into deeper waters during
the lowstand, and its geometry changes correspondingly. The construction of the
apparent sea level cycles (see Fig. 5.18) is based on this changing geometry of
sediment stacks (Fig. 5.19). The falls in sea level appear ar as instantaneous events,
Reconstruction of Sea Level Changes
L
9
o 9
149
_.l~
m
~
~~
::0:
;=
3:
~
m
:g
en
oJ---------------------------------------------~-O
Fig. 5.19. Reflection seismic line offshore Northwest Africa. The Triassic (TR), Jurassic (1) . and
Cretaceous (K) Supersequences are separated by dotted lines. Arrows indicate marine on- and
offlaps. During the Jurassic six seismic sequences are separated by minor unconfonnities. With the
beginning of the Cretaceous, carbonate sedimentation including reef building at the shelf margin (e.
g. 13.1) ends. The subsiding continental margin after the opening of the Atlantic has been covered
afterwards by thick sequences of deep-water shales (K 1.2) and deltaic sandstones. They were truncated by erosion with the beginning of Tertiary (T). Complicated Tertiary sequences. Faults marked
by half arrows. The fundamental pattern is similar to that observed in the Gulf of Mexico. [Based
on H. Ftichtbauer (Ed), Sedimente und Sedimentgesteine , 1988, Schweizerbart, Stuttgart, 859; after
P. Vail et al. 1977, Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Mem. 26]
due to the presence of erosional (or nondepositionmal) hiatuses. While sea level
might recede quickly, it cannot do so instantaneously, of course.
The "Vail sea level curve" is a useful tool for the correlation of seismic stratigraphies of continental margin sediments. To what extent this curve reflects the true
global sea level variations is not known. One problem is that the rate of sediment
supply (which is a factor more or less independent of sea level) must play an important role in controlling the geometry of the sediment bodies. Another is that the rate
of sinking of the margins must be considered. Quite possibly, sea level fell continuously since the latest Cretaceous and only varied its rate of falling. When it fell
slowly, the sinking passive margins overtook it, and accumulated transgressive sequences. When sea level fell quickly, the passive margins could not keep up: the
result was regression.
Other difficulties also arise in the reconstruction of sea levels from seismic
records. How does changing geoid configuration influence regional sea level variations, and can this effect overprint global eustatic curves? How exact is the timing?
Dating of seismic layers is by correlation, and uncertainties in absolute ages can be
considerable, using this method.
5.5.3 The Cause of Change. If sea level fluctuated through time , we must search for
the cause or causes of such fluctuations .
150
TME
20 MY ISC&\TH
o my
4() MY ISOBATH
60MY ISCSATH
20 MY ISCeATH
4() MY I!alATH
60 MY I!alATH
AIle< 40 my
11K 4000
2000
2000
4000
4000
2000
2000
4000
Fig. 5.20. Relationship between volume of Mid-Ocean Ridge and spreading rate. Upper cross-sections of ridges spreading at 6 cm/yr (left! and at 2 cm/yr (right) ; lower cross-sections of the same
ridges 40 million years after a change from 6 cm/yr (left) and a change from 2 cm/yr to 6 cm/yr
(right). The changes in ridge volume must produce corresponding changes in sea level. [W. C.
Pitman, 1979, Am . Assoc. Pet. Geol. Mem. 29: 453]
The obvious way to change sea level (if not by ice) is to change the average depth
of the sea floor: if the floor shallows, the sea level rises; if it deepens, the level falls.
We have seen that the depth of the sea floor is tied to its age: to change the depth, we
must change the age. To decrease the age (and hence cause a transgression) we must
replace old sea floor with young. This can be done by increasing the total mass of
new lithosphere formed per year, that is, by increasing sea-floor spreading rates or by
increasing the length of the Mid-Ocean Ridge and the trenches, or both (Fig. 5.20).
Global tectonic events which led to a change in the average age of the sea floor,
and hence its depth, apparently happened in the past. In the opening of the Atlantic,
for example, young sea floor was generated by the new spreading center in the
Atlantic, while old floor was subducted elsewhere in the Pacific (or else the entire
globe would expand). As the Atlantic grows, the average age of its sea floor increases
all the time - at some point it becomes older than the average age in the Indo-Pacific
and hence starts increasing the global average. Further growth of the Atlantic then
results in a drop of sea level. There are indications, from the magnetic stripes on the
sea floor, that global spreading rates in the Late Cretaceous may have been much
higher than now. It has been proposed that the high sea level stands of the Late
Cretaceous were caused by such a fast spreading rate.
Additionally, large intraplate submarine outpourings of basalts during this period,
especially in the southwest Pacific, have to be considered.
The changes which can be produced by replacing old sea floor with young, and
vice versa, are large but gradual. How can sea level be changed rapidly?
Mountain-building with shallow ocean crust, or with continental crust, is one way.
In this process, shallow crust (which is stacked up within mountain ranges) is
removed and replaced by deeper sea floor which will cover itself with a thicker layer
of water, drawing down the general sea level. If the Tibetan Plaetau represents
"doubled" continental crust, for example, the corresponding sea level fall is about
40m.
The Cause of Change
151
The quickest way to change sea level is to fill or to empty an isolated ocean basin.
We know (thanks to Leg 13 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project) that the Mediterranean
dried up intermittently between 5 and 6 million years ago. The water had to go
elsewhere: global sea level was raised by about 10 m whenever the Mediterranean
dried up. Conversely, when ocean water rushed in to fill the empty basin, global sea
level must have dropped by the same amount. Since salt deposits have been found, or
are thought to be present, in other ocean basins also (North Atlantic, South Atlantic),
geologically instantaneous transgressions and regressions may have been quite common after the break-up of Pangaea.
Even a "geologically instantaneous" transgression would not necessarily be spectacular to a human observer. A transgression which is geologically very fast (although
not produced by the hypothetical isolated basin effect) is proceeding right now in
Venice. To this phenomenon we tum in Section 5.6.
5.5.4 Geologic Aspects. Many sedimentary rocks on land were formed in shallow
seas, and depend therefore greatly on tectonically driven sea-level fluctuations,
whether global or regional in origin. The foregoing sections illustrate the complexity
of the processes involved, which geologists face when attempting to interpret the
record. The coastal zone, we have seen, is an extremely active environment, where
there is intense interaction between the forces of land and sea. Even small morphological features - a hill, a trough - become very important in modifying the winddriven waves and currents which shape the bottom and control sedimentation. Climatic variations and hinterland relief dictate sedimentary conditions, as shown in
the overall contrast between low-latitude carbonate shelves and high-latitude
shelves receiving continental debris, or being deeply eroded by ice. Marginal seas,
separated from the main ocean, are even more strongly influenced by regional
climatic and tectonic circumstances. Generally, faunal diversities decrease in these
environments, compared with the open shelf, due to more extreme fluctuations in
living conditions.
In our task to learn from the present for the past, we face an important obstacle.
The present sea floor is far from being an ideal training ground for aspiring geologists, because of the dramatic cycles of geologically rapid sea level changes during
the last half million years, and especially the rise within the last 20 000 years.
Equilibrium between the parameters of the system water/depth/climate/sediment
rarely obtains as already mentioned in Section 2.7. To demonstrate this basic fact
around the world would require a detailed description of a large number of case
histories - which is quite beyond the scope of this book. Our philosophy, instead, is
to stress principles, but to alert the reader to the complications which make their
application difficult.
152
OtO
-n
-:I
POUR
VENlS
Aflil't'lIlIf
UNESCO
lOOF REPUBUQUE TOGOLAISE
The postage stamps reflect the international concern about the fate of Venice. They picture the
Palace at the Canale Grande and San Marcus Cathedral, threatened by the sea.
5.6 Sea Level and the Fate of Venice

5.6.1 Venice Is Sinking. Ancient Venice, with its San Marcus Cathedral, palaces, and
canals, is slowly sinking below sea level.
Can Venice be saved? Let us take a closer look at the fonnidable scale of problems
associated with the task of keeping the sea out. The necessary infonnation has been
collected by the Laboratorio per 10 studio della dinamica delle grandi masse of the
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche.
Venice is at sea level. The city lies at the rim of the Po delta, in a lagoon protected
by a barrier island, the Lido. The Lido is breached by tidal inlets (Fig. 5.21). The
signs of sinking of the city are everywhere: docks must be built up; entrances are
bricked in; steps are under water; during high water the city is flooded. The extent of
sinking was detennined by careful geodetic measurements starting from Treviso as a
fixed point. The rate increased dramatically during the 1960s. Between 1908 and
1925, Mestre-Marghera sank 0.15 mm per year, on the average. Between 1925 and
1952 it was 0.7 mm, and between 1952 and 1968, 3.8 mm per year. In parts of the
region around Venice, the ground sank by 120 mm between 1952 and 1968, that is,
7.5 mm per year!
5.6.2 What Are the Causes for the Subsidence?

I. One reason is the general sinking of the Po Delta. By drilling, it was found that
there are more than 3 km of Quaternary sediment below the central delta. If we set
the Quaternary approximately equal to 1.7 million years (see Appendix A3), we
obtain an average rate of subsidence of almost 2 mm per year. Venice lies at the
rim of the delta - hence it sinks a little more slowly, say, 0.5 mm per year on
average.
2. The Quaternary sediments underlying the region are partly marine and partly
continental, indicating fluctuations in the position of the coastline relative to sea
level. Tectonic movements and changes in sediment supply of the Po brought
about these fluctuations . At the present time, the shoreline tends to advance inland.
153
Sea Level and the Fate of Venice
Venice
20km
I
\ /
A
Chioggia
-'10..
50
r lUI
1)0
C
Marghera
Treviso 0
~~~~-------qH-----~100
L-__
______________
________
~mm
Fig. 5.21. Amount of subsidence of ground in the vicinity of Venice. Upper left Location map of
Venice and surroundings; Right subsidence profiles along the lines ABC (upper) and D BE (lower) .
Difference in elevation (in mm) refers to period between 1952 and 1968. Treviso (E) is taken as
fixed point for the geodetic measurements; hence its change in elevation (i f any) is defined as zero.
Note high rates of subsidence (about 7.5 mm/yr) in the industrial region of Marghera (near B) and
in the Po delta near Chioggia (D). The center of the city of Venice subsided by about 80 mm , i. e. ,
5 mm/yr. [Data from R. Fraselto, 1972, CNR-Lab Stud Din Masse Tech Rep no 4].
b
'
..
-20)L..t......L..J.-LL...L...J--l.--'-'-'-.L..LO-'---'----'-"-1-'=
9~
8~0
1900
194
1900
1940
1980
Fig. 5.22. Recent rise of sea level in two regions. a Europe and Africa. b West coast of North
America. Points are regional averages of the annual sealevel anomaly. Long-term trends fitted by
eye (note difference in slope). [T. P. Barnett, 1984; J. Geophys. Res. 89: 7980; trends added]
3. Compaction of the sediments adds a component to subsidence, which can be

locally reinforced by building and by infilling of lagoon areas. This may be the
reason for increased sinking around the city 's railwaystation and harbor.
4. The sand layers, of which most of the underlying sediment consists, are groundwater reservoirs (aquifers). When groundwater is removed faster than it is replaced, the ground sags. The sag can reach over considerable distance - a kilometer or more - if the pumping is done from depths of several hundred meters.
154
Fig. 5.23. The flooding of San Marcus Square by more than I m in November 1966.
[Photo courtesy A. Stefanon. Venice]
In the last 20 years the groundwater level was lowered by 5 m in and around
Venice, by 20 m in the industrial zone of Marghera. During this period, subsidence
accelerated markedly. Perhaps this factor alone can account for the high sinking
rates.
5. For the last 100 years the sea level has been rising globally globally by I to 2 mm
per years as mentioned in Section 5.3.1 and illustrated in Fig. 5.22.
6. The normal tidal range is about 1 m at Venice. Storms can increase a high tide
level considerably. On November 4, 1966, a storm tide reached + 1.9 m, flooding
the San Marcus Square (Fig. 5.23). Normally, the lagoon would act as a buffer
receiving the incoming water from the Adriatic Sea. However, large parts of the
lagoon were filled above sea level to gain land for industrial purposes. The lagoonal area therefore is only about 70 % of what it was some 200 years ago.
Shipping channels were deepened partly to more than 12 m. The concern that
these actions will increase the influence of storms and storm tides appears justified.
Sea level and the Fate of Venice
155
5.6.3 What Can Be Done About It? The results obtained from the studies summarized suggest that the pumping of groundwater must be regulated. Also, the effects
of filling the lagoon, deepening the channels, and changing the shapes of the inlets
(providing ready access for storm tides) must be studied. Of course, the problem of
removing waste in an economic and sanitary fashion must not be forgotten: the tidal
action flushes the city's polluted canals. The possibility of regulating tidal flow and
blocking storm surges from reaching Venice is being investigated using sluices at the
Lido. Building and maintaining gates that are up to 300 m long and over 15 m high,
and exposed to the sea while anchored in soft sediment, is a great technical challenge.
Not only Venice is threatened by these and similar processes, but many other large
coastal cities such as Bangkok in Thailand and Manila in the Philippines.
Nothing can be done about the general regional sinking. We cannot control such
geologic factors; we must live with them.
Further Reading
Reineck HE, Singh ill (1975) Depositional sedimentary environments. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg
New York
Payton CE (ed) (1977) Seismic stratigraphy - applications to hydrocarbon exploration. AAPG Mem
26, Am Assoc Petrol Oeol Tulsa, Okla
Einsele G, Ricken W, Seilacher A (eds) (1991) Cycles and events in stratigraphy. Springer, Berlin
Heidelberg New York
Berg OR, Woolverton DG (eds) (1986) Seismic stratigraphy II - an integrated approach to hydrocarbon exploration. AAPG Mem 39, Am Assoc Petrol Geol, Tulsa, Okla
Wilgus CK, Hastings BS, Kendall CG, Posamentier HW, Ross CA, van Wagoner JC (eds) (1988)
Sea level changes: an integrated approach. SEPM Spec Publ 42, Soc Econ Paleontol Mineral,
Tulsa,Okla
6 Productivity and Benthic Organisms Distribution, Activity,

and Environmental Reconstruction
6.1 The Ocean Habitat

6.1.1 Diversity of Organisms. In the enOimous living space provided by the sea,
there are plankton (drifters), nekton (swimmers), and benthos (bottom-living organisms). Much of the benthos releases eggs and larvae into the plankton - this is the
meroplankton, abundant in coastal waters. The larvae are dispersed by currents; they
settle when their time has come, and start growing on the appropriate solid subtrate.
The meroplankton feeds planktonic and nektonic predators. Conversely, the plankton
feeds the benthos. Thus there is an intimate ecologic relationship between freeswimming and bottom-living organisms. Ultimately, of course, benthic organisms
rely on food produced in surface waters in the sunlit zone (Fig. 6.1). The notable
exception is the deep-sea benthic community at the hot vents of the Mid-Ocean Ridge
(see Sect. 6.9).
On the whole, fewer species developed in the ocean than on land. The living space
of the ocean has fewer nooks and crannies than that on land, and the various parts of
the world ocean are interconnected. Thus there is less opportunitiy for separate evolution from populations from subspecies to species. The greater diversity of land
animals is entirely due to the proliferation of insects (> 75 % of one million animal
species). Of the marine animal species (180000) 98 % are benthic; only 2 % are
planktonic or nektonic.
These numbers, of course, are subject to revision by continuing investigations.
The general trends seem secure, although we do not share the opinion of Pliny the
Elder (23-79 A.D.) who stated, " ... in the whole ocean, as large as it is, there lives
nothing that we do not know."
6.1.2 Productivity and Supply of Organic Matter. Sunlight and nutrients determine
the growth and distribution of organism, because the food chain has its base in the
marine algae. Matter is transferred along this chain from primary production to herbivores, to carnivores, and back to bacteria for recycling. Also, material is transferred
downward in the water column, from the productive zone to the sea floor, mainly by
fecal matter and by aggregates containing planktonic remains.
For every 100 gC produced in the sunlit zone, roughly 30 gC reach the sea floor on
the shelf and the upper slope, but only 1 gC reaches the deep-sea floor (as indicated by
studies with sediment traps). During the long transit downward (order of 2 weeks),
most of the sinking material is oxidized and remineralized. (See Fig. 6.2.)
158
Productivity and Benthic Organisms
I-----------------~
PHYTOPLANKTON
I
I
PPT
PRIMARY PRODUCTION
I
L.- -
ZOO
PLANKTON:
SECONDARY PROD.
FERTILE ZONE
- - - -
200 m - J
I
I
__ .-l
I EXTERNAL
INPUT
DECAY
RESPIRATION
DECAY
RESPIRATION
SEDIMENT
ACCUMULATION
OP~STAL
OCE~EAN
Fig. 6.1. Sketch of transfer Df particulate organic carbon in the ocean, from primary production to
burial in the sediment. Numbers are fluxes in gC/m 2/yr; within each circle the value to the left refers
to typical open ocean conditions, that to the right to the coastal ocean environment. [W. H. Berger,
G. Wefer, V. S. Smetacek, 1989, in Productivity of the ocean: present and past. Wiley, Chichester]
Despite the fact that so little organic matter arrives at the deep-sea floor, the
abundance of benthic organisms rather faithfully reflects the patterns of primary
productivity (shown in Fig. 6.3). Also, the depth effect itself is strongly reflected the shorter the distance to the productive zone above, the more food arrives on the sea
floor, and the more benthic biomass can be supported. Since productivity is highest
along the ocean margins, the effects from organic matter production and depth-dependent delivery reenforce each other, so that there is a great contrast between benthic activity (including bacterial growth) on the sea floor of the margins and that of
the deep sea.
This contrast is readily seen in the abundance patterns of organic carbon within the
surface sediment, in the upper 5 cm, where most of the benthic activity takes place
(Fig. 6.4). The low concentrations in deep sea sediments (C org < 0.25 %) are typical
for this environment, where bacterial growth is slow, and large benthic organisms are
quite rare. Underneath the Equator, the concentrations increase somewhat, because
equatorial upwelling leads to a greater supply of organic matter to the sea floor. The
highest concentrations (up to several percent of carbon) are srictly tied to coastal
upwelling areas along the margins. The contribution of both nutrients and organic
The Ocean Habitat
159
Fig. 6.2 a-d. Fecal pellets retrieved by trapping off California. a Tabular pellet (har 200 11m)
b Ellipsoidal pellet with organic coating (bar 200 Il-m) c Surface of ellipsoidal pellet, with coccosphere, diatom fragments and terrigenous particles (bar 10 Il-m d Surface of tabular pellet, with
diatom (Nitzschia sp.) and coccoliths (Emiliana huxleyi) (har 10 11m). [R . B. Dunbar and W. H.
Berger, 1981 , Geol. Soc . Amer. Bull. 92: 212]
carbon from the continents must not be neglected, of course. Off estuaries, algal
growth is stimulated both by supply of nutrients from the river. and by estuarine
circulation, that is, a type of upwelling. Quite generally, also, organic matter is delivered from the erosion of soil on land, and such matter can make up a substantial
portion of the carbon buried in the margins. The ratio of carbon isotopes in such
land-derived material is much more in favor of 12C than that in marine-derived matter
(-25 to -30 permil in terms of d 13C, versus -20 permil). This isotopic difference (as
well as chemical differences , represented by molecular markers) allow assessment of
the terrestrial contribution.
The large supply of organic carbon along certain margins generates an oxygen
minimum, due to the high oxygen demand, and this can result in anaerohic conditions
on the sea floor. Under such conditions, preservation of organic matter is enhanced ,
as the anaerobic (sulfate-reducing) bacteria are less efficient in destroying organic
matter than are those bacteria which use free oxygen for the purpose. The relationship
160
pp
gC/m'y
. 200.500,..60
100'2000.'5.35
rn60 . ,OO
L.. Jnocoy.,age
Fig. 6.3. Distribution of primary production (PP) in the world ocean, based on radiocarbon uptake
experiments. XPIOO= Export production, flux at 100 m waterdepth. [W. H. Berger 1992, Z . Deutsche
Geol. Ges. 142: 149-178.]
IllliiI
< 025%
> 0 .5%
0 .25 - 05%
> 1%
Fig. 6.4. Di stribution of organic matter content in marine sediments: percent Corg dry weight. [W. H.
Berger, J. C. Herguera , in P. G. Falkowski , A. D. Woodhead (eds) 1992 , Primary productivity and
biochemical cycles in the sea. Plenum Press New York. Data mainly from E. A. Romankevich ,
1983.]
between anaerobic sediment and organic carbon content in sediments, after burial , is
of special interest in this context (Fig. 6.5). The lack of correlation between sedimentation rate and C org in anoxic conditions, and the good correlation in oxic conditions,
is evident when all available data from Neogene marine sediments are considered. It
The Ocean Habitat
161
50
10
::org
(%)
Fig. 6.5. Relationship between organic carbon content and sedimentation rates in anoxic and oxic marine sediments of Neogene
age. The main fields are: A normal open
ocean environments, A' high productivity
regions, B anaerobic conditions. [R. Stein,
1991. Accumulation of organic carbon in
marine sediments. Springer, Heidelberg.]
0. 1
0 .1
10
SEDIMENTATION RATE (cm/1000y)
appears that in one case carbon is readily preserved even when sedimentation rates
are low. In the other case, rapid burial is necessary to preserve a large portion of the
organic carbon supplied to the sea floor.
The correlation between percent C org and sedimentation rate is, at first glance,
surprising: the organic matter is being diluted by inorganic matter, yet its concentration rises. The reason is twofold: (1) high sedimentation rates are almost automatically associated with an increased supply of organic matter, because both rates of
sedimentation and rates of production are high in continental margin areas, and (2)
rapid burial removes the organic matter from the oxygen-rich sediment-water interface, enhancing preservation.
6.1.3 Sunlight and Nutrients. As mentioned, sunlight and nutrients are necessary for
marine production in the open ocean and this is equally true for the benthic environment, wherever primary production occurs (Fig. 6.3). The sunlit or photic zone is
only about 100m thick. Below that depth little sunlight remains, perhaps 1 % in very
clear water. The angle of incidence of the sunlight, the cloud cover, and the amount
of suspended matter in the water aU influence the depth of penetration of the light.
Benthic algae, then, can only occur on the upper half of the shelf area, say, over no
more than 2 or 3 % of the sea floor. Planktonic algae (phytoplankton), of course ,
occur practically over the entire area. However, this does not mean that the production by benthic organisms can be neglected. Typically, phytoplankton production is of
the order of 50 g carbon per square meter per year (50 g C/m 2yr). For benthic algae
the production values can be up to 100 times greater! Much benthic production takes
place in salt marshes and in kelp forests, but also in the symbiotic algae of coral reefs .
While the ocean offers plenty of some of the materials necessary for growth,
potassium and sulfate, for example, it is decidedly short of others, such as phosphorus, fixed nitrogen, silicate, and trace elements (iron, molybdenum etc.). These
nutrients have especially low concentrations in surface waters, because they are constantly being removed by algae. In fact, their availability controls the growth of the
162
algae; thus, they are limiting nutrients. Algal material, and also animal matter, sinks
below the photic zone and undergoes bacterial decay. Nutrients are released in the
process, that is, remineralization occurs. The nutrients are not being used at depth, in
the absence of light. They become concentrated, therefore.
Thus, the ocean has a deep reservoir of nutrients below the surface waters. The
boundary between this reservoir and the nutrient-poor sunlit waters is the top of the
thennocline, usually between 50 m and 100 m deep.
When the thennocline is eroded by stonns or when the deep water comes to the
surface through the pumping effects of eddies or through upwelling (Sect. 4.3.3), the
nutrients return to the surface water, into the sunlit zone. This fertilization by admixture of deep waters results in increased productivity, both in the algae and in the
animals that feed on them. All the good fishing areas are in such regions of vertical
mixing.
6.1.4 Salinity. Life in the sea depends on other factors besides sunlight and nutrients.
A large number of organisms can tolerate salinity fluctuations only if salinity stays
between 30 and 40 %0 (stenohaline forms). Examples are radiolarians, reef corals,
cephalopods, brachiodops, and echinodenns. In general, their remains indicate
marine conditions for the sediment that contains them. However, there are exception.
A few representatives of the above groups may have relatively wide tolerances: for
instance, there is a starfish that lives in the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea. Also,
fossils embedded in sedimentary layers do not necessarily show the environment of
deposition: they may be redeposited.
With increasing salinity, for example in lagoons of arid regions, fewer and fewer
species are able to survive, until only a few representatives remain - an improverished fauna and flora. Some ostracods (bi-valved crustaceans of millimeter size) can
tolerate salinities of more than 100 %0. As these hardy form have few competitors (or
predators), impoverished faunas can be very rich in individuals. Quite generally, of
course, species-poor but individual-rich faunas indicate special, restricted environments. Restricted does not apply to space here, but to unusual temperature ranges,
oxygen deficiencies, and other stress-producing factors.
6.1.5 Temperature. In the open ocean, where salinities are well within the tolerance
of all marine organisms, temperature plays a decisive role in controlling distributions
(Fig. 6.6).
In polar areas the temperature can fall to -1.5 C; in marginal seas it can rise to
well over +30 C, as in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Outside the tropics
temperature can vary strongly with the seasons in the upper 100 to 200 m of the water
column. Below this depth it varies little, however, being rather low throughout the
year.
Most of the ocean is extremely cold: in the deep sea the temperature stays below
4 0c. The cold temperature in itself does not reduce diversity: it has recently been
shown that an astounding variety of small benthic organisms occur even at abyssal
depths. Large, unpredictable fluctuation of environmental factors appears to be much
more restrictive than just extreme cold. Such fluctuations work damage, especially on
eggs, larvae, and the young recruits of a population.
The Ocean Habitat
163
L amellibranchs
Gastropods
30
,....,.. " .. " Arctic and
Acadian Species
-- -- -- Virginian Sp.
- - Caribbean and
Carolinian Sp.
60 W
Fig. 6.6. Diversity of benthic shelf organisms as a function of latitude, shelf off the East Coast. An
Arctic fauna with few species in the north is being replaced by species-rich temperate and tropical
faunas to the south. (Each line equals ten species.) Note the sharp break at Cape Hatteras, where
warm Southern waters (Gulf Stream) leave the shelf. Arctic waters penetrate down to Cape Cod.
Gastropods show a greater change than bivalves (= lamellibranchs or pelecypods). The clams live
mostly l1'ilhin the sediment, in contrast to the snails. Hence they are more protected from inclement
conditions. lA. G. Fischer, 1960, Evolution 14: 64; modified]
Can we reconstruct the temperature distributions from a study of the remains of

organisms?
In shallow seas and on the shelf, benthic carbonate-secreting organisms (Fig. 6.7)
leave a record of changing temperatures in the oxygen isotope composition of the
calcareous shells and skeletons, as first demonstrated by the geochemist S. Epstein
and his associates (Chap. 7.3.2). In colder water, relatively more of the heavier
isotope 18 0 is incorporated into CaC03, changing the 18 0;160 ratio accordingly (Fig.
6.8).
164
b
Fig. 6.7 a, b. Sediment production and benthic photosynthesis. a Production of algal carbonate ,
measured in the field by staining live specimens and observing growth till collection. A Termination
of staining; B collection. I Halimeda; 2 Padina; 3 Penicillus; all common benthic algae in Bermuda.
[Photos and experiments by G. Wefer, 1980, Nature (London) 285: 323.] b Acropora meadow,
Florida Keys. The staghorn corals produce abundant carbonate, with the aid of symbiotic algae
(dinoflagellates) which live within their bodies. Growth rates are of the order of I em/year [Photo
W. H. B.]
Organisms are not necessarily faithful recorders of temperature, of course. In the

case at hand, it will be noticed that the coral grows preferentially in the warm season,
giving a record that is biased against cold periods.
For open ocean conditions, temperature reconstruction on long time scales has
been honed to a fine art by the CLIMAP group (Climate Long-Range Investigation
Mapping and Prediction) (Sect. 9.2.3). For shelf seas and enclosed basins the reconstructions are more difficult. Here, environmental factors besides temperature (salinity, muddiness of the water, seasonal bad weather) are much more important and
unpredictable than in the open ocean. A change in a faunal assemblage, therefore,
may be due to stress (or release of stress) in anyone of these factors. One difficulty
The Ocean Habitat
165
1980
1979
1978
1977
1976
1975
1974
1973
1972
ISOTOP . TEMP . ('C)
Fig. 6.8. Temperature reconstruction using Porites lobara. which forms massive heads of coral off
the Philippines. Sampling is along profiles A and B, in a slab cut from a core. Results of isotopic
analysis are to the right. Temperature varies roughly between 30 and 26 oc, and this is recorded by
the coral. [J. Ptitzold in G. Wefer and W. H. Berger, 1991, Marine Geology 100]
which exists for both deep sea and shallow sea, as far as paleotemperatures estimates,
is the selective preservation of faunal (and floral) assemblages within the sediment.
Thus, changes in the assemblages may be due to changing conditions of preservation,
rather than to changes in the conditions of survival and growth. To separate the
effects of chemistry (that is, early diagenesis) from those of biology can be a fonnidable task.
Additional clues to sea surface temperatures have recently been derived from
long-chain (C37-C39) alkenones which are produced by coccolithophorids (see Sect.
7.7.5).
6.1.6 Oxygen. The content of dissolved oxygen in the water is another environmental
factor of great importance, especially when concentrations fall to critically low levels
of a fraction of one milliliter of gas per liter of water (nonnal: 4 to 7 ml/l). In cases
166
where the oxygen concentration becomes low enough, all higher organisms, and even
shell-bearing protists, will succumb, and only anaerobic bacteria remain. Such conditions - called dysaerobic when moderate, and anaerobic when severe - can produce
varved sediments (Fig. 3.14), since there is no disturbance by burrowing organisms.
Much can be learned from varves regarding climatic change, on the scale of decades
to millenia, especially with regard to changes in the supply of organic matter and
oxygen.
At the present time we have to go to certain special areas to study this phenomenon - fjords in Norway and Alaska, the Black Sea, the Santa Batbara Basin off
California. In the geologic past, however, when the poles were not icy cold and did
not therefore deliver oxygen-rich water to the deep ocean, conditions of oxygen
deficiency were widespread. Much of the petroleum we bum today was formed in
oceans with a low oxygen content, in regions where oxygen dropped below critical
values and where organic matter did not readily decay, therefore.
Basically, oxygen deficiency arises when oxygen demand is strong, and supply is
weak. For example, in the Black Sea the salt water filling the basin (through the
Bosporus, Chap. 4.3.5) comes from the Mediterranean and is covered with a layer of
freshwater brought in by the Danube, the Dnepr, and other rivers (Fig. 7.12). The
light freshwater forms a lid on the heavy deep water, cutting off exchange with the
atmosphere. Growth continues in the upper waters, delivering organic matter to the
water below. Here it is eaten by animals, which use up oxygen by respiration, and is
decayed by bacteria, also using oxygen. Thus, the deepest water becomes entirely
anaerobic.
A somewhat analogous process can be observed in organic-rich muds. Free
oxygen is present only in the uppermost layer of sediment, millimeter-thick (or centimer-thick when sandy). Burrowing animals must set up air-conditioning by pumping oxygen-rich water through their burrows - otherwise they must suffocate.
The geohistorian attempts to reconstruct the degree of oxygenation at the time and
place of deposition of a given sediment layer, from clues such as lamination or nature
of burrowing, and from chemical indicators such as sulfides and types of organic
matter present. The remains of certain benthic organisms also provide information
regarding the level of oxygenation (Fig. 6.9).
6.2 Benthic Life

6.2.1 Types. By far the greatest part of the sea floor is teeming with benthic organisms. Benthos which stays put is called sessile. All sponges, corals, brachiopods, and
bryozoans are sessile. Benthos which moves about is termed vagile. It can move
rapidly, like a startled crab, or slowly, like the sluggish sea urchins, starfish, most
bivalves, snails, and worms. Both groups have members living on the floor or on top
of other organisms (e. g., shells or kelp): the epifauna. Or they live hidden within
rocks and sediment: the infauna.
Compared with the 125000 marine species of epifauna there are only a paltry
30000 species of infauna. Why? Are there more niches in the epifaunal way of life,
167
Benthic Life
SPECIES OF BOLIVINA
Fig. 6.9. Abundance of Bolivina species as a function of

dissolved oxygen, California
Borderland. I :B. argentea;
2 :B. spissa ; 3:B pacifica;
4:B I'aughani. [R. G. Douglas,
1979, SEPM Short Course
6: 21]
,. ,
o
OXYGEN (mill)
that is, more opportunities for different approaches to making a living? We do not
know. So far, biologists have not succeeded in determining the number of niches
independently from the number of species occupying them.
6.2.2 Food and Substrate. Benthic animals, ultimately, live on food-stuff falling
down through the water or coming in from upslope along the sea floor. Both living
plankton and dead detritus drift in the water: the seston . The detritus consists of
organic and inorganic particles. One consequence of the dependence of the benthos
on this "rain" of seston is a pronounced decrease in benthic biomass with depth: the
deeper the sea floor and the farther away from the fertile coastal zone, the smaller the
amount of nutritious rain reaching it. Although so very little reaches the abyss (order
of 1 % of the production (Fig. 6.4)) hundreds of species - tiny crustaceans and worms
- make their living from the scraps coming down. How do these organisms manage
to spend less energy in the search of food than the food is worth? They must be
extremely energy-efficient.
The sessile benthos, of course, does not seek out its food. It waits for the water to
bring suspended material from which to take nourishment. The suspension feeders
(sponges, corals, brachiopods, crinoids, bryozans, and many others) filter the water,
either passively, using the natural water flow, or actively, moving water past their
straining apparatus. Commensals may seek a free meal in addition to shelter: for
foraminifera living in sponges it is convenient that the host provides both protection
from enemies and brings in a steady stream of food particles. Sessile benthos is
especially abundant on rocky bottom, e. g. in agitated environments, where the water
is not too muddy.
168
Producti vity and Benthic Organisms
The vagile benthos on the rocky substrate - starfish, sea urchins, gastropods,
ostracods - feeds on epibenthic organisms, for example, by scraping off algae, or
preying on sessile animals. It protects itself from storms and predators by hiding in
nooks and crannies, growing thick shells, or by clinging to the rock, as do the chitons
and patellas using their strong sucker foot. On soft bottom (in less agitated environments), most vagile benthic animals ingest sediment, especially surface detritus (deposit feeders). Others hunt for prey.
We see that life in the bottom is greatly influenced by the type of the substrate,
which, like the organisms themselves, reflects environmental factors: temperature,
salinity, oxygen content, currents, microtopography. Thus, sedimentary processes and
life on the sea floor are intimately associated. The remains of organisms within their
habitat yield valuable clues to conditions of both growth and sedimentation, therefore. In fact, benthic organisms may produce much or all of the substrate, in places.
One aspect of ecology which is of great interest to geology is the production rate
of hard parts, that is, carbonate (Fig. 6.7). Off Miami, the macrobenthos produces
annually about lOOO g carbonate per m2 in the tidal zone, between 1 and 400 g per
m2 in the deeper water offshore. On shallow areas of the Persian Gulf, a single
species of foraminifer, Heterostegina depressa (Fig. 6.10), delivers annually 150 g
carbonate per m2 . This protist lives in symbiosis with photosynthesizing algae, as do
corals. Questions regarding type and rate of mineralization are obviously of importance to paleoecology; here biological and geological research are closely intertwined. Benthic foraminifera whose shells provide a lasting record are ideally suited
to define the limits of many of these conditions (Figs. 6.9 and 6.10.).
For an appreciation of the relationships between organisms and environment of
deposition, let us have a closer look at benthic organisms and their substrates, hard
and soft.
6.3 Organisms and Rocky Substrate

Rocks in the ocean floor outcrop where currents or waves keep the floor free from
sediments, or in areas of active erosion. Steep-sided walls in fracture zones and other
rugged topography are also likely places for rock outcrops.
A great number of different materials can be called rock: ancient sandstones and
limestones of wave-cut platforms or along submarine canyons, basalt scarps or manganese pavements, submerged dead coral and cemented beach sand (beach rock),
boulders dropped from icebergs or left in the shelf in moraines, sunken ships, and
other man-made objects. All such substrates can be densely covered by benthic
organisms under the right conditions, in some cases (drop-stones, ships) forming
epibenthic "oases" on an otherwise rather empty muddy sea floor. The most abundant
type of rocky substrate undoubtedly is provided by the pillow basalts of the MidOcean Ridge. These basalt outcrops are commonly rather barren, except in local spots
of hydrothermal exhalation (see Sect. 6.9).
In shallow areas, rocky bottoms are commonly covered by algae. The algae can be
microscopic diatoms (many of these move about on the rock), or up to several-
Organisms and Rocky Substrate
169
Fig. 6.10. Examples for different types of foraminifera. I Arenaceous form which agglutinates
available particles (Reophax. x 50); 2. 3 calcareous forms (Trimosina. x 250; Spir%('ulina. x 90).
The species of Trimosina shown lives at a depth of greater than 20 to 30 m. in the Indian Ocean;
Spir%cu/ina prefers shallow water and coarse substrate. 4: Heterostegina depressa (diameter of
test: 0.84 mm) a large tropical form living in shallow water in symbiosis with photosynthesizing
algae . The "pseudopods" radiating from the test are used for anchor and also for locomotion. [SEM
photos C. Samtleben and I. Seibold. Microphoto R. Rottger]
meters-long soft ribbons waving in the currents, offering hideouts and hunting
grounds for fishes. Hence, rocky areas are good fishing grounds (although they can
be hard on a fisherman's net).
Encrusting algae tend to cover rock outcrops permanently. Depending on water
temperature and depth, epifaunal associations develop: sponges, corals, tubeworms,
oysters, barnacles, bryozoans, encrusting foraminifera (Fig. 6.11). The infauna bores
actively into the substrate. This remarkable ability has been acquired by many types
of organisms, including sponges, worms, and mollusks. Some sea urchins with unpleasantly (for swimmers) long and brittle spines live in custom-made cavities. At
first glance such burrowed rock gives the appearance of being quite solid, since the
170
Fig. 6.11. Dense epifaunal growth. 1 Edge of coral patch reef, Lizard Island, Great Barner Reef
(1445'N, 2 m). [Photo E. S.]. 2 Epifauna on a mound of the Ross Sea shelf (Antarctic, 7659'S,
16736'E). No algae are present at this depth (110 m) so that the dense growth here is all from
animals: large fingery sponges, small bushy bryozoans , finely branched horny corals. A sea lily
(echinoderm) is seen in the upper left. [Photo J. S. Bullivant, 1967, N. Z. Dep. Sci. Ind. Res. Geol.
Surv. Paleontol. Bull. 176]
entrances to the burrows are usually quite small. However, in reality, the outer rind of
the rock may resemble Swiss cheese in its structure. Storm surf can then destroy this
outer layer. Thus the rock wears away, largely through bio-erosion. Limestone is
especially susceptible to this type of attack. Debris from boring sponges grinding
Sandy Substrate
171
holes into calcareous rock can make up some 30 % of the sediment in certain lagoons
of the Pacific coast.
In shallow rocky areas, organisms commonly are removed periodically by wave
action, and their remains collect in depressions or at the foot of the rocks. The
reef-talus deposits are of this origin. They are coarsely layered thick sequences of
sediments surrounding the reef structure, and are familiar from ancient exposed reefs
on land (Permian EI Capitan Reef, west Texas; Triassic Dolomites in the Alps;
Jurassic MaIm reefs in middle Europe; Cretaceous Albian reefs in southern Arizona).
The coarse-grained material of the reef talus is highly porous and permeable, and can
serve as reservoir rock for petroleum - as in the oil fields of the Middle East.
We shall return to reef formations in Chapter 7 when discussing the significance
of marine deposits as climate indicators.
6.4 Sandy Substrate

Rocky ground quite commonly has a rich, "flashy" assemblage of diverse organisms,
from tropical reefs to Antarctic sponge forests (Fig. 6.11). Substrate of pebbles and
boulders is much like rocky bottom provided there is no movement. If waves move
the rocks, most sessile benthos cannot survive.
The benthic communities on sandy sea floor are much less flashy. Commonly one
sees rather little - the organisms are mostly hidden within the sand. The reason why
sessile epifauna is largely absent is the instability of the substrate. Where it is stable,
sea grass can take hold and further stabilize the ground. Epibenthic diatoms, foraminifera, and bryozoans grow on such grass.
Vagile benthos, with or without burrows to return to, can be quite abundant on the
sandy bottom. Crabs and snails are common sights. In the intertidal range there is a
large variety of nonmarine invaders during low tide, mainly birds. These hunt for the
hidden infauna. Conversely, during high tide the invasion is from the sea: sting-rays
and other fishes digging up worms and mollusks.
The presence of so many predators, and the shifting of the sand which can suddenly expose the infauna, require the ability to burrow very rapidly. Crabs demonstrate this adaptation very obviously, but also many clams can burrow quickly - as
clam diggers well know. Burrowing clams have a strong long foot which they extend
into the sand below, then inflate by water pressure to anchor it, and pull the rest of the
body down through muscle contraction. A smooth outer shell, usually quite sturdy,
characterizes such clams. The study of burrowing mechanisms and the resulting
tracks in the sediment is a research field by itself (Sect. 6.6).
Burrowing clams are suspension feeders, with an inhaling and an exhaling siphon
(Fig. 6.12). After death, the shells of such bivalves - hydraulically quite different
from the surrounding sand - are sorted out and concentrated into layers of coquina
(Fig. 6.13). Such coquina deposits are widespread in the geologic record and can be
used as marker beds locally.
172
5
. 11 .;."' .: .
"
',,'. ,' ,
,' ,
i';s'l~
I
,~/)!;; ti );
Fig. 6.12. Sediment reworking by benthic organisms in tidal flats of temperate regions. 1 Snail
Littorina: 2 worm burrow (Pygospio); 3 crustacean burrow (Corophium) , 4 and 5 worm Arenicola
with fecal mound and funnel (see photo below); 6 to 9 bivalves Cardium , Scrobicularia , Mylilus,
and Mya: 10 originally horizontal layer, disturbed by burrowing; II light brown surface sediment.
[H. M. Thamdrup, in R. Brinkmann (ed), Lehrbuch der allgemeinen Geologie, F. Enke. Stuttgart
1964, modified. Photo E. S.]
6.5 Muddy Bottom Substrate

Muddy and clayey substrates present different kinds of challenges for their benthic
denizens . Thus the faunal assemblage of this habitat differs greatly from those of the
sandy and rocky environments. Muddy substrates are rich in organic and inorganic
particles of extremely small size - less than one to a few microns (l micron = 0.001
mm). This has two consequences. First, the substrate is rather less shifting than the
Muddy Bottom Substrate
173
Fig. 6.13. Shell pavement in the upper intertidal, German North Sea. (N of Weser estuary). The
shells form low mounds, built by waves and tidal currents. The orientation of the shells on the sea
floor indicates current directions [note valves pointing to right i. e ., downstream in 1 and shingling
in box corer profiles in 2. [Photos E. S. 1 and H. E. Reineck 2]
sand, due to the high cohesion of the clay particles. It is more difficult to burrow into
than sand, but burrows have a better chance of persisting. Second, the high content of
organic matter makes it worthwhile for many organisms to pass it through their guts
and extract the digestible fraction. Hence, deposit feeders are commonly found on
and in this type of substrate. Of course, suspension feeders would thrive on the
organic matter also. However, their filtering apparatuses tend to become clogged with
the abundant (and to them useless) clay. Furthermore, by constantly reworking the
mud, the deposit feeders make it difficult for sessile benthos to find a stable foothold.
Thus, deposit-feeding benthos dominates: about three fourths of the benthos belong
to this group.
Deposit feeding can take place on top of the sediment, which may also yield some
diatoms , and other algae growing there. Snails typically represent this type of detritus
behaviour, for example Littorina in tidal flats (Fig. 6.12). Also, burrowing clams may
extend their feeding siphons out to the top, to pipet off the food on the surface.
Examples are Scrobicularia and Macoma. On the tidal flats of northwestern America,
the small species Macoma secta, with a length of only 6 to 7 cm, can extend its
siphon up to 1 m - covering a good-sized territory. Various types of worms and sea
cucumbers (holothurians) are deposit feeders sometimes seen in deep-sea photographs. They leave tracks and fecal strings on the surface, and burrows within the
sediment (Fig. 6.14). In shallow water, certain deposit feeders can become extremely
abundant. The lugworm (Arenicola) , typical for muddy intertidals, in many areas can
174
Fig. 6.14 a, b. Tracks and burrows in deepsea clay. a Furrow-like fee ding trails of holothurians (deposit feeders). Note range of
states of preservation, fresh trail at lower
Ie/i. Also meander-like fecal strings extruded onto sediment surface. Small compact structures probably are agglutinating
foraminifera. Tracks and trails are not
preserved in the record , unless burial is by
sudden influx of sediment (such as turbidites). Northern Solomon Trench, water
depth 8500 m, field of view in upper photo
1.5 x 3 m. [Photo courtesy R. L. Fisher.)
b X-ray radiograph , positive, of deep-sea
Red Clay. Dense areas are dark. Network
of burrows (mainly deep-reaching burrows
are preserved) illustrates intensity of bioturbation. Typical burrow diameter, 0.5 to
I cm. Left Small manganese nodule. Core
taken about 1000 km SE of Hawaii , water
depth 5000 m, 49-{j0 cm below sediment
surface. [Photo F. C. Kogler)
Trails and Burrows
175
attain densities of 200 individuals per square meter (Fig. 6.12). Each wonn can ingest
several hundred grams of sediment per day. At high densities, the entire sediment,
down to about 20 cm depth, may be worked over in a matter of weeks by depositfeeding organisms.
Muddy bottoms, then, are largely fecal material, many times recycled. This is also
true for the deep-sea floor, although here the cycling takes thousands of years rather
than months as in the mudflats - a difference of a factor of 10 000. Of course,
sedimentation rates also differ considerably, by a factor of up to 1000. The greater
number of recycles in the shallow water, before burial, reflects the much higher
supply of organic carbon - and hence energy supply - to the coastal sea floor. The
low level of benthic activity in deep-sea sediments and the relative greater importance of the infauna is illustrated by the fact that on more than 100 000 photographs
from 2000 different deep-sea stations, only about 100 visible animals were counted.
If fine sediments are fecal matter, should one not see more evidence of fecal
pellets and fecal strings? Indeed, fecal pellets are extremely abundant, especially
toward the surface of muddy sea floor. Here they alter entirely the hydraulic properties of the sediment, give rise to bacterial growth, and to development of fungal mats
in places. In the case of calcareous mud, the fecal pellets can harden by cementation
and can thus fossilize more readily. They are very abundant in many limestones, as
near-spherical and oval grains of diameters between 0.03 and 0.1 mm, a fact that is
only realized after careful microscopic study.
The biological reworking of soft sediment on the sea floor is a process of global
geochemical significance. Without such bioturbation, the sediment would quickly
disappear from the marine chemical sy stem. Only a thin upper layer would readily
react with the seawater. Through bioturbation, however, a several-centimeter-thick
layer of sediment keeps exchanging matter with seawater, the falling organic material
remains available for some time before burial, the nutrients in it are remobilized and
are given back to the seawater. Thus, the overall fertility of the ocean is closely linked
to bioturbation.
A surprisingly large proportion of Phanerozoic sediments on land originate from
marine muds. Fossil shales - produced from muds - make up about 50 % of the
sedimentary record. Limestones (in large part originating from calcareous muds)
provide 20 %, and sandstones 30 %.
6.6 Trails and Burrows

6.6.1 Trace Fossils. In the foregoing, we have looked at sea floor and organisms with
an appreciation for the biological viewpoint. However, the geologist's ultimate concern is the final record: how is it made? What can it tell us about conditions of the
past? An entire branch of geology - ichnology - has grown from the study of the
tracks, trails, burrows, and other sedimentary disturbances made by organisms. We
next tum to some of the problems arising in the study of such trace fossils. We also
have to ask just how bioturbation disturbs the orderly recording of events in deep-sea
176
sediments - the sediments from which we hope to extract the most complete and
accurate information about ancient climates (as discussed in Chap. 9) .
There is a great variety of traces, which eventually become trace fossils: trails,
feeding tracks, and fecal strings on the surface, burrows stuffed with fecal mud,
burrows used for housing and later filled by washed-in sediment, and others (Fig.
6.15). Various kinds of worms, snails, bivalves, crabs, holothurians, sea urchins, and
star fish make such tracks and burrows. Crabs and shrimp make the longest and
deepest burrows. In certain cores from off Northwest Africa we have observed vertical burrows more than 3 m long! Such "lebensspuren" have been and are being,
intensively studied by marine geologists in Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea, in Kiel,
and in Tiibingen. Thus, the German word Lebensspuren which translates into lifetraces has been adopted into English usage.
6.6.2 Lebensspuren are, in a sense, fossilized behavior of benthic organisms. Much
like shells, behavior represents adaptation to the environment, hence we can read
b
resting tracks
dwelling burrows
feeding
Er~~
feeding burrows
Fig. 6.15 a-e. Types of traces by function , and organisms producing them. a-d Bivalves. e Wonns.
[A. Seilacher, 1953, Neues lahrb. Geol. Palaeontol. Abh. 96: 421 and 98: 87]
Bioturbation
177
environmental information from tracks and burrows. Unlike shells, lebensspuren cannot be transported by currents, but stay in the sediment where they were made. Thus
they indicate in situ conditions, whether it be food supply, stability of the sediment,
wave action, even depth of water.
The tracks and burrows are useful not only for paleoecologic reconstruction but
also for physical geology, and even for tectonics. In the deep sea, for example vertical
burrows do not last if the sediment has a tendency to shear horizontally. Through
systematic box coring of deep-sea carbonates in recent years, it was found that
vertical burrows are extremely abundant in the west equatorial Pacific, in shallow
areas with sandy, stiff sediment. In deep areas, where dissolution of carbonate breaks
down the sand, the sediment loses strength. It can flow when shaken by earthquakes.
There are no vertical burrows here, only horizontal ones.
On land, the field geologist sometimes deals with badly jumbled marine strata - he
may not even be able to tell which side of a layer is up! Burrows, if present, can help
decide the issue. Many burrows are U-shaped. If one finds them as an arch, that is,
upside down, it proves that the layer has been inverted by tectonic forces. Sometimes
there is a question of lacustrine (lake-) versus lagoonal or marine sediments. The
marine environment has large long burrows in contrast to the less diverse and generally smaller ones of lakes.
6.6.3 Preservation. Not all tracks and burrows are equally well preserved, of course.
A delicate surface trail made by a star fish or a mussel has little chance of entering
the record. A 30-cm-deep Arenicola or Mya burrow or especially a 2-m-deep crab
burrow has an excellent chance: we should have to remove a thick layer of sediment
in order to obliterate it. In general, surface tracks can only be reserved by a catastrophic deposition event such as a flood or a turbidity flow. In the case of continuous
accumulation, when sediment builds up gradually and there is a mixed layer from
bioturbation, surface tracks are destroyed while only burrows penetrating the mixed
layer are preserved in the record (Fig. 6.16).
6.7 Bioturbation
6.7.1 Effects of Mixing. Bioturbation prevents the preservation of thin layers, that is,
annual layers, thin turbidite layers, or layers produced by contour currents alike.
Thus, today's well-turbated slope sediments are poorly layered. However, this need
not always have been the case. During times when the ocean was not well oxygenated, burrowing organisms could not as readily do their work of homogenizing the
incoming sporadic supply of sediment. Thus, quite commonly, we see finely layered
slope sediments in the geologic record, deposited in warm oceans with low oxygen
content. (Warm water dissolves much less oxygen than cold water: only since the
Earth has grown ice caps is the deep ocean highly aerated.)
Bioturbation alters and smooths the record. In a finely layered sediment, each
layer has a message about its origin and its environment of deposition. But when the
layers are mixed, the messages are mixed also, and we obtain a signal which is some
178
Scolicio
Planolites
Helminthopsis
Chondrites
?Daedolus
Zoophycos
o.
em
10.
Fig. 6.16. Biogenic sedimentary structures in deep water off NW Africa (about 2000 m). Tiered
arrangement of active burrowers reaches 30 em into the sediment. Bioturbation homogenizes the
uppermost 3 em of sediment completely, destroying surface tracks. Sea urchins (Scolicia burrows)
and other burrowers produce typical traces (Planolites etc.) in different depths within the sediment.
The tiered system of burrows is ultimately dependent mainly on organic matter supply, oxygenation,
and sedimentation rates. Thus several parameters can potentially be extracted from the iehnological
record . [A. Wetzel , 1979, Ph. D. Thesis, Geol Inst Kiel]
sort of an average of the conditions which existed at the time. How large a time
interval is being averaged? How does this averaging affect the dating of sediments?
These questions are being investigated on deep-sea box cores, because of the great
importance of the deep-sea record for detailed paleoclimatic reconstruction. (For
dating by radioisotopes see Appendix A8).
One way to proceed is to determine the exact concentration of radioactive carbon,
as a function of depth in the sediment. The 14C stratigraphy should give us a clue to
both the depth of mixing and the effect on age determination (Fig. 6.17).
The 14C enters the sedimentary record within the CaC03 of the carbonate shells.
A certain proportion of the C02 in the air (and hence of the HC03- in the surface
water) contains 14C, which is produced in the atmosphere through the activity of
cosmic rays, from the normal nitrogen-14 atom. The radiocarbon is incorporated into
living matter and shells. It decays back to nitrogen. Thus, young shells have more
radiocarbon than old ones. The decay rate is such that one-half of the C-14 is gone
after 5700 years . This is the half-life. Thus, we can predict that a shell will retain one
half its radiocarbon after 5700 years, one fourth in II 400 years, one eighth in 17000
years, and so on. The limit of measurement is near 35 000 years - one sixty-fourth of
the original concentration.
How do we know the initial concentration of radiocarbon? We assume, for simplicity, that it was the same then as it is today in freshly forming shells (although we
now know that radiocarbon concentrations were higher during glacial time; see
Bioturbation
........
E
o
a::
o(J
15
Z
I
LAYER
W 10
--
---
20
f-
~ 25
W
30
179
BOX CORE
ERDC - 92BX
14C ANOMALY or
DISTUR BA NCE
it!"
---
--
Fig. 6.17. Carbon-14 stratigraphy of a box core from the western equatorial Pacific. Top layers
(= mixed layer) shows similar ages down to 7 or 8 em, due to mixing. Overall sedimentation rates
is near 1.7 em/lOOO yrs. An anomalous 14C sequence appears at 15-17 em depth, presumably caused
by a redeposition event. [Data in T. H. Peng et aI. , 1979, Quat. Res. II: 141]
Fig. 5.6). Using this assumption, we can calculate the apparent age distribution down
the core. This is the distribution produced both by the continuous sedimentation of
radioactive sediment (i. e., calcareous shells) and the mixing on the sea floor. Here is
an interesting trend in the ages: they change very little in the uppermost part of the
sediment, the mixed layer, and then show a regular progression to higher values
downcore.
6.7.2 Mixing Model. Sediment mixing is a complicated process involving the burrowing activities of various types of organisms, disturbing the sediment to various
depths (Fig. 6.16). It is not yet possible to describe the physics of mixing in a way
which is both correct and useful. However, the pattern shown by the 14C-distribution
suggests a very simple (somewhat too simple, for sure) model of how mixing operates on sediment, as follows.
We assume that the sediment consists of two layers only: a mixed layer at the very
top and a historical layer below. At the top of the mixed layer the newly arriving
material builds up the sea floor at a rate corresponding to the prevailing sedimentation rate .
At the bottom of the mixed layer, an equal amount of sediment leaves, per unit
time, and enters the historical layer. The mathematical formulation of this model is
straightforward. For example, a tracer such as microtectites (from a meteor impact) or
volcanic ash, which is added to the sea surface only once, will show a distribution
following the decay equation:
(6.1 )
180
where CL is the concentration of the tracer at a distance L above the first occurrence,
Co is the original concentration in the mixed layer, right after introduction of the
tracer, and M is the thickness of the mixed layer. Application of this formula to the
distribution of volcanic ash, observed in cores from the North Atlantic, suggests that
M is in the neighborhood of 6 cm. This estimate agrees well with the mixed-layer
thickness suggested by the 14C-stratigraphy shown in Fig. 6.17, for a core from the
west-equatorial Pacific. It should be noted, however, that radio carbon of the sand
fraction may yield results that differ from those based on bulk ages.
6.8 Limits of Paleoecologic Reconstruction

We have discussed environmental factors, especially physical ones, and we have
looked at the production of lebensspuren and what they may tell us about the environment. Also, we have introduced the problem of bioturbation, the process which alters
and smooths the record. What about the organisms themselves, their interactions,
their reproduction rates, their larval dispersion? How do larvae know where to settle?
How many survive? Who competes with whom? Who eats whom? Which are the
symbiotic relationships, which parasitic? How do they control distributions? And
especially: how much of all this information enters the geologic record?
These problem are constantly encountered when studying communties, here, benthic communities. Already the definition of communities is difficult - the biologists
use "organisms that are often found together". Presumably, their web of interaction
provides the checks and balances which keep a community stable, that is, the same
kinds of organisms in roughly the same proportions live together over extended
periods of time.
The record also has "communties", that is, co-occurring fossils. Not surprisingly,
the difficulties in guessing the interactions of organisms long dead are virtually
insurmountable.
Even seemingly simple questions are hard to answer. For example, how large a
territory does a benthic foraminifer feed on? On the shelf of the Arctic there are up to
50 individuals per square meter of the foraminifer Astrorhiza. Their shells are about
5 mm in diameter; but, when alive, the net of pseudopodia takes up an area 6 cm in
diameter, an area more than 100 times greater than that of the shell. A large part of
the sea floor may be "occupied" by these tiny organisms. How would we know this
if we only had their shells?
It does not help, of course, that only a selected portion of the community is
eventually fossilized. Let us inspect some shallow water communities recognized
especially through studies of Danish biologists (Fig. 6.18). In many Arctic and cooltemperate regions a Venus community lies offshore in 10 to 20 m water depth. Venus,
a bivalve, is a conspicuous member. Others are the star fish Astropecten, the sea
urchin Echinocardium, and the polychaete tube-building worm Pectinaria koreni.
Species may change, but the genera and the structure of the community are similar
everywhere (parallel communities). As geologists, we can expect the preservation of
some of the shells, some of the burrows. Nothing recognizable will be left of the
"Hot Vent" and "Cold Seep" Communities
181
------- _ .
Fig. 6.18 a, b. Typical infauna associations in shallow water in cold to temperate regions. Examples
are from the entrance to the Baltic Sea (Kattegart). a Venus association in sandy substrate at 10- 20
m water depth, with the sea star Astropeclen (I) , the sea urchin Echinocardium cordalum (2), the
bivalves Venus gallina (3), Spisula elliptica (4), Tellina labula (5), the polychaete tube-building
worm Peclinaria koreni (6), and the gastropod Natica (7). b Amphiura association in muddy substrate at about 20 m water depth with the brittle stars A. chiajei (/) and A. IUiformis (2), the snails
Turiella communis (3) and Aporrhais pespe/icani (4) , the sea urchin Brissopsis Iyrifera (5) and the
polychaete Nephthys (6). Coastal regions in other regions of the world have other species, but the
basic make up of the associations persists ("parallel communities"). [G. Thorson , 1972, Erforschung
des Meeres, Kindler, Miinchen)
Fig. 6.19. Brittle star community. Uppermost continental slope off Senegal , Northwest Africa.
[Photo E. S.)
182
worms or of the shrimps. Nothing also of the predators which invade the area from
the sea and from the air.
Muddy sand and deeper waters are settled by the Syndosmya community. The
name-giving clam is a favored food item of flat-fish - something that certainly would
be hard to tell from the fossil record.
Muddy bottoms in depths of about 20 m are conspicuous by their dense cover of
brittle stars (Amphiura community, Fig. 6.19). Up to 500 individuals lie on a square
meter. They dominate the ecology of the sea floor here, but it is doubtful that this
information would be preserved in the record.
6.9 "Hot Vent" and "Cold Seep" Communities

Animals - thus the conventional wisdom - ultimately live at the expense of photosynthesizing organisms which use the sun's energy to produce organic matter from
C02 and H20. There are exceptions, however. Some animals live strictly on bacteria
which derive their sustenance from chemosynthesis rather than photosynthesis. In
some cases, such bacteria are symbionts.
The most spectacular examples of this type of association have recently been
discovered at deep-sea vents, where hot seawater leaves the basaltic sea floor, after
reacting with it deep inside. During these reactions, oxygen is lost, and sulfate is
reduced (Sect. 10.4.4). Where the water exists, e. g., in "black smokers" (Fig. 6.20)
there is an opportunity to derive energy from the oxidation of the sulfice contained.
Thus, sulfide-oxiding bacteria can thrive here. Certain types of these bacteria live in
great abundance as symbionts within vestimentiferan tube worms (e. g., Riftia pachyptila), and giant clams (e. g., Calyptogena magnifica), among others, and thus
"hot vent" chemosynthesis gives rise to a thriving community of strange (and not so
strange) creatures (cover and Fig. 6.20). The tube worms live entirely on the bacteria
which they harbor - they have no means of extracting food from outside, or digesting
it.
The story of the discovery of vent communities is complex, and begins in the
1970s with a search for undersea hot springs, whose presence was deduced from
temperature anomalies and chemical measurements. The first glimpse of unusual
communities came from a deep-sea photograph (taken by P. Lonsdale) showing remains of large clams in unexpected concentrations, near a spreading center. The
living vent community, in all its exuberance, was first seen in 1977 by the geologist
1. Corliss and associates, diving on the Galapagos spreading center at 2.5 km depth,
in Woods Hole's deep submersible ALVIN.
A search for similar hot springs elsewhere, and associated vent communities, was
highly successful, and we now have descriptions of a variety of such faunas from
different regions, in both the Pacific and the Atlantic. Some 160 species new to
science have been published, mainly mollusks, annelids, and arthropods. Some appear to be closely related to certain Mesozoic shallow water forms.
Many exciting questions were raised as a result of these discoveries. How do these
communities survive, given the fact that hot vents exist for only a short time, on the
"Hot Vent" and "Cold Seep" Communities
183
Fig. 6.20. Black smokers", made of precipitated metal sulfides at an East Pacific Rise Vent site.
Pillow lavas are covered by mussels and tube worms. IE. Seibold, Das Gedachtnis des Meeres,
1991, Piper, Miinchen. After P. Giese, 1983]
order of decades? How do these organisms cope with highly toxic fluids containing
H2S and trace metals in high concentrations? What are the implications for the
evolution of life, especially in the distant Precambrian with reducing sea-water conditions? And for those who wonder who might be out there in space - is the sun
necessary for the origin of life?
In the meantime, additonal exploration by ALVIN and other submersibles e. g.,
CYANA showed that these unusual communities are not restricted to hot vents on
spreading centers, but occur in back arc basins and other places with hydrothermal
activity as well. More importantly, related but somewhat different types of communities were found on the continental margin, sitting on "cold seeps" off Florida
and, together with carbonate "chimneys" off Oregon (see Fig. 2.8b). Here bacteria
oxidize not just H2S but a variety of other reduced compounds such as methane
(CH4), ammonia (NH4), and light hydrocarbons. Again, these bacteria form the basis
of a chemosynthetic food chain.
The vent communities are geologically old: in Oman and on Cyprus in Cretaceous
ophiolites, and even in Carboniferous rocks as in New Foundland, fossil examples of
tube worm communities were found, in part in association with massive sulfide ores.
These fossils now appear in an entirely new light.
184
Further Reading
Hedgpeth JW (ed) (1957) Treatise on marine ecology and paleoecology, vol I. Geol Soc Am Mem
67
Schafer W (1972) Ecology and palaeoecology of marine environments, Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh
Haq BU, Boersma A (eds) (1978) Introduction to marine micropaleontology, Elsevier, New York
Suess E, Thiede J (eds) (1983) Coastal upwelling - its sediment record. Part A: Responses of the
sedimentary regime to present coastal upwelling. Plenum Press, New York
Berger WH, Smetacek VS, Wefer G (eds) (1989) Productivity of the ocean: present and past.
Dahlem Konferenzen. Wiley, Chichester
7 Imprint of Climatic Zonation on Marine Sediments
7.1 Overall Zonation and Main Factors

7.1.1 The Zones. The chief factor in producing climatic zonation is the amount of
energy received from the sun - it is high in the tropics, low at the poles (Fig. 7.1). A
coarsely latitudinal zonation of the oceans generally employs the categories tropical,
subtropical, temperate, and polar, whereby the poleward part of temperate and the
more temperate part of polar could be distinguished as subpolar (Fig. 7.2).
The tropical zone has an excess of heat, which it exports. Seasonal fluctuations are
minimal; average temperatures are near 25C, with sustained open ocean maxima
close to 30 0c. Near the equator, daily rainfall, cloud cover, and weak winds, lead to
excess precipitation over evaporation. At the equator proper ( 2 latitude) fertility is
high because of equatorial upwelling. Elsewhere it is low, except near continents.
The subtropical zone is the broad region between the tropics proper and the temperate areas. It is the desert belt, both on land and in the sea. Cloud cover is low,
evaporation rates are high, and salinities, therefore, attain values well above average.
This zone is invaded by the neighboring climate regimes depending on seasons.
Annual temperature ranges can be very high. Coastal areas show seasonal upwelling,
depending on wind strength.
The temperate zone is strongly influenced by seasonal change. Rainfall generally
exceeds evaporation, and salinities are correspondingly reduced. Being the transition
between the warm and the cold regions of the planet, the temperate zone has strong
temperature gradients, hence strong winds. These force mixing of surface waters with
(nutrient-rich) waters in the upper thermocline, along the west-wind drift. The temperate zones are fertile regions, therefore. In the poleward parts of the temperate
zones, mixing is further enhanced by seasonal break-down of the thermocline.
The polar areas, finally, take up the smallest portion of the globe, but they are of
prime importance as makers of climate. Their ice rim fixes the endpoint of the overall
temperature gradient, which ultimately controls winds, currents, and evaporation-precipitation patterns (Figs. 4.14 and 7.2).
The climatic zones are not exactly parallel to latitudes: note how the boundaries
are shifted by the currents of the subtropical gyres, especially the Gulf Stream and its
west-wind extension.
7.1.2 Temperature and Fertility are the most important climatic factors in the
ocean, as far as the production and distribution of biogenous sediments. In the
186
Imprint of Climatic Zonation on Marine Sediments
b
Fig. 7.1 a, b. Climatic extremes in the present ocean. a Fringing reef and lagoons. Huahine. Society
Islands. tropical South Pacific. [Courtesy D. L. Eicher] b Tabular iceberg, Antarctic Ocean. [Counesy T. Foster]
tropics and sUbtropics nutrients are limiting to growth. Here the surface waters
become depleted of nutrients because the density gradient (light warm water on top
of cold heavy water) hinders upward diffusion of nutrient-rich deep waters. Generally, therefore, production is low. In high polar areas, light is the limiting factor:
productivity also is low. In the coastal zones of the tropics and in temperate latitudes,
Overall Zonation and Main Factors
187
Fig. 7.2. Climatic zonation of the open oceans. Zone boundaries tend to follow latitudes and line up
with climatic belts on land. Temperature, seasonality, and water budget (evaporation-precipitation
balance) are the most important descriptors. Temperate and polar can be separated by another zone:
subpolar. Approximate temperatures of surface waters in C shown at the boundaries.
the supply of light and of nutrients both is adequate; here production is high (see
Sect. 6.1).
Temperature imprints itself on sediment patterns in several ways, either directly
(through association with ice-generated debris, or warm-water coral, for example) or
indirectly (through correlations with the productivity of the ocean). Very warm waters
lack nutrients, very cold ones lack sunlight, as mentioned.
More subtle is the relationship between temperature profile and production (and
hence output of biogenous sediment). To grow, marine algae need to stay close to the
surface of the ocean, in the sunlit zone. To replenish nutrients lost from this zone, by
the settling of fecal material and organic aggregates, we need deep mixing. However,
such mixing also removes a large portion of the algae from the sunlit zone, taking
them to greater depth, where they cannot grow. Clearly, a succession of nutrient
delivery and stable stratification in time or space provides the most favorable conditions for growth, and hence for sediment production.
B/ooms of ('()ccolithophorids or diatoms must be contemplated with these mechanisms in mind. Such blooms can be extensive ("whitings" seen from satellites in the
case of coccolithoporids). They may, in fact, deliver much of the biogenous sediment
found on the sea floor - coccoliths in the low latitudes, diatoms in high latitudes and
coastal regions . Recent flux measurements with sediment traps support this concept
of episodic flux.
Temperature anomalies, specifically cold anomalies within the sub tropics and
along the equator, denote regions of upwelling, which are of special interest as
producers of organic-rich sediments (and as fishing areas) (Sect. 4.3.3). Equatorial
upwelling, which is due to divergence of westward-moving currents where the Coriolis Force changes sign, leaves a strong imprint in the shape of increased sedimenta-
188
tion rate of calcareous, siliceous, and phosphatic materials. Also, certain metals are
concentrated below the equator, by the upwelling mechanism. We shall return to
these subjects when discussing deep-sea sedimentation (Chap. 8) and ferromanganese
nodules (Sect. lOA).
Nutrient supply, as already mentioned, is increased through vertical mixing and
upwelling. Upwelling is highly seasonal, being induced by the wind field (Fig. 4.19),
which is quite variable, of course. Thus, the major upwelling regions - off Peru,
California, northwestern Africa, Namibia, and also in the Arabian Sea - show high
but greatly varying productivity.
Seasonal upwelling is largely tied to monsoonal activity. On the continents, seasonal contrasts are exaggerated, compared with the oceans (continental climate).
Around the large and high land masses of East Asia, this seasonal contrast affects the
entire northern Indian Ocean (monsoonal climate, see Fig. 7.2, hachured area). During winter, cold air masses flow off the continent (northeast monsoon in India)
bringing drought and upwelling. During summer, the circulation is reversed: the
southeast monsoon brings rain from the ocean. In the eastern Pacific, upwelling
virtually ceases every 3 or 4 years for a year or so. El Nino conditions are said to
prevail during such events. "EI Nino" means "the child" and refers to the Christ child,
in reference to the observations, by Peruvian fishermen , that conditions of poor
fishing start around Christmas. The El Nino phenomenon is not well understood,
although it is of great importance even on a global scale. The history of such oscillations can be studied in sediments with annual layers (varves) off California (Fig.
7.17), off Peru, and in the Gulf of California. In the Santa Barbara Basin off Southern
California, El Nino layers are characterized by unusually large proportions of warmwater diatoms, and reduced supply of organic matter. Because of this reduced supply,
oxygenation increases, and in some cases bioturbation sets in, destroying a number of
varves. Thus, the stratigraphy of bioturbation in the Santa Barbara Basin contains
valuable clues to the long-term workings of the Pacific wind field, and indeed the
global heat budget.
7.2 Biogeographic Climate Indicators

7.2.1 Paleotemperature from Transfer Methods. Biogenous sediments are excellent indicators of climate: many organisms have narrow ranges of temperature and
fertility and the presence of their remains immediately yields excellent clues for
climate reconstruction. Also, the chemistry of the shells can give indications of temperature, salinity, and growth rate. The most widespread biogenous deposit on the
present sea floor is calcareous ooze, which consists of plankton shells. Of the shellmaking plankton, the foraminifera were found to be the climate indicators par excellence. They are reasonably diverse, widespread, and easily identified under a lowpower microscope (that is, after some practice). Planktonic foraminifera live mainly
in the uppermost 200 m of the water column. There are about 20 abundant species,
and as many rare ones. Each climatic zone has one or more characteristic species and
a typical abundance pattern of species within it. Some temperature-sensitive species
Biogeographic Climate Indicators
CJ 2
189
ijg14
Fig. 7.3. Major distributional zonation of planktonic foraminifera. J arctic and antarctic; 2 subarctic
and subantarctic ; 3 transition zone; 4 subtropical; 5 tropical. Dominant foraminifera : a: Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, zone J left-coiling, zone 2 right-coiling; b: Globigerina bul/oides, Zone 2 ; c:
Globorotalia inflata , Zone 3; d: Globorotalia truncatulinoides , Zone 4 ; e: Globigerinoides ruber.
Zones 4 and 5; f: Globigerinoides sacculi/er, Zone 5. [Map from A. W. H. Be, D. S. Tolderlund,
1971, in B. M. Funnell, W. R. Riedel , ed, 1971. The micropalaeontology of oceans. Univ Press,
Cambridge. SEM photos courtesy U. Pflaumann , Kiell
are shown in Fig. 7.3, with the areas they characterize. The general agreement of the
faunal zonation with the climate zonation of Fig. 7.2 is obvious - the role of latitudinal bands and of the deflection by surface currents again is apparent.
7.2.2 Transfer Equations. The agreement between faunal and climatic zonation
suggests that it should be possible to reconstruct climate by counting the relative
abundance of the species in the sediment assemblages. This is indeed the method
most commonly applied. The counts are used to calculate the original surface water
temperatures by means of a transfer equation, a term coined by the paleoecologist
John Imbrie. To illustrate how this works let us consider a very simple transfer
equation, namely the weighted average of the optimum temperature:
(7.1 )
190
Here, Test is a temperature estimate based on an assemblage of foraminifera (or other

shells), Pi is the proportion of the i-th species, and ti its temperature optimum. The
optimum, in this context, is the temperature at which we find the highest proportion
of the species in the calibration set.
The calibration set consists of sea-floor surface samples and corresponding surface water temperatures. For example, we may find that on the sea floor species no.
3 has its highest proportion underneath surface waters with an annual average temperature of 20 C. We call this its optimum, and designate it as t3. For the temperature
estimate of a given sample, the product P3 . t3 is one of the terms of the above
summation. The larger the P3, the closer the sum will be to 20 C. The presence of
species with a higher optimum temperature will pull the result up above 20 DC, and
vice versa. Under favorable conditions, this simple equation will estimate the correct
temperature to within better than 3 dc. The technique can be improved by considering the temperature range of each species, and by regression of the estimated temperature on the expected temperature, in the calibration set. The method then gives
excellent results. More powerful transfer techniques also exist, based on the same
principle of calibration. Factor-regression analysis is one of these techniques. It was
used by the CLIMAP group to map conditions in the ice age ocean.
7.2.3 Application of lransfer Methods: Climatic Transgression. Great progress
has been made in determining the temperatures of the sea surface for the latest
Pleistocene, especially in the North Atlantic. The information is retrieved from
numerous sediment cores distributed throughout the region. An example of such
reconstruction, by the CLIMAP group, is given in Fig. 7.4.
The distribution of surface water temperatures - and hence of surface currents and
water masses - differs greatly for the last ice age maximum (- 20000 years ago)
from the present situation.
GO
SOO
30'
20
10'
Cf
Fig. 7.4 a, b. Expansion of polar climate in the North Atlantic. 17000 years ago. a Today's se a
surface temperature in winte r. b Tran sfer map, winter surface temperature 17000 years ago (in
ocean) , and distribution of ice sheets and pack ice. [Data from CLIMAP in E. Seibold, 1975.
Naturwissenschafte n 62: 321 ; see also Science 191: 1131. 1976; Geol. Soc. Am . Mem . 145: 464 pp.
1976]
Transfer Method
191
Today, the polar front is just south of Greenland (Fig. 7.4,2 DC isotherm). During
the glacial maximum, the front ran from New York to be Iberian Peninsula. Norway,
and even England, were largely cut off from the warming influence of the Gulf
Stream, with dramatic climatologic consequences.
The motion of the polar front in the North Atlantic, as reflected in deep-sea cores,
is a prime example for climatic transgression. Such a transgression can be used to
determine the rate of change. How fast does a glacial period change into an interglacial one? How fast can the glaciers build up at the end of a warm period? These are
questions of considerable interest, because mankind is involved in climate modification, by industrial C02 emission and by deforestation, and because the present unusually warm period (since 10 000 years ago) has been about as long as comparable
ones in the past, throughout the Late Pleistocene. We shall return to these questions
in Chapter 9 when discussing the geologic record.
7.2.4 Limitations of the Transfer Method. The method outlined (or others like it)
allows an estimate to be made of any environmental variable which shows a correlation with foraminiferal abundances (or abundances of other plankton: coccoliths,
radiolarians, diatoms). However, the significance of such estimates is in doubt where
the environmental variable is not in control of growth. A prime example is salinity.
There is little evidence that salinity has any influence on plankton distribution within
the normal range of seawater salinity.
There are some other problems with the transfer method. First, exact calibration is
difficult. Sediment arriving on the sea floor becomes thoroughly mixed with older
sediment. Thus, the calibration set of sea-floor samples contains information spanning thousands of years. Yet, the calibration set of present sea surface conditions is
based on a very few years at most. Are these last few years - the ones whose data
enter the present-day temperature atlas, for example - representative for the last two
or three thousand years? Perhaps.
Second, there is the problem of differential dissolution, hence selective preservation of plankton shells on the sea floor. Most of the calcareous ooze on the deep-sea
floor is exposed to at least some dissolution. Thus, the assemblages from which we
wish to draw paleoclimatic information are being altered on the sea floor. The more
delicate shells are being removed, while the thick-walled forms are being concentrated (Fig. 7.5). This is also true for siliceous shells, although dissolution patterns are
different.
For older deposits the question arises: to what degree has evolution changed the
optima and ranges of the species? The question is ever-present in paleoecologic
research, and is always difficult to deal with.
7.3 Diversity and Shell Chemistry as Climatic Indicators

7.3.1 Diversity Gradients. One way to map changing climatic patterns is to focus
not on the species themselves but on the statistical patterns they make: their diversity
and their dominance. Diversity can be measured in various ways; the most realistic
192
e.
~~-~
WARM
DELICATE
2
6
COLD
C!r
~4
.1'
Q.~ .
ar-- "1 ..
!
RESISTANT
11
'(:
.f!!
~~
12
Fig. 7.5. Effect of selective dissolution on the temperature aspect of a mixed coccolith assemblage.
Warm-water forms are removed and cold-water species are enriched in the assemblage as dissolution proceeds. I: Cyclolithella annula; 2: Cyclococcolithina fragilis; 3: Umbellosphaera tenuis; 4:
Discosphaera !Ubifera; 5: Emiliania huxleyi; 6; Umbellosphaera irregularis; 7: Umhilicosphaera
mirabilis; 8: Rhahdosphaera styli/era; 9: Helicopontosphaera kamptneri; 10: Cyclococcolithina
leptopora ; /I; Gephyrocapsa sp. (includes G. oceanica and G. caribbeanica; the latter is shown);
12: Coccolith us pelagic/IS. [w. H. Berger, 1973, Deep-Sea Res. 20: 917]
definition is the number of species in a standardized sample. For any sufficiently

large group of shallow-water organisms, both benthic and planktonic, the number of
species is high in the tropics, low toward the poles. There is, then, a diversity gradient, which runs roughly parallel to the global temperature gradient. In coastal areas,
however, anomalously low salinity values or high influx of mud can adversely affect
the marine habitat which can lower diversity independently of temperature.
Quite commonly, abundances of certain species are very high in areas of low
diversity, because the physical rigor of the environment excludes competition, or
enemies, or both. The great dominance of such species indicates environmental
stress. Isolated lagoons, brackish marginal seas, and Arctic shelves illustrate the
principle of low diversity and high individual abundance under conditions of physical
stress. So do polluted lakes, for example.
7.3.2 Oxygen Isotopes. Another way to track climatic change in paleoclimatic reconstruction is to find relationships between shell chemistry and environment. The most
widely applied method in this regard is the oxygen isotope technique of the famous
chemist H. C. Urey. Urey showed, some 30 years ago, that carbonates precipitated
Climate Indicators: Isotopes
193
from the same aqueous solution should have different ratios of oxygen-18 to oxygen16, depending on the temperature at which the precipitation proceeds.
The usefulness of this concept to paleoclimatic research was establish soon after,
by S. Epstein, R. Buchsbaum, H. A. Lowenstam, and H. C. Urey. They compared the
isotopic composition of mollusks shells which grew at various temperatures, in their
natural environment. Results showed that there was an orderly relationship between
the isotopic composition and the temperature of growth. A fit to their data points
yielded an equation which is widely used for paleo-temperature determination:
t = 16.5-4.3 (&-&,) + 0.14 (&-&,)2.
(7.2)
The terms are as follows: t is the temperature, & is the oxygen isotope composition
of the shell sample, &, is that of the water the shell grew in. The 0 notation describes
the deviation of the ratio of oxygen-18 to oxygen-16 from that of a standard (for
example mean ocean water), as a fraction of that of the standard:
18
o 0=
18 0 /160
(sample) - 180 /160 (standard)

18 0 /16 0 (standard)
1000.
(7.3)
For convenience, it is expressed in "per mil", that is why the above fraction is
multiplied by 1000.
Whenever an observed relationship between temperature and isotopic composition
follows Eq. (7.2), the shell is said to have been grown in isotopic equilibrium with
seawater. While mollusks (and planktonic foraminifera) generally precipitate shells in
oxygen isotope equilibrium by this criterion, many organisms do not. Furthermore,
the &, is variable geographically and through time, especially in coastal regions. It is
closely related to the salinity of the ocean, because evaporation and precipitation
affect both 18 0/160 ratio and salinity patterns. Also, it depends on ice volume. Unless
these effects can be excluded, the paleotemperature cannot be deduced from the
oxygen isotopes, other than within rather broad limits (see Fig. 5.15 and Sect. 9.3.4).
7.3.3 Carbon Isotopes. Besides oxygen isotopes, there are two stable carbon isotopes in calcareous shells: carbon-12 and carbon-13. These also have a temperature
dependence, but the main effect on their ratio is the 13C/12C ratio in the dissolved
inorganic carbon of the seawater and the metabolic activity of the shell-secreting
organisms. Fast-growing organisms, and those harboring symbiotic unicellular algae
(zooxanthellae), precipitate shells with relatively low values of carbon-13. However,
many shells yield information about the 13 C;I 2C ratio in the seawater they grew in.
The () 13 C signal in planktonic and benthic foraminifera - an index for the ratio
between the isotopes 13C and 12C in their shells - has recently emerged as a major
tool in reconstructing the marine carbon cycle. In surface waters, the habitat of
planktonic foraminifers, carbon is extracted by ~hotosynthesis ("fixed") into orfanic
matter. This process runs slightly faster for 1 C than for 13C , and hence 1 C is
incorporated preferentially. Basically, because of this preferential fixation, 13C is
ultimately enriched in the surface water, and this enrichment is reflected in the shells
precipitated by the planktonic forams. Organic matter - enriched in 12C - tends to
194
sink and is oxidized at depth, releasing fixed carbon back to the water as C02. Thus,
deeper water is richer in 12C than surface water, and benthic shells acquire correspondingly lower () 13C values than planktonic ones. At the same time, the deeper
water also has more C02 by the same process. In principle, therefore, we can say that
the difference in () 13C values of co-occurring benthic and planktonic foraminifers is
a measure of the efficiency of extracting carbon out of surface waters. This fundamental connection between the carbon isotope compositions of benthic and planktonic shells on the one hand, and the pumping of carbon from the surface to depth on
the other, was first pointed out by the geochemist and oceanographer W. S. Broecker.
It has important implications for the reconstruction of the C02 pressure in surface
waters (and hence the atmosphere) from the () l3C values in fossil foraminifera on the
sea floor.
7.3.4 Other Chemical Markers. Other useful markers include both metals and certain organic compounds, which are incorporated differently into shells or into organic
matter, depending on productivity or temperature. For example, cadmium has been
used for the reconstruction of nutrient patterns; its concentration parallels that of
phosphate, and it is incorporated into foraminiferal shells in accordance with its
abundance in seawater.
Magnesium in calcareous shells tends to increase with temperature. This effect
appears to be more pronounced in the lower organisms, such as calcareous algae and
foraminifera, than in the higher ones, for example the bamacles. The relationship has
not been exploited for paleoclimate work to any significant degree.
Mineralogy follows temperature to some degree. There is a tendency for relatively
more aragonite to be precipitated by benthic organisms in warm waters than in cold
waters, where calcite is distinctly favored. Aragonite is the less stable form of calcium carbonate and changes to calcite during diagenesis. Thus, aragonite content of
ancient calcareous sediments is largely a result of post-depositional alteration, rather
than of conditions of formation.
7.4 Coral Reefs, Markers of Tropical Climate

7.4.1 Global Distribution. The classic geologic method of mapping climatic belts
independently of individual species is to take typical shelf assemblages, such as coral
reef associations. Even if the species within the associations have changed their
preferences, as a whole, the reef association is believed to indicate tropical shallow
waters. Today, the tropical ocean is the core region for coral reefs (Fig. 7.6). Reefs
extend into the sUbtropics on the western sides of the ocean basins, but are greatly
restricted on the eastern sides. They cover about 4 % of the total shelf area at the
present time. The warm western boundary currents are responsible for carrying the
reef limits to their latitudinal extremes, while eastern boundary currents bring cold
water from high latitudes and are responsible for the restricted distribution of reefs on
the eastern side of ocean basins. The reefs of the west Atlantic island Bermuda reach
to about 30 N thanks to the Gulf Stream. On the eastern margin, in the sphere of
Coral Reefs, Markers of Tropical Climate
195
Fig. 7.6. Distribution of coral reefs (hachured areas). 20C isotherm for coldest month of the year
shown as heUl'Y line. Note the general correspondence. Areas of coastal upwelling (triang els) inhibit
coral growth. Hence the eastern margins are unfavorable for reef de velopment. Present maximum
equatorward extent of iceberg drift also is shown. [E. Seibold in R. Brinkmann led]. 1964, Lehrbuch
der allgemeinen Geologie . F. Enke, Stuttgart; coral reef distribution after J. W. Wells, 1957, Geol.
Soc. Am. Mem. 67: 609]
influence of the Canary Current and of upwelling, reef organisms begin to grow only
south of Dakar (15 N). However, on the whole, the equator does denote the mid-line
of the distribution, an observation which is useful in paleogeographic reconstructions.
7.4.2 Reef Building. "Coral reefs" are built up by many different kinds of organisms
and corals do not necessarily contribute the bulk of the material. Up to 10 000 g of
calcium carbonate per square meter can be produced annually, with a rate of upbuilding of 10 mrn per year. Calcareous ooze, for com~arison, builds up a thousand times
more slowly, with accumulation rates near 10 g/m /yr. Part of this high production of
calcium carbonate is based on photosynthesis by unicellular symbiotic dinoflagellates
living within the corals. During daytime, they use C02 and promote thereby precipitation of calcium carbonate. Skeletons are deposited up to five times faster during
daytime than during the night. Seasonal temperature variations are indicated in annual layers (see Fig. 6.8).
About 50 % of the reef is solid matter and 50 % is empty space (that is, pore space
filled with water). Where the sea floor sinks, reefs can build enormous shelf bodies
(on continental margins), or mountain peaks (on sunken volcanoes).
How is the reef built? To begin with, we have to distinguish between the framework (the supporting structure) and the fill , much as in building construction. The
corals proper, and, just as importantly, the calcareous algae, are involved in producing
the framework. Massive or (in protected places) branching stony corals can grow up
by more than 2.5 cm/yr, as individual colonies. In the shallowest water, encrusting
algae occur which grow over dead portions of the reef and cement it to such a degree
that it can resist even the strongest surf. These encrusting algae, too, can reach a high
196
rate of upward growth over considerable areas. The fill between the framework
consists of reef debris and the hard parts of various other reef inhabitants. The fill can
provide up to nine tenths of the reef mass.
The reef dwellers are legion, for the reef offers an extraordinary variety of life
styles (Fig. 7.7). Solid substrate favors epibionts such as bryozoans and sessile foraminifera. Cavities offer shelter for fish and crustaceans. The rich and colorful mollusk fauna is familiar from underwater photography and (rather unfortunately) from
souvenir shops.
The tropical coral reef is the shallow-water habitat with the greatest number of
species, that is, with the greatest diversity. More than 3000 species live in Indo-Pacific reefs. The skeletal remains produced in rich variety are broken up in various
ways, by boring algae, sponges, and sea urchins. Much is crushed by fishes and
crustaceans. In many skeletons, calcite crystals are held together by organic material.
When it decays, such skeleton disintegrate to lime mud (micrite). Finally, waves and
tidal currents grind up the relatively soft calcareous matter. The debris fills the interstices within the reef structure, collects in the lagoons behind the reefs, and washes
up on the beach. Also, debris trickles down the sides of the reef into greater depths,
building the reef flanks. Dissolution of aragonite, recrystallization and cementation of
the debris start very soon after deposition. These processes (important in the investigation of fossil reefs as oil reservoir rocks) are influenced by microbial activity as
well as interaction with rainwater. Already a slight drop in sea level would expose
large areas to rain water. Thus, phreatic processes (karstification, cementation) were
extremely important throughout the Pleistocene.
There are other concentrations of skeletal carbonates sometimes called "reefs"
even in arctic waters (red algae, mollusks in shallow waters or corals of the genus
Lophe/ia in deeper waters). These are quite distinct from tropical reefs, however.
7.4.3 Atolls. The various processes of reef building have their classic representation
in atoll development. Palm-studded rings of coral and shell debris, enclosing a lagoon
and sheltering it from the pounding surf, are quite common in the tropical South
Pacific. Charles Darwin first explained their origin (Fig. 7.8). His theory was built on
the idea of a sequence going from fringing reef to barrier reef to atoll. The fringing
reef grows immediately next to the land. The barrier reef is separated from the land
by a shallow lagoon. The atoll, finally, is an isolated quasi-circular ring of reefs, with
an emergent portion of reef debris, the atoll island. In the center of the ring is a
lagoon. Dimensions vary; a large atoll can be up to 40 km in diameter. Since the
algae, both as carbonate producers and as symbionts of corals, need light, the coral
reefs can grow only in very shallow water. An atoll, therefore, cannot have grown up
from deep waters. This is the reasoning that led Darwin to propose a combination of
slowly sinking sea floor and upbuilding of reef.
Darwin's theory has since been proven correct by drilling into several atolls. In the
drillhole on Enewetak Atoll (Marshall Islands of the tropical Pacific) the basaltic
basement, of Eocene age, was hit at about 1400 m depth. Detailed investigation of the
cores recovered from the Enewetak drill hole indicated that the reef had on occasion
emerged from the sea: land snails, pollen, and spores from terrestrial plants are
Coral Reefs, Markers of Tropical Climate
197
I/)
....
d>
""0
d>
d>
Vl
Vl
.2
L.
d>
""0
''::
a:;
C!I
""0
""0
-"
C
Vl
.2
a..
Predators
day-light hid~awQy
and r~5ting plac~
Fig. 7.7. Stone coral colony with associ ated macrofauna, class ified as to mode of fee ding. The dead
basal part of the coral fo rm s a hard substrate on whi ch epibenthos se ttles. No te the many bo ri ng
organi sms which help destroy coral structures. [S o Gerl ach, 1959, Verh . Dtsc h. Zool. Ges. 356 ]
198
Rts forming in shallow wolf'!'
Rf s grow upward to
Sf'O
I.v,",
,.,...,-.AWI
_. ~
~....) ~ ,
j"
. ?
t"
\-~J
\.1
"
..
(1 .
RHfs grow to remain 01 StoO I..,'"
",
Fif'
,L#;
1" i
1. ..'" ~'
'iiu
~
~
~
.../'.>
..
..1 l~'t1:=~Y"
~T.~
Fig. 7.8. Darwin 's hypothesis of atoll form ation. Redrawn , with maps by Darwin (right) to show the
resemblance in form between barrier coral reefs surrounding mountainous isl ands, and atolls or
lagoon islands. [C. Darwin, 1842. On the structure and distribution of coral reefs, Ward Lock & Co,
London]
present. Also, there are signs of freshwater influence in the chemistI)' of the limestones, and there are hiatuses - gaps in the record - indicating that erosion took place
at times during the Tertiary. A similar situation is indicated on Bikini Atoll , 200 miles
away. In both cases, the hiatuses are at depths of around 200 to 300 m below today's
reef surface, although on Enewetak there are also deeper ones.
Are flat-topped seamounts in the western Pacific ("guyots") sunken atolls? At
least some probably are - shallow-water reef rocks have been dredged from their
upper flanks, the tops being covered by pelagic sediment. Alternatively, they are
simply eroded volcanoes, planed off at sea level, by waves that readily eat into
volcanic ashes and debris . Perhaps the reef organisms were unable to keep up with
the rate of sinking, as the dead volcano rode downward with the subsiding crust. Was
it too cold? Or were the waters too poor in nutrients? There are many indications that
reef building was greatly reduced at times, especially in the middle Cretaceous, and
Geologic Climate Indicators
199
that many guyots originated at that time. The reason(s) remain obscure, so far. In any
case, whether a volcano ends up as an atoll or a seamount may largely depend on the
climatic conditions which allowed or prevented the growth of coral reefs.
7.4.4 Great Barrier Reef. The 2000-km-long Great Barrier Reef, lying 30 to 250 km
off eastern Australia, is the most impressive reef structure in the world today, and
demonstrates how biological sedimentation increases the size of continents. The reef
grows on subsiding crust, and is most massive in the north (around 10 S), reaching
about 1500 m thickness. In the south (at 24 S), it is only 150 m thick. The difference
may be related to the migration of the Australian continent. Plate tectonics requires
that Australia moved some 12 to the north during the last 24 million years (the
"Neogene"). Coral growth could begin as soon as the northern margin crossed the
southern limit of growth, about 20 million years ago. The more southern portions
crossed this limit later, offering less opportunity for growth. The importance of plate
motion for the architecture of the Great Barrier Reef is diminished, however, by the
finding (from recent drilling) that the main reef is less than 1 million years old.
7.5 Geologic Climate Indicators

7.5.1 Chemical Indicators. We discussed some of the aspects of biological indicators of climate. Coral reefs, of course, can equally well be considered geologic
indicators: they are calcareous sediment bodies whose patterns can be mapped. In
fact, simple compilations of reef occurrences through time have been made from time
to time to indicate the position of the equatorial belt and, ultimately, the cross-latitudinal motion of the continents. Biogenous carbonate deposits in general yield similar clues (Fig. 7.9). Although the method is not very reliable, it does provide some
checks on geophysical results.
Salt and dolomite deposits also have been used to delineate climatic belts. They
are characteristic for the sUbtropics and result from excess evaporation as discussed
(Sects. 3.7.3 and 7.6). In tropical areas, laterite and the clay mineral kaolinite are
typical weathering products. They find their way into deep-sea deposits, where they
can be used to trace climatic changes on land (see Sect. 8.4.3).
7.5.2 Physical Geologic Indicators are especially obvious in high latitudes, due to
the effects of ice (Fig. 7.9).
On shelves entirely covered by ice, as in the Antarctic, erosion predominates. Bare
rock, polished and scratched, dominates; morainal debris fills depressions. Icebergs
calving from glaciers take enclosed debris with them, and release it as dropstones in
melting (Fig. 7.10). During the glacial periods of the Pleistocene, the area of the sea
floor affected by iceberg sedimentation was considerably expanded (Sect. 3.2.2).
Also, extensive shelf areas were exposed at the time due to the sealevel drop, and
glacial ice could deposit end moraines in their typical lobe-shaped morphology, as on
the East Coast north of New York and on the area of today's North Sea and Baltic.
These moraines, then, are glacial relicts which are being worked over by shelf currents at the present time (Sect. 5.4).
200

NORTH POLE
EQUATOR
Fig. 7.9. Distribution of shelf deposits in relation to climatic zonation, in the northern half of an
idealized ocean basin. Continents hlack. Current shown as arrows. Detrital refers to terrigenous
river influx, authigenic to phosphatic deposits associated with organic-rich sediments, biogenic to
carbonates (mollusks, foraminifera, corals, and algae). Shell carbonate is produced outside the
tropics as well but tends to be masked by terrigenous supply. Restricted shelf seas collect carbonrich (e) or evaporitic sediment (E) depending on climate zone. [K. O. Emery, 1969, Sci . Am . 221
[3] 106, modified]
Many high-latitude shelves (off Siberia, and off northern Alaska) are covered
seasonally by sea ice. The rivers entering these shelf seas are commonly ice-covered,
expect for a few summer months. When the ice breaks up and the flood sets in, the
freshwater may stay on top of the sea ice, off Alaska up to lO km offshore. It
penetrates downward through cracks in the ice and can dig 10 to 20-m-wide potholes
on the sea floor below the places of entry.
The sea ice, 1 to 4 m thick, hinders the transport of sediment by dampening waves
and longshore currents. The absence of sufficient longshore transport can perhaps
explain the scarcity of lagoons in the Arctic. The sea ice also shields the entire Arctic
sea floor from pelagic sediment supply: sedimentation rates in the central Arctic
ocean are extraordinarily low (- 1 mm/lOOO years).
The ice can pile up, compressed by ocean currents, as so vividly described by
Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), the great Arctic explorer. On the shelf, the ice can then
scrape the ground and produce deep, long ravines. These shelf areas are evidently
distinctly unfavorable for the laying of pipelines or the building of platforms. Furrows produced by drift ice during the last glacial have been discovered by side-looking sonar (Sect. 4.3.2) on the Scottish and Norwegian shelves out to the shelf rim.
Arctic environments are very demanding as regards benthic life. Paucity of species
is characteristic. One lagoon in Alaska southeast of Point Barrow, about 8 km wide
Climatic Clues from Restricted Seas
......
. . . ... ..: . "
Ba s al De b ri s.
~
. : ~.
"
.'"
201
Dropstones
I HI/ Ilil
Biogenic
Lodgement till
beneath gnrded ice
Fig. 7.10. Ice-sheet depositional model. lAo K. Cooper, 1991]
and 4 m deep, is frozen over for 9 months in the year. On freezing, salt is largely
excluded from the ice; thus the salinity of the remaining water is increased to more
than 65 %0. When the ice and the snow cover melts, in early summer, the water is
diluted to a salinity of 2 %0. When the sea ice melts , in mid-summer, normal marine
waters enter the lagoon and salinity increases to 30 %0. In October, the lagoon freezes
over again, the cycle starts anew. Clearly, only very few types of shell-producing
organisms (or burrowers) can be expected under such extreme conditions.
The supply from rivers in high latitudes consists mainly of silt, with clay and sand
being distinctly subordinate. This is an interesting sedimentologic phenomenon, presumably caused by mechanical weathering through the freeze-thaw cycle. The process is important in producing loess, the silty sediment blown out from glaciated
areas and piled up in their perimeter.
7.6 Climatic Clues from Restricted Seas

7.6.1 Salinity Distributions and Exchange Patterns. In contrasting tropical reef and
ice-carved shelf, we have compared the warm and the cold extremes in the global
ocean. There is another important contrast, that between regions of excess evaporation and of excess precipitation. These conditions are known on land as arid and
humid. The ocean being water, the words "arid" and "humid" might seem to make
little sense in describing the corresponding climatic belts in the ocean. However, we
retain the terms as convenient descriptors of the balance between evaporation and
precipitation.
Climate-produced salinity differences in the open ocean are present, and outline
the major patterns of evaporation excess (central gyres) and precipitation excess
(equator, temperate to high latitudes) (see Fig. 7.11). Evaporation on land is estimated
to reach 71 000 km 3/yr, at sea much more, some 524 000 km 3/yr.
The salinity differences in the open sea are too small to leave much of a direct
record via inorganic or biogenous sedimentation. However, the differences are ampli-
202
> 1000 mm Iyr

eoxcess eovaporation
eoxcess preocipitation
>1000mmlyr
36~-----------------------------------------r+l_
z
o
n:
o~
2
35
...J
V>
UJ
It
a:
a:
i=
"'- 1~
34
4()oN
30"
20'
10'
0'
10'
20
30"
/,(),
500S
Fig. 7.1l a, b. Evaporation/precipitation patterns in the world ocean, and corresponding salinity
distribution. a Map showing difference between precipitation and evaporation (cm/yr) (E. Seibold.
1970, Geol Rundsch 60: 73 , based on G. Dietrich, 1957). b Surface water salinities of the ocean,
averaged by latitude. and compared with evaporation-minus-precipitation values. [H. U. Sverdrup et
aI., 1942. The oceans. Prentice-Hall , Englewood Cliffs p. 124]
fied in the restricted seas adjacent to the ocean basins. We shall illustrate this amplification and its effects on sedimentation in some detail , believing that these concepts
will be able to guide the interpretation of a large class of ancient marine sediments
from both shallow and deep basins (see also Sect. 4.3.5).
The seas in the arid belt, with excess evaporation, have a common typical exchange pattern with the open ocean: shallow-in, deep-out (Fig. 7.12). This circulation
pattern is called anti-estuarine. Prime examples are the Mediterranean, the Persian
Gulf, and the Red Sea. Here, the loss of water by evaporation greatly exceeds the
influx from rain and rivers. Thus, the sea level drops and water enters through a
203
Atlantic - Gibraltar- Medlterr.
Atlantic-Sill-Norwegian and Greenland FiOrds
Indlc - Bab el Mandeb - Red Sea
Medlterr. - Bosporus - Black Sea
Indic - Hormus - Pers. Arab Gulf
North Sea - Belts - Baltic
- ESTUARINE CIRCULATION
ESTUARINE CIRCULATION
Fig. 7.12. Anti-estuarine and estuarine circulation in basins with excess evaporation and with excess
precipitation, respectively. The arid basin (A) is characterized by downwelling, hence low fertility
and high oxygen content. The estuarine basin (8) is characterized by upwelling and salinity stratification, hence high fertility and low oxygen content. The geographic names above the graph give
three examples each for anti-estuarine and estuarine circulation. [G . Dietrich, K. Kalle, 1957, Allgemeine Meereskunde. Boerntraeger, Berlin, modified]
passage from the adjacent open ocean. The incoming water, of course, is derived
from the surface water of the ocean, because it is at the surface that the downhill
gradient exists. The excess evaporation within the arid sea increases the salinity of
the inflowing water, which increases its density and makes it sink. Thus, the arid
basin fills up with heavy, saline, surface-derived water. Being heavier than the open
ocean water at the same elevation outside, the deep saline water pushes out and spills
over the sill, at depth (Fig. 7.12). In this fashion the circulation of shallow-in, deepout, is generated.
Where rain and river influx exceeds evaporation, sea level rises, and the water in
the humid sea is freshened out and becomes Ii/?hter than the open ocean water.
Thus, the heavier ocean water pushes in at depth and displaces the less saline
water from below. The incoming water is subsUiface water. The outflow proceeds on
the surface, where the gradient makes the water run down into the ocean. Examples
for this type of circulation (deep-in, shallow-out) are the Black Sea, the Baltic, and
the fjords of Alaska and Norway. This circulation pattern is called estuarine, or
fjord-like (see also Sect. 4.3.5).
Whether a marginal basin has an "estuarine" or "anti-estuarine" circulation has
profound consequences for its fertility and sedimentation. A comparison between the
Baltic as the humid model and the Persian Gulf as the arid model will highlight the
differences.
7.6.2 The Baltic As Humid Model of a Marginal Sea. First, the salinity distributions. In the Persian Gulf, surface salinity increases in going from the entrance near
Honnus into the inner Gulf. The high salinity water f70ws outward alon/? the bOl/om .
In the Baltic, salinity decreases at the surface, from the entrance toward the inner
204
bight. The heavy marine water comes in at the bottom, spilling from one depression
to the next. In the Baltic, low salinities are prevalent, generally less than 18 %0, due
to dilution from rain and rivers. In the Persian Gulf, salinities reach 40 %0.
Both excessively low and excessively high salinities are unfavorable for normal
marine organisms (Table 7.l). In the Baltic, the fully marine fauna of the entrance is
gradually reduced in going deeper into the basin. Correspondingly, the dominance of
certain brackish-tolerant species greatly increases. The marine molluscs become
smaller and their shells thinner.
Another consequence of the humid condition is that the lagoons at the rim of the
Baltic can easily freshen out, depending on precipitation, influx, and degree of isolation. In such enclosed embayments, reeds and other plants grow to build up peat,
eventually to be fossilized to coaly layers. The "Wealden" of England and NW
Germany, a sedimentary sequence at the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary, is a deposit of
such an environment. The analogous boundary conditions in the Persian Gulf, of
course, are hypersaline lagoons and evaporite pans.
Finally, stratification of the water column is much more stable in the Baltic than in
the Persian Gulf, due to the high density contrast between brackish surface water and
saline deep water. In summer, when the surface waters in the Baltic are heated to 15
C or so, density difference and stability are further increased. Thus, vertical mixing
virtually ceases; but without such mixing, no new oxygen can be supplied to the deep
waters from the surface waters which are in contact with the atmosphere.
We can map the stratification using benthic foraminifera distributions (Fig. 7.13).
Where the boundary between the more saline bottom waters and the more brackish
surface waters touches the basin slope, a sharp boundary between upper and lower
benthic fauna develops. A change in carbonate content and other sediment properties
also occurs here - clues which can be useful for the interpreation of ancient marine
sediments.
Productivity in the Baltic sea is high because nutrient-rich subsUiface waters enter
from the North Sea. The nutrients are trapped within the Baltic through organic
sedimentation (algae, fecal matter) and are partially recycled from the sea floor. They
reach surface waters through mixing by winter storms and by diffusion. The high
supply of nutrients within the basin, however, leads to high productivity which in tum
delivers much organic matter to the sea floor. Oxygen is rapidly used up by decay of
this matter. Especially during periods of stable stratification, the bottom water de-
Table 7.1. Decrease of species from open ocean into Baltic. (After Remane 1958)
Categories
North Sea
Baltic
entrance
Bay of
Kiel
Middle
Baltic
Marine Bivalves
Marine Snails
Cephalopoda
189
351
32
42
68
32
49
4
5
9
205
...
<,
1 1 0
11 - 30
>30
a.
ec
_~
.c.
&
M
o ,
"
'"u
~
. .
ij ~
.,E
0
0
co E E;)
~
0--
c: :
" _~
~
.a
";:
tI
,E
0
E
E
=
..
.
. . . '"'"'"
,
,
0
.c
"
'"
0
-;
10 m
CII
"0
...
CII
0
3=
20m
Fig. 7.13. Bathymetric distribution of the abundant benthic foraminifera in the western Baltic. Width
of black columns indicates number of living specimens found per IO cm 2 seaboltom (Ammoscalaria:
only empty shells were found in I 963/64). The wavy line at about 14 m depth marks the boundary
between outtlowing surface water and incoming marine water. [G. F. Lutze, 1965, Meyniana 15: 75]
velops a serious oxygen deficiency, with values of less than 10% saturation. Under
certain condition all the oxygen can be used up, and H2S (the foul-smelling gas)
develops from bacterial sulfate reduction.
7.6.3 Condition of Stagnation. As the oxygen content drops, the bottom fauna
changes. At a concentration of less than I ml 02 per liter of water, shelled organisms
disappear. Only a few species of metazoans remain: mainly worms (annelids, nematodes) and crustaceans. They stir the uppermost sediment, feeding on deposits, leaving burrows but essentially no hard parts. Below 0.1 ml 02 per liter the environment
becomes hostile to all metazoans; only some protists survive, and the various anaerobic bacteria.
As mentioned, both high productivity and stable stmtification are responsible for
the oxygen deficiency in Baltic bottom waters. If nutrient supply is then involved in
producing oxygen deficiency, could man 's activities increase "stagnation" of the
Baltic? Certainly. Deforestation and agriculture greatly increase soil erosion and
hence the input of soil extracts, that is, nutrients. Also, modem agricultural methods
in surrounding regions rely on fertilizer, much of which enters the Baltic Sea with the
runoff. Sewage and industrial waste is yet another source. Thus, stagnation is indeed
favored by man's activities. However, sediment cores from the centml Baltic show
that stagnation occurred frequently even before human factors could playa role. This
206
is reflected in the portions of the record which consist of finely laminated sediments,
with layers of millimeter dimensions (Sect. 3.9, Fig. 3.l3). These layers indicate the
absence of deposit feeders and other burrowers, hence they show the absence of
oxygen.
The increase in stagnation in the central Baltic during the last 50 years, then, could
be largely due to human activities, but it could also be a natural phenomenon which
will eventually reverse itself. This example illustrates a very general problem in
environmental research and engineering, namely that it is generally extremely difficult to keep apart the natural background fluctuations and the human influences.
The chemistry of anaerobic sediments is complex. Only a few aspects can be
mentioned here. The C02 concentration in the bottom-near water with very low 02
content is high: C02 is produced as the 02 is used up. C02 and water produce
carbonic acid, and the pH drops (to less than 7, compared with open ocean values
near 8). Consequently, calcareous shells are dissolved on the sea floor. High C02
content of interstitial waters also means that hydrogenous carbonates can form. Manganese is readily mobilized under conditions of oxygen deficiency, and migrates
upward in the sediment as Mn2+. It is kept on the sea floor both by oxidation and
precipitation as oxide (Mn02) and as manganese carbonate (MnC03), which forms
under conditions of anaerobism and high C02 concentrations. Iron carbonate may
also form, although iron is less mobile, being readily precipitated both as sulfide and
as oxide. When free oxygen is gone, bacteria produce sulfide by the reduction of
sulfate ion
(7.4)
Iron sulfide forms under these conditions; hence pyrite crystals (FeS2) are common in
black anaerobic sediments. If sulfate reduction occurs at the very surface of the
sediment, calcareous shells are preserved, because the destruction of sulfate greatly
increases alkalinity.
7.6.4 The Persian!Arabian Gulf As Arid Model of a Marginal Sea. None of the
conditions typical for the Baltic Sea develop in the Persian Gulf, because oxygen is
brought to the sea floor by sinking saline waters, and because fertility is generally
low. The incoming ocean sUlface waters are low in nutrients, as are warm surface
waters everywhere. Hence the Persian Gulf is nutrient-starved. One place where
anaerobic conditions can develop is in hypersaline lagoons, within the sediment.
Sulfate reduction then occurs and organic-rich layers with pyrite can develop. However, such layers should be readily distinguishable in the geologic record from the
stagnant basin layers in humid conditions.
The sediments of the Gulf proper are very different from those of the Baltic:
organic contents (0.6 to 1 %) are about five times lower, and carbonate content (> 50
%) is more than ten times higher. Benthic organisms exist at all depths and at all
times, any lamination is quickly destroyed by bioturbation. Mobilization of heavy
metals stops within the sediment because of the high oxygen supply in the mixed
layer.
207
In the Persian Gulf, the incoming surface water brings plankton from the Indian
Ocean; some of it survives as the salinity increases within the Gulf; the remainder
dies off. Planktonic foraminifera gradually diminish toward the inner Gulf, as seen in
the ratio planktonic foraminifera/total foraminifera (Fig. 7.14). The deep-water outnow may help to transport pollutants to the Indian Ocean. Its geologic effects can be
seen in shallow-water sediment particles on the continental slope below the Oman
shelf break.
7.6.5 Application to Large Ocean Basins. The contrast between estuarine (humid)
and anti-estuarine (arid) circulation is apparent even on the scale of very large basins
(Sect. 4.3.5). The Mediterranean is the obvious example. Right now it is anti-estuarine, or arid, with sediments high in carbonate, low in organic matter and heavy
metals. During the early Holocene, black layers (sapropel) developed in the eastern
Mediterranean. The most reasonable explanation is a freshening of surface waters by
runoff, and a reversal of the circulation (leading to increased productivity and diminished oxygenation) - a suggestion first made by B. Kullenberg, the Swedish oceanographer who developed the piston corer (Fig. 9.1). His hypothesis has recently
received much support from oxygen isotope studies indicating lowered salinities in
surface waters during sapropel periods.
On an even larger scale, the North Atlantic Basin is an anti-estuarine or arid basin,
with sinking surface water, well-oxygenated bottom water, high carbonate and low
organic matter content in sediments. Also, sediments have low opal content, as in the
Mediterranean and in the Persian Gulf: diatoms and radiolarians are readily dissolved. In contrast, the entire North Pacific can be seen as an estuarine-type basin,
<5 %
~ 5 -50 %
>50"'0
km
Fig. 7.14. Distribution of planktonic foraminifera abundance in the sand fraction of surface sedi
ments of the Persian Gulf. The number shown is the percentage of planktonic foraminifera, of all
foraminifera. The pattern indicates influx of plankton with surface waters entering from the open
ocean (right) into the Gulf. [Data M. Sarnthein, 1971, Meteor Forschungsergebn. Reihe C 5: 11
208

PAC I FI C
ANTARCT I C
AT L ANT I C
G'l
:IJ
fTl
fTl
1>
o
km
, I 11 1' 3 -:.:- 3' 50> 5
02 m il l
Fig. 7.15. Estuarine (left) and antiestuarine (right! aspects of the deep circulation in Pacific and
Atlantic ocean basins. The age of the deep waters is reflected in the distribution of the dissolved
oxygen concentration. [w. H. Berger, 1970, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 81: 1385]
because of the low salinities reached in its northern belt (Fig. 7.15). Its sediments, in
keeping with the Baltic model, are low in carbonate, high in diatoms and organic
matter (at the slopes especially), and much of its deep ocean floor is covered by
heavy metal concretions, the manganese nodules (Sect. lOA).
Together, the North Atlantic and the North Pacific mark the endpoints of a global
system of deep circulation that is driven by export of water vapor from the North
Atlantic to the North Pacific. This export is sensitive to climatic change. It was
reduced during glacial time, and so was the deep circulation which depends on the
surface salinity contrast produced by the vapor transport. The replacement of the deep
cold water flowing out of the North Atlantic by warmer near-surface water implies a
large gain of heat for the North Atlantic. When the anti-estuarine circulation of the
North Atlantic is turned down, in glacial times, this heat flux is greatly diminished,
favoring the expansion of sea ice (Fig. 704 a, b).
7.7 Global Change: the Problem of Detection

7.7.1 An Unusual Decade. A global experiment is now in progress, whereby greenhouse gases (C02, CH4, and others) are being added to the atmosphere in increasing
amounts. Almost all atmospheric physicists agree that this should lead to wanning.
Indeed, we observe a trend of general increase of global temperatures since 1970
(Fig. 7.16) and a global sea level rise since 1880 (Fig. 5.22). However, the question
is how much of this is due to human activity. In fact, based on the greenhouse gases
now present in the atmosphere, a warming should already be in evidence, according
to some calculations. The unusually high temperatures of the 1980s were widely
heralded (especially in the media) as the first results of the increase of greenhouse
gases (Fig. 7.16).
Climatologists have been much more cautions, and for good reason: there is a
large natural variability in climate from one decade to the next. An unusually warm
Global Change: the Problem of Detection
209
0.6~----------------------------------------------------'
0.4
little ice age
0.2
>Ri
E
o
c:
-0.2
- 0.4
1670
1690
1910
1930
1950
1970
1990
Year
Fig. 7.16. Combined land, air, and sea surface temperatures, for 1861 to 1991 , averaged globally,
and shown as anomalies relative to the average of 1951-1980. Note the warming since the end of
the 19th century, which followed the " little ice age" . Temperature data chiefly based on compilations
by P. D. Jones and co-workers. [CO K. FoUand et aI. , 1992, in J. T. Houghton, B. A. Callandar, S. K.
Varney, eds, Climate change 1992 - Supplement. Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, U. K.J
decade cannot be assigned a "cause" unequivocally - it might have been a chance

occurrence. How likely is an "unusually" warm decade, under natural conditions?
To answer this question, we have to study climate history on a rather finer scale
than is usually done by geologists. Varved sediments (Sect. 3.9) and growth of coral
(Sect. 7.5) can deliver background on this matter, from the oceanic record. Let us
have a brief look at what kind of information we might obtain.
7.7.2 Santa Barbara Basin. Varved sediments are found where a strong oxygen
minimum intersects the continental slope in an upwelling region , or where there is an
oxygen deficiency in a marginal basin. Such as basin lies off Santa Barbara California (Sect. 3.9). It is about 600 m deep, and its sill intercepts the general oxygen
minimum off California, at 460 m. Dissolved oxygen is usually too low for large
benthic organisms, therefore the seasonal flux to the sea floor is preserved in finely
laminated layers (varves).
The laminated sediments here have a record of productivity, on a year-by-year
scale. This record can be read from the content of plankton remains, such as diatoms
210

6.6
6.2
5.8
><
:J
u:
~
Cl
.2
5.4
Diatoms
5.0
3.0
2.6
2.2
1.8
1.4
1950
Planktonic Foraminifera
1960
1970
Years
1980
1990
Fig. 7.17. Productivity record in Santa Barbara Basin. The flux values were obtained by estimating
the total number of individual fossils within all taxonomic groups preserved in a given varve sample
and divided by the depositional surface area of the sample. Horizon/a/lines indicate average fluxes
for 1954- 1986. Arrows mark the occurrence of ENSO events. [CO B. Lange, W. H. Berger, S. K.
Burke , 1990, Climatic Change 16: 319]
and planktonic foraminifers (Fig. 7.17). One notes that productivity varies greatly,
and that it has been quite low since the early 1970s, compared with the previous two
decades. The El Nino event in 1983 resulted in an extremely low supply of planktonic
foraminifers, while the EI Nino in 1976 was centered on a period of low diatom flux.
7.7.3 EI Nino. "EI Nino" originally refers to a warm current off southern Ecuador and
Peru, which flows southward (see Chap. 7.12). During periods when the warm current is especially strong (every 3 or 4 years) large-scale climatic anomalies occur all
over the tropical Pacific. The largest EI Nino event on record is that of 1982-1983,
which was felt all over the globe. It started as an invasion of the eastern tropical
Pacific by warm waters from the west, which essentially shut down equatorial upwelling in the east, as well as upwelling off Ecuador and Peru. It was felt even in
Tahiti as an unusual warming of the sea surface, resulting in whitening of coral, that
is, in stress to its dinoflagellate symbionts. Similar hleachings occurred around the
Galapagos Islands, and even in Indonesia, the Arabian Gulf, and the Caribbean.
Extensive flooding occurred along the west coast of South America. Forest fires
extensively damaged the Indonesian rainforest, because of a severe drought: the
region of high rainfall had moved east. The list goes on ....
Was the 1982-1983 EI Nino (or better: ENSO Event, for "El Nino-Southern Oscillation", referring to large-scale air pressure changes) a result of the "global experi-
Global Change: the Role of Marine Geology
211
ment"? This cannot be answered. Perhaps (just perhaps) this event was so unusually
severe because (a) it would have been strong in any case (b) it was reinforced by
effects from a volcanic eruption (El Chich6n, in Mexico) (c) it occurred within the
warmest decade on record. Which brings us back to the original question about the
unusualness of the 1980s. More will be learned as we study longer records.
7.7.4 The Coral Record. Wherever there are corals in the tropical oceans, there is a
record of climatic change within the skeletons of these small colonial organisms (Fig.
6.8). These records are now being actively collected, from Bermuda, the Galapagos,
Fanning Island, the Great Barrier Reef, and other places. There are two pieces of
information that are especially useful: rate of growth and oxygen isotope composition. There may be other types of useful indices as well, related to biomarkers and
trace elements deposited within the skeleton - research on these has just recently
started.
Time resolution is in some cases being pushed toward daily fluctuations. The
layers representing daily growth are typically less than 20 J.Ull thick. The measurement of daily growth rates should greatly expand the use of corals as indicators of
environmental change.
7.7.5 Global Change: the Role of Marine Geology. "Global change" has become
the catch phrase expressing the notion that human industrial activities are impacting
the planetary environment in major ways, with important consequences for the future
of global climate. The health and wealth of nations depend largely on climate, as
becomes obvious especially during long spells of drought. Thus, any long-lasting
significant changes in weather patterns are of prime concern. At present, greenhouse
gases (carbon dioxide and methane, among others) are added to the atmosphere in
substantial amounts that increase from one year to the next. Extrapolating into the
future, computer modeling of the radiation balance of the Earth suggests that a
doubling of carbon dioxide over the natural background (expected within the next 50
years or so) should increase global temperatures by some 3 C with an uncertainty of
about 1.5 DC. High latitudes are expected to be much more affected than low latitudes.
There is some evidence that the expected global warming has, in fact, begun: the
last decade was the warmest on record since global records have been kept (about the
last 100 to 150 years) (see Fig. 7.16). Clearly, an important question is whether this
recent increase in global temperatures could be just a chance occurrence, unrelated to
human activities. To check this possibility we need "climate proxies" that allow us to
determine past fluctuations in wheather patterns. Also, once we are able to establish
the amplitude of natural fluctuations (before the industrial revolution), we should be
able to improve the computer models: to be trustworthy, these should generate climate predictions that are tagged with the appropriate uncertainties.
Climate proxies can be derived from a great variety of high-resolution records,
such as tree rings, ice cores, and cave deposits. In marine geology, coral growth
bands (Sect. 7.4) and varved sediments are of special importance in this context
(Sect. 3.9).
212
A number of temperature proxies are available for extracting climate fluctuations

from valVed sediments, including microfossil assemblages (warm-water and coldwater indiciators; Sect. 6.1.5), oxygen isotopes (Sect. 7.3.2) and alkenone content of
organic matter. The alkenone method (see S. C. Brassell et aI., 1986, Nature 320:
129) relies on the observation that double-bond abundance within certain long-chain
lipid molecules (unsaturated methyl ketones, C37) decreases with temperature. The
alkenones are contributed to the sediment by the remains of coccolithophores, in
coastal regions predominantly by Emiliania huxleyi.
When reading the record of corals or varves to assess climate variability, we come
up against a major difficulty. As we go back in time within such high-resolution
records, we soon enter the "Little Ice Age", which is a climatic period known to be
highly "untypical" when compared with the last several thousand years. The Little
Ice Age lasted from roughly 1450 to 1850 AD. It was characterized by advances of
mountain glaciers in most parts of the world, and by occasional spells of unusually
cold winters in North America, Europe, and Asia. In Europe, we commonly see
paintings from the 18th century which show ice-covered rivers and lakes that have
not been frozen for a life time! Thus, a portion of the recent warming we have
experienced (Fig. 7.16) may simply be due to a return to more "normal" conditions,
such as existed in the early Middle Ages before the Little Ice Age. How, then, are we
going to tell which part of the recent warming is "natural" and which (if any) is due
to human influence? Clearly, this problem can only be attacked by looking at even
longer records, to extract the long-period variability of climate.
It is usually assumed that the Sun's radiation is constant - in fact, the average
irradiation of a surface facing the Sun at the mean Earth-Sun distance is referred to as
the "solar constant" (ca. l.95 cal/cm2/min). Unfortunately, the convenient assumption contained in this label is unfounded: The Sun's output is variable. On the scale
of centuries this is documented, for example, for changes in abundance of sun spots.
Using spectral analysis, we can see the effects of sun-spot cycles (22 yr and 11 yr) in
many tree-ring data, and even in some marine valVes (although less distinctly). So,
perhaps the Little Ice Age is part of a long-term solar cycle. Alternatively (or in
addition), it may owe its excess of severe winters to unusually intense volcanic
activity between the 15th and 19th centuries.
The methods of marine geology - or paleoceanography - can add to the store of
knowledge which we need to be able to say, eventually, "yes, we see the global
warming". The records recovered from corals and varves establish not only the amplitudes and frequencies of large-scale climatic variations (such as the "El Nifto"
phenomenon in the Pacific). They also tell us about the likelihood of abrupt climatic
change. Such changes, which may be defmed as unusually fast transitions from one set
of climatic conditions to another, occur on various time scales, with various amplitudes. In Section 9.2.4, a dramatic change taking but decades at the beginning of the
Holocene will be discussed. The last such change took place in the 1830s, perhaps as
a result of unusal volcanic activity. This change is seen both in tree rings and in marine
varves (in Santa Barbara Basin, off California). There is a possibility that such climate
changes are not completely reversible: a new condition may arise and stabilize itself,
although the factor which produced the change has ceased to operate.
Global Change: the Role of Marine Geology
213
Further Reading
Ekmann S (1953) Zoogeography of the sea. Sidgwick & Jackson, London
Purser BH (ed) (1973) The Persian Gulf - Holocene carbonate sedimentation and diagenesis in a
shallow epicontinental sea. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Berger A, Schneider S, Duplessy JC (eds) (1989) Climate and geo-sciences. Kluwer Academic,
Dordrecht
Bleil U, Thiede J (eds) (1990) Geological history of the polar oceans: Arctic versus Antarctic.
Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht
Summerhayes CP, Prell WL, Emeis KC (eds) (1992). Upwelling systems: evolution since the early
Miocene. Geol Soc. London
8 Deep-Sea Sediments - Patterns, Processes,

and Stratigraphic Methods
8.1 Background
As mentioned in the introduction deep-sea deposits were first explored in a comprehensive fashion during the British Challenger Expedition (1873-1876). Many thousands of samples were subsequently studied by John Murray (1841-1914), naturalist
on the Challenger. He and his co-worker A. F. Renard published a weighty report on
the results, which laid the foundation for all later work in this field of research. The
first great step beyond Murray's work were the results of the German Meteor Expedition, almost half a century later (1927-1929). A new branch of oceanography started
with the recovery of long cores by the Swedish Albatross Expedition (1947-1949),
that is, Pleistocene oceanography. It revolutionized our understanding of the great Ice
Ages. Another great step came in 1968 with GLOMAR Challenger and the Deep Sea
Drilling Project, which provided the samples for Tertiary and Cretaceous ocean history.
We shall treat ocean history separately (Chap. 9). Here we summarize the presentday patterns, as they appear in surface samples and in box cores (Fig. 8.1), and
discuss some of the important processes of sedimentation, as well as aspects of
dating.
8.2 Inventory and Overview

S.2.1 Sediment Types and Patterns. Let us first make an inventory of the types of
sediment that are present (Table 8.1). The main types are already familiar from the
last chapter. Pelagic clays are extremely fine-grained lithogenous and volcanogenic
deposits. Oozes consist of biogenous materials: shells of planktonic foraminifers,
radiolarians, coccolithophores, and diatoms. Hemipelagic deposits are the same as
clays and oozes except with large admixtures of shelf-derived sediment and of continental material. The list in Table 8.1 is not exhaustive, but includes the bulk of types
found on the sea floor. Categories may vary between authors.
The terms "ooze" and "clay" were introduced by Murray to describe pelagic
deposits ("Globigerina ooze" and "red clay"). Modem pelagic clays of the deep sea
are usually reddish brown (rather than red).
The broad outlines of deep-sea sediment patterns are rather simple (Fig. 8.2). The
major facies boundary in deep-sea deposits is the calcite compensation depth, that is,
216
Deep-Sea Sediments - Patterns, Processes, and Stratigraphic Methods
Fig. 8.1. Recovery of deep-sea sediment by box corer. The coring device is a steel box with sharp
edges which is pressed into the sea floor by heavy weights on top. The box is closed by a shovel
which rotates around two bolts just above the box. The shovel is pushed downward and sideward
when the box is pulled out, by pulling on the arm opposite the shovel. The frame with the three legs
steadies the corer before it penetrates the sediment. The many lines visible in the photo are used to
prevent the heavy device from swinging on deck. This type of box corer was first used by H. E.
Reineck. [Photo T. Walsh, S.I.O.]
the boundary between calcareous and noncalcareous sediments. Essentially, the calcareous facies characterizes the oceanic rises and elevated platforms, while the "red
clay" facies is typical for the deep basins. Thus, the overall pattern is depth-controlled. Superimposed on this pattern are the siliceous deposits, which accumulate
below areas of high fertility, that is, the oceanic margins, the equatorial belt and the
polar front regions. The oozes and clays are made of particles which fall down
through the water column as a kind of "rain". However, along the margins the deep
sea is being invaded by relatively coarse terrigenous materials (mainly silts, but also
sands), in places to a considerable distance from the shelf, far into abyssal plains
("m" in Fig. 8.2, also "glacial debris").
8.2.2 Biogenous Sediments Dominate. The bulk of the deep sea deposits consists of
biogenous sediments, notably plankton shells (Table 8.1; Fig. 8.3). About one half of
the deep-sea floor is covered by oozes, that is, sediments formed from plankton
remains: coccoliths (ca. 5 to 30 I..Im), foraminifers (ca. 50 to 500 11m), diatoms (ca. 5
to 50 11m), radiolarians (ca. 40 to 150 11m). The remains of coccolithophores (which
are part oft the "nannoplankton")are also referred to as "nannofossils".
The organisms producing the shells drift passively with ocean currents. Some
migrate up or down, thus catching different horizontal currents at different depths.
Inventory and Overview
217
Table 8.1. Classification of deep sea sediments. [W. H. Berger 1974 in C. A. Burk and C. L. Drake.
The geology of continental margins. Springer Heidelberg Berlin New York]
I.
(Eu-) pelagic deposits (oozes and clays)

< 25 % of fraction >5 J.U11 is of terrigenic, volcanogenic, and/or neritic origin
Median grain size 5 < J.U11 (excepting authigenic minerals and pelagic organisms)
A. Pelagic clays. CaC03 and siliceous fossils < 30 %
I. CaC03 1-10 %. (Slightly) calcareous clay
2. CaC03 10-30 %. Very calcareous (or marl) clay
3. Siliceous fossils 1-10 %. (Slightly) siliceous clay
4. Siliceous fossils 10-30 %. Very siliceous clay
B. Oozes. CaC03 or siliceous fossils> 30 %
I. CaC03 > 30 %. < 2/3 CaC03: marl ooze. > 2/3 CaC03: chalk ooze
2. CaC03 < 30 %. > 30 % siliceous fossils: diatom or radiolarian ooze
II. Hemipelagic deposits (muds)
> 25 % of fraction> 5 J.U11 is of terrigenic, volcanogenic, and/or neritic origin
Median grain size> 5 J.U11 (except in authigenic minerals and pelagic organisms)
A. Calcareous muds. CaC03 > 30 %
I. < 213 CaC03: marl mud. > 2/3 CaC03: chalk mud
2. Skeletal CaC03 > 30 %: foram -, nanno -, coquinaB. Terrigenous muds. CaC03 < 30 %. Quartz, feldspar, mica dominant
Prefixes: quartzose, arkosic, micaceous
C. Volcanogenic muds. CaC03 < 30 %. Ash, palagonite, etc., dominant
III. Special pelagic and/or hemipelagic deposits
I. Carbonate-sapropelite cycles (Cretaceous)
2. Black (carbonaceous) clay and mud: sapropelites (e. g., Black Sea)
3. Silicified claystones and mudstones: chert (pre-Neogene)
4. Limestone (pre-Neogene)
Except for some of the radiolarians, virtually all plankton organisms making sediment live in surface waters. Coccolithophores and diatoms need light for photosynthesis. This is also true for many planktonic foraminifers, because of symbiotic algae
living within their bodies. Besides, food supply is highest in surface waters.
Shells of most perished organisms never reach the sea floor, and most of those that
do reach it are destroyed by dissolution. This is true both for calcareous and siliceous
material, but especially for the latter. Very few of the ubiquitous open ocean diatoms
are seen in sediments: they are mostly too delicate to be preserved.
In summary, the most important factors controlling the composition of biogenous
deep sea sediments are producitivity and preservation (Fig. 8.4). Productivity, of
course, controls the supply of plankton remains, while depth of deposition controls
the preservation of carbonate, which constitutes the bulk of biogenous sediments.
Dissolution at depth is enhanced by the high pressures and low temperatures there.
8.2.3 Sedimentation Rates. How fast do deep-sea sediments accumulate? The first
widely used rate estimates were those by W. Schott (1935). He identified the thickness of the post-glacial sediment in the central Atlantic by noting the presence of G.
menardii (Fig. 8.3), a tropical foraminifer that is absent during glacials, in the Atlantic. Thickness of uppermost sediment with G. menardii divided by the age of the
218
WCloy
01'
no deposil .~iFj Colcoreous Ool' ~ SiliceousOoze OShell and Slope [)tIJOSiIs GOeep Sec Muds. Glaciol Oebrl,
Fig. 8.2. Sediment cover of the deep-sea floor. The chief sediment types or facies are pelagic clay
and calcareous ooze. [w. H. Berger, 1974, in C. A. Burk. C. L. Drake (eds) The geology of
continental margins. Springer, Heidelberg)
Fig. 8.3. Shell-bearing planktonic organisms. Clockwise from IIpper left Siliceous diatom (x 600) ,
centric warm-water fonn; siliceous radiolarian (x 180); calcareous warm-water foraminifer Glohigerilloides sacclllifer (x 55); tropical subsurface foraminifer Glohorota/ia menardii (x 28): organicwalled tintinnid (x 480): calcareous coccolithophore (x 2100) with interlocking platelets ("coccoliths"). [Diatom microphoto by H.-J . Schrader; all others: SEM photos by C. Sam tie ben and U.Pflaumann]
Inventory and Overview
219
INCREASING FERTILlTY_
SUBTROPICAL:
OCEANIC
!
CONVERGENCE' DIVERGENCE :
UPWELLING
AREA
Fig. 8.4. Distribution of major facies in a depth-fertility frame , based on sediment patterns in the
eastern central Pacific. Numhers are typical sedimentation rates in mm/IOOO yr (which is the same
as rnlmillion yr). [Source as for Fig. 8.2]
Holocene (the time since deglaciation, established on land) yields sedimentation

rates. His method is still useful today for shipboard determinations in the central
Atlantic. Published rates show maximum values for terrigenous muds off river
mouths (up to several meters per thousand years) , and very low ones for "red clay" (a
few millimeters per thousand years, typically ranging from I for the central South
Pacific to 3 in the central Atlantic and in the northern North Pacific). Calcareous ooze
has intermediate rates, typically between 10 and 30 cm/lOoo yr, depending on productivity (Fig. 8.4). The various rates, ultimately, are based on dating from measurement of radioactive isotopes within the sediment (see Appendix A7) and using correlation with biostratigraphic markers or paleoclimatic and paleomagnetic signals (see
below).
As a rule of thumb, rates are high close to important sources (continents, volcanoes), and below regions of high productivity. Clay rates also depend strongly on dust
supply and wind directions.
8.2.4 Thickness of Deep-Sea Sediments. An important step in the investigation of
the sea floor was the assessment, in the 1950s, of the total sediment thicknesses by
seismic (acoustic) refraction and reflection methods. Early results of such surveys
sent shock waves of surprise through the geologic community. The oceans were
supposed to be a permanent, stable receptacle of continental and volcanic debris . M.
Ewing at Lamont Geological Observatory, and R. Raitt at Scripps, and their collaborators, found that the sedimentary columns for typical basins in the Atlantic are only
about 500 m thick, and in the Pacific, a mere 300 m (see Fig. \0.5) . It became clear
that the old view of the deep ocean floor as a sedimentary memory reaching back for
perhaps billions of years had to be revised. In \959 , H. H. Hess could still entertain
the idea that a hole from the sea floor to the Earth's mantle might sample primordial
sediments on the way down. Shortly after, however (in 1960), he adopted the half-for-
220
gotten concept of mantle convection and constructed a model providing for a new sea
floor "every 300 to 400 million years", which, he suggested, "accounts for the relatively thin veneer of sediments on the ocean floor" (see Chap. 1).
Before we tum to a closer examination of the various types of deposits, we briefly
touch on the subject of how the sediment arrives at the sea floor, in the pelagic rain.
8.3 The Pelagic Rain

8.3.1 Importance of Fecal Transport. In the pelagic realm, the bulk of the sediment
arrives as a rain of particles. ("Marine snow" is a technical term for sinking aggregates, so we cannot use it in the general sense for sinking particles, although it would
be quite appropriate). The nature of this rain has been studied in recent years by
sediment traps, which in essence consist of funnels attached to moored buoys, anchored in various places in the open ocean. The funnels are positioned at various
depths. They are open at the top (with a hole 30 cm to 1 m in diameter), and they
have a collecting cup (or several cups) at the lower end. From such experiments it
was found that much of the pelagic rain - perhaps most of it - consists of fecal pellets
of various sizes and shapes, and in various states of disintegration. The pellets derive
from copepods, salps, krill (in the Antarctic), and other grazing organisms ( Fig. 6.2).
The accelerated sinking made possible by "fecal transport", and also by aggregate
formation, allows even the smallest of particles (wind-blown dust, coccoliths) to
arrive at the sea floor within a week or two. If left to settle on their own, they would
take years! In the case offine calcareous, siliceous, and organic particles, all of which
are subject to remineralization in the water column, they would not arrive at all on the
deep-sea floor.
8.3.2 Flux of Organic Matter. The proportion of the primary production that leaves
the photic zone (the export production; see Fig. 6.3) experiences substantial losses
during settling, despite fecal transport. Presumambly, this is due to break-up of pellets
and aggregates from scavenging and decay. The amount of organic mateial caught in
traps at various depths in the open ocean roughly decreases by the same factor as the
depth increases; that is, the amount caught at 1000 m is about one fifth of that trapped
at 200 m, given the same overlying productivity in the photic zone (Fig. 8.5).
The high export factor in the coastal ocean (Fig. 6.3) and the short distance to the
sea floor are two factors that enhance the burial of organic matter around continental
margins (Fig. 6.4). In comparison, rates in the deep sea are extremely low. Other
factors causing this contrast are seasonality and "fast stripping" (see below), as well
as high rates of burial of organic matter.
8.3.3 Seasonality of Flux. The larger particles (sand-size foraminifera and radiolarians) reach the deep-sea floor within I to 2 weeks, much as do the pellets. This rapid
settling of the pelagic rain means that seasonal fluctuations of productivity in surface
waters produce seasonal food supply, even in the abyssal environment. Thus, benthic
organisms on the deep-sea floor are subject to feast and famine, just like the plankton.
In high latitudes, seasonal variations in the particle rain is especially pronounced
(Fig. 8.6).
The Pelagic Rain
221
CA RBON FLUX/PRODUCTION
0.001
0.01
1.0
0.1
0.1
Fig. 8.5. Ruxes of particulate organic carbon found in

sediment traps, as fraction
of the productivity of overlying waters. [E. Suess,
1980, Nature 288: 260]
10
'~bb.J
"E
400
300
.s
500
400
0)
::::l
300
-I
U.
-I
<{
200
200
I-
100
100
1982
1983
1984
1984
1985
1986
Fig. 8.6 a- c. Seasonal and interannual variations in particle flux as obselVed in traps. a Sargasso Sea
(w. G. Deuser); b Gulf of Alaska (S. Honjo); c Bransfield Strait, Antarctica (G. Wefer et a\.). [W. H.
Berger, G. Wefer, 1990, Palaeogeography, -climatology -ecology Global Planet Change Sect 89:
245]. Photo shows krill fecal string and close-up of particle (coccosphere) on surface of string.
Photo courtesy G. Wefer
222
The fact that fecal transport makes up a high proportion of the pelagic rain implies
that biological patterns in surface waters dominate not only the sources of sediments
in the deep sea, but also the patterns of transport. There is one interesting corollary
(among many): the more mineral matter is available for inclusion in fecal pellets (e.
g., eolian dust), the more efficiently nutrients are removed from surface waters, by
particles. This mechanisms of "fast stripping", by enhanced settling, presumably is
responsible for the fact that little nutrient-rich (or muddy) water reaches the open sea,
from the coastal zone.
In the following we shall take a closer look at the major types of deep-sea deposits
resulting from the pelagic rain: "red clay" (in fact, reddish brown), calcareous ooze,
siliceous ooze. Manganese nodules will be discussed in the section on resources
(Chap. 10).
8.4 "Red Clay" and "Clay Minerals"

8.4.1 Origin of "Red Clay": the Questions. Of all deposits, "red clay" is uniquely
restricted to the deep-sea environment. The bulk of the components are extremely
fine-grained, and the coarse silt and sand fractions consist of particles originating in
the ocean: hydrogenous minerals, volcanogenic debris, ferromanganese concretions,
and traces of biogenous particles such as fish teeth, arenaceous forams, and in some
cases, spicules and radiolarians.
What is the source of "red clay"? This question is really two questions in one.
The first question addresses the ultimate source: to what extent is the clayey
fraction in pelagic clays derived from in situ decomposition of volcanic material, and
what is the contribution from continents and other sources?
The second question concerns transportation: what is the relative importance of
transport by wind versus transport by rivers and ocean currents in bringing continentderived clay particles to their site of deposition?
8.4.2 Composition of "Red Clay". To answer the questions posed (how much of the
clay is of oceanic, how much of continental origin; and how did it get there?), we
need to know the composition of the fine-grained constituents, their distribution on the
sea floor and their accumulation rates. Analyses by X-ray diffraction began in the
1930s (R. Revelle in the Pacific, C. W. Correns in the Atlantic) and have been greatly
improved and systematically applied to deep-sea deposits since. The following minerals are important in the clay and fine silt fractions of "red clay" (see Appendix A4):
1. Clay minerals: smectite, illite, chlorite, kaolinite, and mixed-layer derivatives;
2. Lithogenous minerals; feldspar, pyroxene, quartz;
3. Hydrogenous (or authigenic) minerals: zeolite and ferromanganese oxides and
hydroxides.
The latter provide much of the X-ray amorphous material present in "red clay".
Iron-oxide minerals with Fe 3 +, typical for oxygen-rich environments, are responsible
for the red to brown colors.
" Red Clay" and "Clay Minerals
223
Concerning the lithogenous and hydrogenous minerals, they can be identified also
in the coarser fractions and compared to their parent rocks (e. g., basic or acidic
volcanics, granitic rocks), so that their origin can be readily deduced. The distribution
of quartz in the North Pacific suggests eolian transport from desert belts which agrees
with evidence on size distribution and chemical composition of the quartz. The Asian
highlands are the nearest source of dust.
The clay minerals warrant our special attention, since they make up the bulk of the
finest size class of nonbiogenous deep-sea sediments (ca. two thirds of the clay size
fraction; median diameters around 0 .001 mm, that is I /Jill). The clay size fraction in
tum provides some 90 % of "pure" "red clay". The main groups may be briefly
introduced as follows (see Fig. 8.7).
In the mineral group smectite (or montmorillonite), layers occur in a sequence
such that an aluminous octrahedral la?er is sandwiched between tetrahedral layers.
Abundances of Mg2+ (also Fe) and AI + in the octahedral layer, and of A1 3+ and Si4+
in the tetrahedral layer are such that there is a small net negative charge. This charge
is balanced by exchangeable cations between the "sandwiches". The cations are
hydrated, thus introducing variable amounts of water into the interlayer positions.
This is the reason for the prime criterion for the identification of smectite, that is, its
ability to expand. Smectite originates from low-temperature chemical alteration of
volcanic rocks, on land and on the sea floor, or from hydrothermal processes on the
sea floor. Fine ash particles alter to clay minerals of this group, when exposed to
seawater for a long time .
1.
MONTMORILLONITE
l.
letra - actra - tetra "sandwich"
14A
hYdro.y~
1.
7A
.......... J
KAOLINITE
"brucite" layer M9 2(OH)6

CHLORITE
Fig. 8.7. Structure of clay mineral s. The thickness of a complete layer is measured in Angstrom
unit s (A = 10. 8 em). using X-ray diffraction technique s. Note the basic similarity of the clay
mineral s. [Mainly after R. E. Grim. 1968. Clay mineralogy. McGraw-Hili New York]
224
Illite is a general tenn for clay components belonging to the mica group and their
derivatives; for present purposes it may be considered a fine-grained degraded muscovite. The muscovite structure again shows an octahedral layer, and the ratio of Si to
Al in the tetrahedral layer is exactly 3 to 1. The net negative charge of the "sandwich"
is balanced by nonhydrated, firmly bound K+ ions fitting in the holes left by the
hexagonal arrangement of the comers of the silica tetrahedrons.
Chlorite also consists of "sandwiches", but now bound by an additional octahedral
layer, the so-called brucite layer. Net charges of tetrahedral layers and of octahedral
layers balance each other, and therefore there are no inter-layer ions. Chlorite is a
common constituent of low-grade metamorphic rocks which are widely exposed on
glacially eroded shield areas and provide much of the material for glacial deposits.
Kaolinite consists of alternating tetrahedral and octahedral layers. It is a product of
intense chemical weathering, and represents an insoluble alumino-silicate residue
remaining after cations are stripped from feldspars and other minerals by extensive
leaching.
8.4.3 Distribution of Clay Minerals. The clay minerals that are most abundant in
deep-sea clay are smectite (montmorillonite) and illite (Fig. 8.8). Their distributions
suggests that montmorillonite has important sources in oceanic volcanism, at least in
the Pacific, while illite is largely derived from the continents. The remaining two
important clay minerals, kaolinite and chlorite, also are land-derived; kaolinite from
chemical weathering in the tropics and chlorite from deep erosion and physical
weathering in high latitudes. Off the west coasts of North Africa and Australia,
~~ Mont moril lonite
Fig. 8.8. Clay mineral distribution on the ocean floor. The map shows the dominant mineral in the
fraction less than 211m. Mixfure indicates that no one clay mineral exceeds 50 % of the total. [W. H.
Berger, in C. A. Burk, C. L. Drake, eds , 1974, The geology of continental margins. Springer,
Heidelberg. Main source: J. J. Griffin et aI., 1968, Deep Sea Res 15: 433]
Calcareous Ooze
225
kaolinite actually becomes dominant. Chlorite generally is abundant off continents in

high latitudes and is dominant in the Alaska Bight.
From the evidence reviewed, we may conclude that the case for continental
sources of most clay minerals is very strong, and it remains only to ask what proportion of the smectite is continent-derived. For the Atlantic, P. E. Biscaye (1965) argued
that montmorillonite crystallinity patterns run parallel with detrital patterns, and that
this indicates a predominance of continental montmorillonite supply. In the Pacific,
oceanic sources and "the ring of fire" supply the volcanic materials which decay to
montmorillonite.
8.S Calcareous Ooze

8.S.1 Depth Distribution. The ocean receives calcium from both rivers and the
hydrothermal alteration of basalt on the young sea floor. The input is such that the
amount of calcium in the oceans can be delivered within somewhat less than one
million years. To balance this input, the ocean precipitates calcium carbonate. The
precipitation takes place near the surface, within shell- and skeleton-building organisms (coccolithophores, foraminifers, mollusks, corals, algae). Some of these hard
parts (in the main planktonic) find their way to the sea floor, where they are preserved
on the more elevated parts and dissolved on the deeper ones, because the undersaturation of seawater increases with pressure and with decreasing temperature (Fig. 8.9).
There are considerable differences in the carbonate distribution patterns of the
Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean, with the Atlantic having higher carbonate percentages
at all depths (Fig. 8.9b). Ultimately, this difference is due to the effects of deep ocean
BO
Fig. 8.9a, b. Depth distribution of calcareous deep sea sediments. a Idealized bathymetric zonation
of deep-sea deposits, produced by increasing dissolution of carbonate with depth. [According to
J. Murray, J. Hjort. 1912. The depths of the ocean. Macmillan, New York] Pteropods are pelagic
snails with aragonitic shells. b Generalized depth profiles for carbonate content in deep-sea sediments. [R. R. Revelle, 1944, Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub!. 556]
226
circulation, which fills the deep Atlantic with calcite-saturated waters (NADW), and
leaves much of the Pacific undersaturated (Sect. 7.6.5; Fig. 7.15).
8.5.2 Dissolution Patterns in the Deep Sea. Most of what is known about global
dissolution patterns on the sea floor is represented by mapping the calcite compensation depth (CCD) (Fig. 8.10). The CCD or carbonate line is analogous to the snowline on land, which tends to follow a certain elevation contour in a given mountain
range, at a given latitude. In concept, the CCD is the particular depth level at anyone
place in the ocean where the rate of supply of calcium carbonate to the sea floor is
balanced by the rate of dissolution, so that there is not net accumulation of carbonate
(Bramlette, 1961). In practice, the CCD is mapped as the level at which percent
carbonate values drop toward zero. This method can lead to difficulties in areas with
exposures of pre-Recent carbonates (e. g., along the Pacific Equator, at great depth).
The CCD topography is quite different for the three great ocean basins, even
though depths remain largely between 4 and 5 km. In the Pacific, the surface described resembles a dinner plate with upturned rims, and a groove along the Equator.
Average depth is near 4.5 km. In the Atlantic, the CCD surface resembles an inclined
plane, with the low end in the north, and with a subdued reflection of seafloor
topography. The greatest depth is in the North Atlantic (> 5.5 km), where the deep
water is young and supersaturated with calcite down to about 4.5 km. The shallowest
CCD levels are in the northern North Pacific, where deep waters are old and rich in
excess C02 (that is, C02 added from respiration and decay at depth). Here waters are
undersaturated (or close to that state, in the upper portion) for much of the water
column below I km depth.
8.5.3 Peterson's Level and the Lysocline. A major step forward in the understanding of carbonate dissolution on the deep-sea floor came from field experiments
Fig. 8.10. Topography of the CCD surface, that is . the depth in kilometers below which little or no
carbonate accumulates. [W. H. Berger, E. L. Winterer, 1974, Spec. Publ. In!. Assoc . Sedimentol.
1: 11]
227
Calcareous Ooze: CCD and Lysocline
by M. N. A. Peterson, which showed a drastic increase of dissolution rates below

3500 m in the central Pacific (Fig. 8.11a). From these observations (and related ones,
using the calcareous tests of foraminifers), it appears that the level of the CCD is
strongly controlled by a level of dissolution increase, somewhat shallower in the
water column, and possibly coincident with the transition from saturation to increasing undersaturation with calcite.
There is another CCD-Iike level which can be mapped to describe dissolution
patterns on the sea floor: the "lysocline". The concept of the lysocline was introduced
to denote a contour-following boundary zone between well-preserved and poorly
preserved foraminiferal assemblages (Fig. 8.11b). In our snowline analogy of the
CCD, the lysocline corresponds to the boundary between fresh high-altitude snow
and the wet or refrozen snow on the lower slopes. The preservational lysocline on the
sea floor correlates with Peterson's level, as far as this can be checked. In the Atlantic
and in the South Pacific, the lysocline marks the top of the Antarctic Bottom Water.
Surface - - - - - - - - - ,
SOO
1000
lS00
2000
Q;
2S00
.5
3000
"8
~
.c
a.
Q)
3500
4000
1l
I
'\
\rn
~ e~ ~
~
\
EXCELLENT PRESERVATION
\ -3-&-
,t
{
km
3,5
.. ..
~/~,
4 .0
Bottom
0,1
'
0.2
Loss in weight (mg cm2 yr 1 )
TION
t'JlPRESERVATl}ION
" ",
4 ,5
; ; - GOOD
'.
"',

03
\f!IJI
- - - """ "
~ CRITICAL LEVEL
o
'
,, ~GOOD
- ii, '. riA PRESER~VA
'\0
'.i
,,\9i tla
2,0
4500
5000
1.5
RES IDU L
"-
0,4
"
5,0 +--'---r--r---'r--r---'-"T'""--r--r-~
20
40
60
eo
CALC ITE DISSOLVED
100
Fig. 8.11 a, b. Dissolution of carbonate as a function of depth, a Peterson's experiment. Polished

calcite spheres were exposed in a line kept taut by a large buoy submerged below the surface. The
line was anchored by a heavy weight. After 4 months, the spheres were recovered and weighed. The
diagram shows the weight loss. [M, N, A. Peterson, 166, Science, 154: 1542]. b Differential dissolution and the lysocline , At the shallower depths on the sea floor, usually above 3000 m or so, pelagic
foraminifers are well preserved. Below a critical level, preservation rapidly deteriorates with depth,
The boundary between well-preserced and poorly preserved foraminifers on the sea floor is the
lysocline , It is closely associated with the critical level of Peterson , and also with the saturation
level. in areas of low productivity, [W, H, Berger, 1985, Episodes 8: 163]
228
Rate 01 Supply of CarbonateD r--_-c""..}-""'Ii""02,""N""!:.T""

:t""'I!..""RIL""C""I!""
ll.'"".T'"'lO"".!!--'
g.3
.t:;
5
Rate of Dissolution
Fig. 8.12. Conceptual model for the origin of the CCO

and its relationship to the lysocline. Increased carbonate
supply at the equator depresses the CCO, as seen in
Fig. 8.10. [Berger et aI. , 1976, J. Geophys. Res. 81:
2617]
It appears very probable, therefore, that over large areas the lysocline denotes a level
of increase in the aggressiveness of the bottom water toward calcareous shells.
Using the concepts of a critical level of dissolution rate increase ("hydrographic
lysocline") and associated mappable depth level of preservation, a simple model of
carbonate deposition, and of the depression of the equatorial CCD readily emerges
(Fig. 8.12). Increased carbonate supply at the equator in the Pacific translates into the
observed depression of the CCD, a major feature of Pacific sedimentation that allows
one to follow the motion of the sea floor across the equator for the last 40 million
years.
The fact that a level of equal preservation (the lysocline) roughly follows a level
of equal calcite saturation in the water column opens the possibility for reconstructing
changes in saturation state of the deep ocean, through time. This information is
crucial in reconstructing the partial pressure of C02 in the ocean, which, in tum, is
useful information with regard to reconstructing atmospheric C02 concentrations for
the distant past. For constant total ocean C02, a lowering of the average lysocline
position by 500 m translates into a lowering of atmospheric C02 of about \0 % (that
is, 30 ppm for the late Holocene). During glacial time, a lowering of roughly this
magnitude did indeed occur (see Sect. 9.3.1 and 9.3.2).
8.5.4 Dissolution Patterns Near Continents. Returning to the CCO map (Fig. 8.10),
we note that high fertility along the Pacific equator leads to a depression of the CCD
by some 500 m. Paradoxically, high productivity raises the CCO in the margin areas
around continents. The striking difference in content of organic matter between coastal and deep-sea sediments (Fig. 6.4) offers a clue to this apparent contradiction. In
the fertile areas of the ocean margins, the high supply of organic matter leads to
highly increased benthic activity as well as to the development of much C02 in
interstitial waters, which produces carbonic acid. Thus, carbonate ion is destroyed,
and calcite shells are attacked even at depths of a few hundred meters on continental
slopes.
Calcareous Ooze: C02 Problems
229
In constrast, in the equatorial areas of !he central Pacific, increased fertility leads
to an increased supply of calcareous shells which goes well beyond the increased
supply of organic matter in this region. Carbonate readily transits to the sea floor,
while organic carbon tends to be filtered out on the long way down (see Fig. 6.1).
Consequently, the ratio of calcitic shell to organic carbon is relatively high in the
pelagic realm, which is favorable for the preservation of calcite. Nevertheless, some
of the carbonate also dissolves above the lysocline, due to organic matter supply.
Preservation is never perfect.
8.5.5 Why Is There a CCD? The ultimate reason why abyssal waters dissolve
calcite is that organisms supply calcium carbonate to the sea floor in excess of the
amount that can be sedimented over the long run. This amount is fixed by !he influx
from the continents and from hydrothermal sources. The shell supply to the ocean
floor that exceeds the overall influx ultimately depletes the ocean of calcium carbonate, which results in bottom waters that are sufficiently undersaturated to redissolve
!he excess supply of calcium carbonate to the sea floor. Thus, a dynamic steady state
is maintained. From this simple "book-keeping" concept, it can be readily inferred
that, through geologic time, an overall increase in productivity leads to an overall
increase in dissolution, and vice versa.
Of course, we must be careful not to extrapolate too far back, when using the
present ocean as a model for the past. Mass production of coccoliths (or better,
nannofossils) began sometime in the early Cretaceous, of planktonic foraminifers in
the late Cretaceous. Also, if !he ocean was less well mixed in the Mesozoic than
today (say, because of less vigorous deep water production), this would have greatly
affected the general nature of !he CCD at !he time.
8.5.6 A Global Experiment. At the present time, mankind is engaged in a global
experiment involving carbonate dissolution, as well as climatic change. We - the
industrial nations mainly - are burning off enormous amounts of coal and oil at an
increasing rate. Large-scale deforestation is proceeding in !he tropics and elsewhere,
for the sake of agricultural development and for wood products and fuel. The resulting carbon dioxide enters !he atmosphere. So far, an amount equivalent to almost 50
% of the C02 originally present in !he atmospheres has been added within the past
century. About one half of this amount has entered the ocean, the rest has stayed in
the atmosphere (Fig. 8.13a). Eventually, over the next few centuries, some ten times
the original C02 in the atmosphere could be added, if the readily available coal and
oil is burned.
How will !he ocean react to the continuing (and perhaps increasing) input of C02?
In the long run, the ocean floor will neutralize most of the industrial C02 through
the dissolution of carbonate (Fig. 8.13b):
C02 + H20 + CaC03
---t
Ca2+ + 2HCO-3 .
(8.1)
Thus, the industrial C02-pulse will produce a hiatus on the sea floor. A thickness of
about I m of carbonate sediment will have to be dissolved from the carbonate-bearing
sea floor, assuming that available coal and oil deposits are burned up. Initially, how-
230
~
350
Q,
.90
c
0
a
6
~
u.
270
1720
(,,)3
290
1: 310
0
(,,)
930
1800
1880
Year
1960
2000
2800
3200
Year
Fig, 8,13 a, b, C02 increase in the atmosphe re and projected carbonate dissolution on the sea floor.
a Atmospheri c C02 increase as seen in ice cores from Siple Station, Antarctica, and in the data of
C. D. Keeling , from Mauna Loa in Hawaii. [U. Siegenthaler, H. Oeschger, 1987, Tellus 39: 140.] b
Calculated factor by which future atmospheric C02 will exceed preindustrial C02 if present trend s
of C02 input continue till oil and coal are used up. Note that carbonate dissolution on the sea floor
does not prevent a strong initial rise of C02. [R. B. Bacastow, C. D. Keeling , 1979, U. S. Dpt.
Energy Conf. 770385: 72]
ever, dissolution will proceed mainly in shallow areas, especially in high latitudes,
where the water needs little additional C02 to become undersaturated. Subsequently,
it will affect low latitudes , presumably interfering with reef growth there. It will take
several hundred years for the deep areas of the sea floor to start "feeling" the effects
of the increased C02 supply. It takes this long to replace existing deep waters with
new deep waters that bring the message of new atmospheric conditions to the deepsea floor.
Can we predict how high the C02 level will rise, and what the effects will be on
climate? A great number of scientists - meterologists, oceanographers, geochemists,
and geologists - are working on this question. It is now generally agreed that a
doubling of the C02 content would increase the global average temperature by at
least 2 C (4 Fahrenheit). Some estimates go as high as double this amount. A
general temperature rise of about 0.5 C , from a century ago, has been observed. The
significance of this rise is not entirely clear, however (see Fig. 7.16).
A doubling of C02 might come within the next 50 years or so, depending on how
the trends of use of carbon fuels develop. Increased release of methane also must be
considered in this context (see Epilog). What might be the effect of forcing up the
global temperature by several degrees? Nobody knows the answer. It is possible that
the climate would simply be warmer and moister over large areas in mid-latitudes,
and that the change would be quite beneficial to agriculture in many countries.
However, it is also possible that a marked warming will produce undesirable side-effects: drought in the northern grain belts, for example, or a great increase in hurricane
activity. A large-scale melting of Antarctic ice is conceivable, which could produce a
sea level rise ten times faster than now. Another possibility to be considered is that
the (geologically) rapid C02 input introduces a strong disequilibrium into the oceanatmosphere system, which provokes short-term climatic oscillations, something that
is definitely inimical to economic , and hence political, stability.
The only safe prediction , from the point of view of geology, is that the C02 input
will decrease again, perhaps within two to three centuries, either from exhaustion of
Siliceous Ooze
231
resources, or from economic disruption caused by climatic change or other environmental problems (even neglecting the possibility of war). At that point, atmospheric
C02 will start decreasing as the alkalinity of the ocean rises from the dissolution of
carbonate.
The C02 problem reminds us of the extent to which we are now exploiting the
natural cycles of our planet for human benefit - yet a large part of a growing world
population remains without adequate food and shelter.
8.6 Siliceous Ooze

8.6.1 Composition and Distribution. In considering the siliceous deposits of the
deep sea, many of the geochemical questions reappear which were raised earlier in
connection with "red clay" and calcareous ooze. What are the contributions from
continental weathering, submarine alteration, volcanic and hydrothermal emanations?
What mechanisms control the concentrations of dissolved matter in seawater? That is,
what controls the state of saturation?
Are biogenous particles the sole sink for such dissolved matter, or is there uptake
by "upgrading" of clays? What is the rate at which redissolution on the sea floor
supplies dissolved matter to the overlying waters?
First, let us take a brief look at the distribution, production, and dissolution patterns of the siliceous deposits.
We have already encountered the constituents of such deposits: remains of diatoms, silicoflagellates, radiolarians, and sponge spicules, all of which are made of
opal, a hydrated form of amorphous silicon dioxide. Diatom oozes are typical for
high latitudes, diatom muds for pericontinental regions, and radiolarian oozes for
equatorial areas (Figs. 8.2 and 8.4). Both diatom and radiolarian ooze, of course, are
mixtures of various kinds of sediments, with one or the other siliceous form being
dominant (Fig. 8.14). The siliceous deposits occur in areas of high fertility; that is, in
regions with relatively high phosphate values in surface waters (Fig. 8.15). This
overall correspondence between fertility patterns and silica-rich deposits can be considerably modified by redeposition processes within individual regions. The silica
frustules are light and easily transported, and the activity of benthic animals, which
tends to resuspend fine sediment, it especially pronounced in fertile areas. Thus,
aided by bottom currents and gravity, siliceous frustules tend to accumulate in local
and regional depressions.
8.6.2 Controlling Factors. In analogy to other kinds of deposits, the concentration of
siliceous fossils in the sediment is a function of (1) the rate of production of siliceous
organisms in the overlying waters. (2) the degree of dilution by terrigenous, volcanic,
and calcareous particles, and (3) the extent of dissolution of the siliceous skeletons,
most of which apparently occurs shortly after deposition.
The first variable, production of siliceous shells, attains its maximum in coastal
regions (Sect. 4.3.3; also Figs. 8.2 and 8.15). This leads to the formation of a silica
ring around each ocean basin. Silica helts are provided by the latitudinally arranged
232
Fig. 8.14. Assemblage of modem radiolarians from sediments recovered in the equatorial Pacific.
[Microphoto W. H. B.]
Imn
leworn O SlhceO l.lsfOS $ IIS
~1'~';~O~ S1 ~:~r!~~~S IIS aburIGan t.
Fig. 8.1S. Rux of siliceous fossils to the sea floor. [W. H. Berger. J. C. Herguera, in P G. Falkowski ,
A. D. Woodhead, eds, 1992, Primary productivity and biogeochemical cycles in the sea. Plenum
Press, New York]
Siliceous Ooze
233
oceanic divergences which are the result of atmospheric circulation. The regions of
divergence have nutrient-rich surface waters, hence there is sufficient silica available
to make robust siliceous shells. Also, such areas are rich in grazing zooplankton,
which pack the siliceous frustules into fecal pellets, thus accelerating delivery to the
sea floor (Figs. 6.2).
To obtain an estimate of the amount of silica precipitated in the upper waters, one
might multiply the measured amount of organic production with the ratio of solid
silica to organic matter found in suspension. This yields only a rough estimate, of
course.
A typical fixation rate of about 200 g SiOz/mz is suggested, with a range from less
than 100 g (central gyres) to more than SOD g (Antarctic). Of this fixation, only I
g/m 2/yr, that is, 0.5 %, can be incorporated into sediments if the river input is the only
source of silica. Twice that (that is, 1 % of fixation) can be sedimented if we assume
an equal contribution of silica from seawater-basalt reactions, especially at the hydrothermally active ridge crests. The global map of silica flux (Fig. 8.15) suggests
that 2 g/mz/yr (= 0.2 glcm 2ka) is indeed a reasonable average value.
The second factor, the degree of solution of the siliceous material, reflects the ratio
between accumulation rates of nonsiliceous and siliceous particles. As concerns dilution of silica by carbonate, one might expect that a high supply of calcareous shells
would be accompanied by an equally high supply of siliceous shells, because both
siliceous and calcareous plankton depend on productivity of upper waters. This is not
generally the case, however. Indeed, there is a distinct negative correlation between
silica and calcite distributional patterns. This has been ascribed to opposing chemical
requirements for preservation. We have seen already that increasing productivity,
from some point on, leads to decreasing preservation of calcite, but to increasing
accumulation of silica. A similarly opposing trend is indicated for depth relationships,
with silica corrosion being greatest in upper waters (due to elevated temperature), that
of carbonate being greatest at depth.
The third factor controlling the abundance of siliceous fossils is the extent of
dissolution. The preservation of siliceous shells is rather closely correlated with their
abundance in sediments. A positive correlation between abundance and preservation
may be ascribed to an increased supply of easily dissolved diatom hash in fertile
areas, which will "buffer" interstitial waters for the more robust skeletons, and to an
otherwise favorable chemical environment in organic-rich sediments with slightly
acidic interstitial waters. In general, silico-flagellates and diatoms tend to dissolve
well before radiolarians and sponge spicules, and the following dissolution sequence
can be established (from least to most resistant): (1) silicoflagellates, (2) diatoms, (3)
delicate radiolarians, (4) robust radiolarians, (5) sponge spicules. Because of the
overriding importance of Antarctic opal deposition, the preservation of opal in the
rest of ocean must to a large degree depend on how much the Antarctic Ocean is able
to extract for deposition on its own sea floor.
8.6.3 Geochemical Implications. The dissolution of opaline skeletons within the

surficial sediment layer of the sea floor delivers silica to the deep waters. This flux
from the sediment to the water is evident from concentration gradients in interstitial
234
waters and differences in concentration between these waters and the overlying seawater. By far the greatest reflux is from the uppermost part of the sediment column,
where recently arrived shells and frustules are being dissolved. However, the process
of dissolution and redelivery to seawater apparently continues downward into the
section, and includes sediments as old as 10 million years (Fig. 8.16).
It is possible and even probable that some of the silica released to the interstitial
waters reacts within sediments to form new minerals. However, near the sediment
surface most of the silica re-enters the ocean water. Thus, "old" bottom water, which
has been in contact with the sea floor for a long time, is silicate-rich. The reverse is
true for "young" bottom water which has arrived from the surface only recently.
Therefore, concentrations of dissolved silica are high in the deep North Pacific ("old"
water), and are low in the deep North Atlantic ("young" water).
From this overall distribution of dissolved silica in deep ocean waters, we can
draw an obvious conclusion. The reason that silica concentrations in deep water are
relatively low cannot be the uptake, if any, of dissolved silica by clay minerals. If it
were, the "old" waters should be the more depleted in silica. The reason for the low
concentrations must be that the deep water remembers its depleted condition at the
surface (from the silica extraction by diatoms) and that it did not have time to saturate
itself with respect to the actively dissolving opaline shells.
8.6.4 Deep-Sea Cherts. The discovery of chert within deep-sea sediments has both
fascinated geologists and frustated them in efforts to drill and recover complete
sections. The formation of deep-sea chert (siliceous sediments cemented by cryptocrystalline and microcrystalline quartz) appears to proceed from mobilization and
reprecipitation of opal, generating a disordered cristobalite (= fibrous quartz) which
eventually alters toward a quartzitic rock with mostly quartz-replaced and quartzfilled fossils as diagenesis progresses. Recrystallization may proceed at various rates
and somewhat divergent patterns, depending on the original sediment present.
If siliceous fossils and/or silica-rich volcanic glass are to be available as a source
for later production of chert, the following conditions appear necessary: (1) a sufficiently high supply of opal and low supply of dilutant; (2) silica-rich bottom water;
(3) a reasonably high burial rate; and (4) chemical conditions favorable for the preservation of siliceous shells.
During diagenesis, the opaline skeletons dissolve and volcanic material, if any,
releases silica during devitrification, and the silica-rich interstitial solutions migrate
along bedding planes or fractures and vertically to areas of precipitation in nearby
permeable lenses or layers. Why precipitation should be favored in some places and
mobilization in others in the same sediment is poorly understood in detail.
In the western equatorial Pacific and in many other areas of the global ocean,
massive chert beds first appear in upper Eocene sediments, when drilling down into
the sea floor (Fig. 8.16; "Ontong Java Series"). At that level, sound waves are
strongly reflected, due to a sudden change in impedance (product of density and
sound velocity). Interstitial waters tend to lose dissolved silicate to precipitation at
this horizon (Fig. 8.16, right). Note that there are other strong reflectors as well: the
"Drake Series" (marking the beginning of the Neogene) presumably derives from the
Deep Sea Cherts
235
Qualernary
0
upper
Pliocene
lower
Pliocene
10
upper
Miocene
middle
Miocene
20
.'"
J
<>
lower
Miocene
'.."
:!.
:f
30
upper
Oligocene
lower
Oligocene
...
40
Eocene
50
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
Dissolved silica (~M)
Fig. 8.16. Acoustic refl ectors in pelagic sediments on Ontong Java Plateau (Site 805) (/eji) and
dissolved si licate in associated drilling sites (Site 805 : open triangles) (righ!) . Site 805 is just north
of the equator. Water depth is 3188 m. T he sed im ent down to the Ontong Java Series reflectors is
calcareous ooze and chalk. Tota l sed im ent thickness is abo ut 1 km. Chert beds first appear near the
top of the Ontong Java Series and are middl e to late Eocene in age . Dissolved silicate drops at that
horizon, indicating precipitation. [W. H. Berger, L. W. Kroenke , L. A. Mayer, et al. . 1991 . Proc.
Ocean Drilling Progr. Init. Rpts. 130: 497; si li cate measurements by M. Delane y]
236
effects of episodic dissolution pulses within the post-Eocene carbonate sequence. The
basement reflectors are basaltic layers. The profiles of dissolved silicate indicate
reflux of silica to the sea floor from sediments as old as 10 million years. This loss of
silica is unfavorable for subsequent formation of chert.
The question why deep-sea chert deposits are concentrated in some geologic
periods and not in others cannot be answered at this time. Presumably, changes in the
global silica supply to the ocean (weathering processes, volcanism, ridge-crest hydrothermal activity) changed the amount of silica deposited, and changes in ocean
productivity changed the distribution patterns (see Sect. 8.6.2).
Certain ancient cherts, exposed as radiolarities in ophiolites and melanges of active margins (ribbon cherts), may be turbitides. Such cherts, it may be surmised,
could form because opal-rich sediments along active margins were redeposited by
turbidity currents into marginal basins, without much dilution from terrigenous materials (due to a high sealevel stand).
8.7 Stratigraphy and Dating

8.7.1 General Considerations. All absolute dating of deep-sea sediments ultimately
relies on the measurement of radioactive isotopes and their daughter elements (Appendix A8). However, almost all routine dating is done by these three stratigraphic
methods: determination of fossil content, determination of magnetic reversal sequence, and determination of sequence of chemical properties such as stable isotopes
of oxygen, carbon, and strontium. To these tools (biostratir;raphy, magnetostratir;raphy, chemostratir;raphy) may be added the counting of astronomical cycles observed (or suspected) in paleontological, sedimentological, or physical properties of a
pelagic section (cyclostratir;raphy or Fourier stratigraphy). In all cases except cyc1ecounting, dating is by correlation to a section considered to be well dated.
The best correlation, naturally, is achieved when several methods used simultaneously agree on the placement of a given section, with respect to the reference
section.
8.7.2 Aspects of Biostratigraphy. The workhorse of stratigraphic correlation in pelagic sediments is (micro-)paleontology, that is, the identification of fossils, notably
nannofossils, foraminifers, radiolarians, and diatoms. The stratigraphic distribution of
these fossils was worked out mainly in the last 40 years or so. The work was begun
by pioneers such as the American geologists M. N. Bramlette (1896-1977), A. R.
Loeblich, and H. Tappan, the Swiss paleontologist H. Bolli, and the AustralianAmerican paleontologist W. Riedel, among others, who realized the great potential of
microfossils for dating pelagic sequences. Nannofossils and radiolarians are useful
throughout the age range of deep-sea sediments (Fig. 8.17). Planktonic foraminifers
diversify sometime in the middle Cretaceous, and diatoms in the late Cretaceous.
The principle of stratigraphic correlation goes back to the beginnings of scientific
geology and paleontology; it is the observation that sedimentary sections in different
parts of the world show a similar sequence of different associations of fossils. Quite
Stratigraphy and Dating
PHYTOPLANKTON
Million
Nannofossils
Age
o ----.:--;=--;-:-~~ll!~:~~ene
Neogene
Abunden~ ~ver3ity
Diatoms
Abundan~ ~ve"ity
237
ZOOPLANKTON
Forllminifera
Abundan~ ~ve"ity
Radiolaria
Abundan~ ~ver3lty
Miocene
25
Oh9 0 cene
Pal.og.n.
65
lal.
CretaceoU3
Eocene
Paleocene
Mee3tricMian
Campanian
Santonian
Coniacian
Turonian
Cenomanian
100
Early
Cretaceous
140
lat.
Jura~JSic
160
Middl.
Jurassic
Albion
Aption
Barremien
Hauterivian
Vahngi nian
Berriesian
Tilhon,on
Kimmeridgion
Oxfordion
eollovion
Bothonion
Bojoe;on
,, ,,,
?
Fig. 8.17. Abundance and diversity patterns of pelagic microfossils. [H. R. Thierstein et aI. ,
in G . B. Munsch, ed, 1988. Report of the Second Conference on Scientific Ocean Drilling Cosod II ,
European Science Foundation, Strasbourg]
generally, there are more different kinds of fossils in tropical regions than in extratropical ones. Thus, much finer subdivisions of sequences are possible in low latitudes than in high ones. Also, diversity of fossils changes through time, due to
changes in the rates of origination and extinction.
The stratigraphic resolution achieved by identifying microfossils depends on circumstances - clearly, where diversity is low, resolution is poor. Under favorable
conditions (that is, when the critical species are present) the zones of pelagic microfossils in the Neogene allow resolution between one and a few million years in each
group. In the latest Neogene, nannofossil zonation is exceptionally detailed, and here
the resolution is about 0 .5 million years. Additional refinement is possible by using
well-dated first-appearance datums (FAD) and last-appearance datums (LAD), as
well as e\'olutionary lineages in the various groups. Besides pelagic forms, benthic
species are of interest in biostratigraphy. In the Tertiary, major changes in benthic
faunas occurred in the middle Eocene and at the end of the Oligocene.
238
8.7.3 Magnetostratigraphy. Reversals of the Earth's magnetic field (already encountered when discussing sea floor spreading and age-mapping of the sea floor;
Sect 1.8) impart to deep-sea sediments a sequence of normal (N) and reversed (R)
magnetization, which is preserved under favorable conditions and can be measured.
The strength of the signal depends on the concentration of iron-rich minerals, mostly.
Results - a sequence of Nand R tags, one for each sample - can be matched to the
established record, as first shown by C. O. A. Harrison and B. Funnell in 1964. For
example, on going downward into the sediment from the sea floor, the first clear
switch from N-samples to R-samples would be expected to correlate to the BrunhesMatuyama boundary. This reversal event is dated at 790 000 years, based on radioactive decay of 40K and on counting astronomical cycles within the 8 18 0 record (cyclostratigraphy, Sect. 8.7.5).
When faced with "floating" sections, a match cannot be made uniquely, unless
other information is available (fixpoints from biostratigraphy, for example). The more
confirmation from other methods, the greater is the confidence that a particular match
a"c ("10. B-1, G. sIJbgloboso)

90
SITE 310
Z
I-
North Pacif ic
Q.
-0.6
!
-to
!
-1.4
!
143
110
163
130
183
150
203
8'3C(%. B- 1, Uvigerina spp.)

+0 .1 - 0.3 -0.1 -1-1
SITE 208
170
Southwest Pacific
W
C
190
g
cD
8"C (%. POB, G. sIJbgloboso)

+08 .0.4
0 -0.4 - 0.8
+to -0-6 -0.2

!
150
;:)
VI
8U C ("to.POB, G. sIJbgloboso)
110
190
FAD T proteon,uo
fAD Amouro/i /hus 19P
210
II
-0.2
!
21
8'3 C(%. POB, Oridorsolis sPP)

+0.5 +0.1 -0-3
1
9l
110
130
150
SITE 238
West Indian Ocean
Fig. 8.18. Correlation by chemo- and biostratigraphy. Global ocean shift in 1)13C values as seen in
benthic foraminifers, about 6 million years ago, identified by association with biostratigraphic
markers. FAD First appearance; T. praeconl'exa: a centric diatom: Amaurolithus sPf': a horseshoeshaped nannofossIl. Note consistent relatIonship of FAD Amaurolithus to shift In I) 3C. [B. U. Haq
et aI., 1980, Geology 8: 427; redrawn]
239
Chemostratigraphy
is correct. One problem is that it is quite difficult to detect missing sections in a

magnetic reversal sequence. However, in conjunction with biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy has proved to be a powerful tool for global correlation, since reversals
are essentially instantaneous and world-wide (which is not generally true for biostratigraphic events).
8.7.4 Chemostratigraphy. Many chemical changes in the properties of ocean water
are world-wide, and are recorded in the composition of microfossil shells. Prime
examples are the stable isotopes of oxygen, carbon, and strontium. The records of
oxygen and carbon isotope ratios in calcareous fossils show cycles, steps, and trends,
which can be used to greatly refine stratigraphic resolution once a general framework
has been established. In the example given (Fig. 8.18) the first appearance datum
(FAD) of two phytoplankton species confirms the global synchroneity of a shift in
deep water Ol3 C toward more negative values, within the latest Miocene. This shift
(which occurred about 6 million years ago) can be used for global correlation, once
its identity in a given core is determined. We shall discuss the significance of these
types of isotope changes in the context of paleoceanography (Chap. 9).
Changes in strontium isotopes show long-term trends in the Cenozoic, and can be
used therefore to assign an age range to a post-Cretaceous sample even in the absence
of other information (Fig. 8.19). A value of, say, 0.7088 in the ratio of 87Sr to 86Sr,
measured in a sample of nannofossils or foraminifera, would uniquely place the
sample near the end of the middle Miocene .
.0 . 7094
o l ocene
marine carbona Ie
-:-=-=-::-_-_P l eislocene
Pliocene
0 . 7090
Lale Mi ocene
-- --- -
...
(f)
co
co
.....
...
(f)
....
...\
0 . 7086
Mi:d~~i::~
'"
co
"". Early Miocene
\,
------
',Lal~O Ii QOCen~
0 . 7082
----- ~---
" ' - , E71.Y O ligocene
~......
0 . 7078
~Pl/
10
20
o
30
............
40
......
I
50
Pa
60
I Ma
70
AQe (10 8 years)

Fig. 8.19. Strontium isotope ratios in marine carbonates. Increasingly heavier values in the late
Cenozoic indicate the increasing importance of deep erosion of continental crust re lative to stron
tium supply from volcanogenic sources. IF. M. Richter et al.. 1992. Earth Plane t Sci. Lett. 109: II;
modified]
240
Why do strontium isotopes change in the fashion observed? Presumably, the trend
stems from a decrease of basaltic sources of strontium (ratios near 0.702 to 0.703)
relative to continental sources (ratios from 0.705 to> 0.712). The reason, it may be
assumed, is an overall emergence of continents due to mountain-building since the
late Eocene, as well as a decrease in oceanic volcanism.
8.7.5 Cyclostratigraphy. The discovery that pelagic sediment properties show regular fluctuations with periods close to astronomical ones (as shown by spectral analysis: J. Hays, J. Imbrie, N. Shackleton, 1976; N. Pisias, 1976) opened the way for a
new dating method: counting of astronomical cycles within a record, extracted by
Fourier analysis. The method yields floating chronologies (unless tied into other
fixpoints). It has yielded valuable results, especially in Quaternary sediments. We
shall encounter the various cycles in Chapter 9, when discussing Quaternary sediments.
Further Reading
Hill MN (ed) (1963) The sea, Ideas and obseIVations on progress in the study of the seas, vol 3.
Interscience, New York
Lisitzin AP (1972) Sedimentation in the world ocean. SEPM Spec Publ 17, Soc Econ Paleontol
Mineral Tulsa, Okla
Hsii KJ, Jenkyns H (eds) (1974) Pelagic sediments on land and under the sea. Spec Publ Int Assoc
Sedimentol 1
Bolli HM, Saunders JB, Perch-Nielsen K (eds) (1985) Plankton stratigraphy. Cambridge Univ Press,
New York
Chester R (1990) Marine geochemistry. Unwin Hyman, London
9 Paleoceanography - the Deep-Sea Record
9.1 Background
Paleoceanography, the study of ocean history, emerged in the 1930s and 1940s, when
cores became available that provided data from which history could be reconstructed.
Initial efforts by W. Schott (1935) using short cores taken by the German research
vessel Meteor have been mentioned (Sect. 8.2.3). In essence, the Swedish Deep Sea
Expedition (1947-1948) played the same role in launching the new science of his torical oceanography that the Challenger Expedition had played 70 years earlier, for
physical and biological oceanography. The research vessel Albatross set out from
Gothenburg in 1947, to begin the circumnavigation of the world's tropical environment, under the leadership of Hans Petterson. The expedition used a new device, the
piston corer, developed by B. Kullenberg in Copenhagen. This technique typically
recovered cores of a length of 7 m or so, with the oldest sediment being from 0.3 to
1 million years in age. Kullenberg's device, with modifications, is still used today
(Fig. 9.1).
The scientists reporting on these cores became the founders of paleoceanograpy.
They defined the fundamental questions about the Pleistocene history of the ocean:
regarding changes in productivity (G. Arrhenius), in plankton distributions and surface currents (F. B. Phleger, F. L. Parker), in surface water temperature and ice
volume (c. Emiliani), and in deep circulation patterns (E. Olausson). Since then,
these questions, and related ones, have been pursued vigorously.
Beginning in 1968, when the drilling vessel GLOMAR Challenger (Fig. 0.6) left
port in Galveston (Texas) to initiate scientific drilling in the deep ocean, many new
dimensions have emerged in paleoceanography: the length of time available for detailed study increased from about 1 million years to the past 100 million years! Since
1985, the JOIDES Resolution (Fig. 0.7) has been employed for deep ocean drilling.
In unconsolidated ooze and mud nearly undistrubed sequences can be recovered by
this ship, using hydraulic piston coring. Recovery of several kilometers of core material, from a single 2-month leg, is not unusual. The study of these materials is
time-consuming and labor-intensive. It requires the coordination and cooperation of
marine geologists from many institutions, in the USA and abroad. The harvest of
these efforts has not yet been wholly reaped, and new findings are constantly being
reported.
The following summary illustrates some of the highlights of the various discoveries that resulted from coring and drilling. It it as much a survey of questions as
242
Paleoceanography - the Deep-Sea Record
Fig. 9.1. Recovering the Pleistocene

record by piston coring. The corer is
a wide-diameter model; note the
white sediment in the core nose.
Note also that the core barrel was
bent during the operation (on the
upper end) . Other equipment on
deck: deep-sea camera frame (with
protective grid) , hydrophone for seismic profiling (wrapped on spool),
box corer (aft). [S .1.0,. Eurydice Expedition, 1975]
of answers. We shall first acquaint ourselves with the Ice Age Ocean, whose study
defined the scope of paleoceanography, and we will then tum to the task of applying
the principles derived from such study to older sediments made available by drilling.
9.2 The Ice Age Ocean

9.2.1 Why an Ice Age? To a geologist, the dominant fact of our time is that we live
in an ice age which has been going on for at least two or three million years. In earlier
chapters, this reality, which greatly influences the way we interpret the present patterns of erosion and deposition, and the landforms we have inherited, has been
referred to several times.
The idea that vast sheets of thick ice once covered northern Europe and northern
North America became generally acceptable some time during the middle of the last
century. Once this step had been made, it was not long before several such glaciations
were discovered, with warm intervals separating them. We are now living in such an
intelglacial. How many advances and retreats of continental ice had occurred? What
is the time scale of these cycles? How do the cycles relate to astronomical factors,
that is, the rotation of the Earth and its path around the Sun? These questions were
The Ice Age Ocean
243
difficult to even attempt to answer from the land record: each succeeding glaciation
erased many of the traces of the previous one. The study of long cores from the
deep-sea floor opened the door to a new understanding. Such cores (Fig. 9.1), contain, in places, an uninterrupted record of the alternations of glacials and interglacials, within the "ice age".
Why is there an ice age at all? We do not know for sure. Clearly, it is colder during
an ice age than before or after, so that the Earth's heat budget is involved. This budget
is largely controlled by albedo (the amount of incoming light reflected into space)
and by the greenhouse effect (the trapping of infrared trying to leave Earth, by
greenhouse gases). Thus (unless we invoke a dimming of the sun), it seems reasonable to assume that albedo was increased and greenhouse gases were decreased,
during ice ages. We shall see, in the following, that this assumption is correct. Nevertheless, we still do not know the exact mechanisms responsible. Rather than approaching these very difficult questions of climatology, let us ask some quite simple
questions, such as:
1. What did the ocean look like during maximum glaciation?
2. What does the record show about the transition from the last glacial to the present?
3. What is the nature of the ice age cycles, that is, their frequency and amplitude, and
their extent in time?
9.2.2 Conditions in a Cold Ocean. How did the ice age ocean differ from the present
one? The question is by no means settled, but a consensus has been reached on
several aspects.
First, it is generally agreed that surface currents were stronger. It is obvious why
this should be so: surface currents are driven by winds, and winds depend on horizontal temperature gradients. With the ice rim and polar front much closer to the Equator,
the temperature difference between ice (0 DC or less) and the tropics (ca. 25 DC) was
compressed into a much shorter distance than now. Hence the temperature gradient
was greater, winds were stronger, and so were ocean currents.
Equatorial upwelling was intensified as a consequence, as well as coastal upwelling. Thus, at the same time that fertility decreased in high latitudes, due to ice cover,
it increased in mid-latitudes (because of intensified mixing) and in the subtropics
(due to upwelling).
Second, it is accepted that the ocean suiface was cooler, on the whole, than today.
With a substantial part of northern continents and seas under ice, the Earth reflected
the Sun's radiation more readily (had a higher albedo) than today, hence it absorbed
less of the radiation and its atmosphere was cooler. A cold atmosphere holds less
water than a warm one, and large areas on land therefore were drier than today. Water
vapor is the most important greenhouse gas, so that the trapping of infrared radiation
within the atmosphere was diminished. Dry areas (such as grasslands and deserts)
reflect more sunlight than wet ones (such as forests). Also, a more fertile ocean
would be slightly more reflective than a clear dark blue one with less algal growth.
All these factors favored reflection of the Sun's radiation back into space, and hence
favored cooling (Table 9.1).
244
Table 9.1. Albedo' values of ocean and land surfaces

Land
(%)
Ocean
(%)
Desert regions
Grasslands, most forests
Tropical forests, wetlands
Snow cover (old to new)
20 to 30
15
7 to 10
35 to 82
Low and mid latitudes

High latitudes
(high values: sea ice)
4 to 10, max. 19
6 to 55
(%)
Average planetary albedo as seen from space

Average surface albedo
29
14
a albedo: proportion (in percent) of incident light reflected upward, and not available for heating.
Third, it is known that some ocean regions cooled more than others, and that the
regional degree of change depends closely on the movement of boundaries of climatic
zones. If, for example, an area is near the boundary of subtropics and temperate belt,
it will then belong alternately to one or the other zone. Thus, the changes here are
substantial. Conversely, changes can be much less in the center of tropical or subtropical climatic regions.
Last but not least, the ocean surface was substantially lower during maximum
glaciation, by 120 to 130 m during maximum glaciation (Sect. 5.4), so that shelves
were exposed and the ocean surface was somewhat smaller. This also increased the
albedo of Earth.
9.2.3 The 18 K Map. These various concepts were put to the test by a coherent
quantitative reconstruction of the ice age ocean, in the 1970s. A. McIntyre, T. C.
Moore, and colleagues, using the "transfer" techniques of J. Imbrie (Sect. 7.2.2),
produced a map of sea surface temperatures for a typical (northern) summer month,
during maximum glaciation. The map is also called 18 K map, for "18 kilo years
ago", a date based on radiocarbon dating (see Fig. 9.2). The construction of the map
proceeded from deep sea cores, from which both surface and subsurface samples
were taken. Surface samples were used for calibration (Sect. 7.2.1). The abundance
patterns were correlated to surface water temperatures in nothern summer, to provide
the basis for the reconstruction.
From the information shown in the 18 K map, it can be concluded that the ice age
ocean 18 000 years ago was characterized by: (l) increased thermal gradients along
polar fronts, especially in the North Atlantic and Antarctic; (2) equatorward displacement of polar frontal systems; (3) general cooling of most surface waters, by about
2.3 DC, on average; (4) increased upwelling along the equator in Pacific and Atlantic;
(5) increased coastal upwelling and strengthening of eastern boundary currents; and
(6) nearly stable positions and temperatures of the central gyres in the major ocean
basins.
Fig. 9.2. Approximate distribution of sea surface tempertures for northern hemisphere summer, during the last ice age maximum (about 18000 years
ago; "18 K map"). Note the extent and thickness of ice. [CLIMAP Project Members. 1976. Science 191: 1131, simplified]
tv
e;
.,??'"
<1>
(JQ
>
h"
<1>
246
9.2.4 Pulsed Deglaciation. How and why did the last glacial change into the present
interglacial? How long did this take? The first question, presumably, must be
answered by invoking changes in the seasonal distribution of the Sun 's radiation (the
Milankovitch Mechanism, to be discussed in Sect. 9.3.5). The second question is the
more readily answered: it took between 7000 and 8000 years, approximately, to
reduce the ice masses of the last glacial to something like those we have today. In the
process, the sea level rose some 120 m (Sects. 5.3.1 and 5.4.2). Recent detailed work
on corals in Barbados confirmed earlier indications that deglaciation occurred in
pulses or steps (Fig. 9.3; Fig. 5.6b). Two major pulses are seen: Step 1, from 13.5 to
12.5 ka (also known as Termination Ia), and Step 2, from 11 to 9.5 kyrs (or Ib). These
ages are based on dating by thorium (see Appendix A8). In the radiocarbon scale
(heavy lines in Fig. 9.3), the ages of the two steps are centered on 12 and 9.5 ka,
which agrees exactly with two major warming steps known from northern Europe.
Comparison with the summer insolation curve at high northern latitudes (dashed line,
Fig. 9.3) suggests that unusually warm summers are responsible for initiating melting.
The retreat of the polar front in the North Atlantic, from its position between Long
Island and Portugal in the glacial (Fig. 7.4) to its present one off Greenland, also took
place in this discontinuous manner. A substantial re-advance of this front occurred
during the so-called Younger Dryas, between II 000 and 10 000 radiocarbon years
ago. (According to ice core measurements, some 12 SOO to 11 700 calendar years.)
The origin of this cold period, which returned much of Europe to glacial-type conditions for several hundreds of years, poses a major problem in paleoclimatology and
paleoceanography. The effects of the event are seen around the world; its record was
discovered in western Tibet as well as in the Sulu Sea, south of the Philippines, for
example. The origin of the Younger Dryas cold spell is entirely unknown (large-scale
15
1"TT"rTT"11"TT1""""""""'-rTTTTTTTTTTT"TTT"rrr1rT"1
>.
..,
E 10
.><:
ins. /
Q)
;u
~
(.)
,,
,-
,,
0
,
,,
2
"0
,,
~E
\\
<.J
<ii
1. 05
\\
(;j
c::
.!:?
(;j
"0
1.00
10
Age (kyr)
12
14
16
<.J
0
<D
\.
/l
Ol
0'"
,
,,
,,
,,
,/
1. 10
18
-='"
Fig. 9.3. Rate and timing of glacial meltwater discharge compared with subarctic
summer insolation. Discharge calculated
from a depth-versus-age curve for Barbados
corals (A . pa/mata). Heal'y line Time scale
based on radiocarbon dating; thin line time
scale based on thorium dating by E. Bard
and colleagues; dashed line summer insolation at 60 N, based on calculations by A.
Berge r. [R. G. Fairbanks, 1989, Nature 342:
637. simplified]
The Pleistocene Cycles
247
ice surges are one possible mechanism), but it is very likely that the ocean's circulation was involved in a drastic change in the heat budget in some fashion. Somehow,
the influx of tropical heat from the south, which today warms the northern North
Atlantic, was greatly diminished. A cascade of feedback processes then took over
(beginning, for example, with a great expansion of sea ice), plunging the world back
into the ice age, from which it had just escaped. This miniature ice age only lasted
about one millenium and ended abruptly, perhaps within decades.
In the northern Atlantic, a series of distinct layers of the last glacial period rich in
ice-rafted debris and poor in foraminifera suggests the occurrence of other abrupt
climatic events, perhaps triggered by short pulses of massive discharges of icebergs.
Our inability to explain the mysterious Younger Dryas cold spell points out some
fundamental limitations to paleoceanography (and paleoclimatic) research. The climate systems is extremely complex (see Epilog). Many of the important elements of
the system are not well constrained. The ocean's functions (such as redistribution of
heat by currents) cannot be isolated and determined as long as the functions of the
other elements of the system remain uncertain. We know that the ocean plays a
dominant role in the heat budget, not only because of currents, but also because of its
control on albedo (e. g., via sea ice cover) and water vapor (the dominant greenhouse
gas), and also because it controls short-term changes in atmospheric C02 (via its
carbon cycle and the biological pump, (discussed in Sect. 9.4.2).
9.3 The Pleistocene Cycles

9.3.1 The Evidence. The marine geologists who studied the cores recovered by the
Albatross Expedition soon recognized that the Pleistocene record shows a long series
of alternating climatic states. This finding has attained great importance in the earth
sciences, especially in the study of climate dynamics. The cycles express themselves
as fluctuations in faunal and floral composition, in the abundance of carbonate, and
in the ratio of oxygen-IS to oxygen-16 in foraminiferal shells, as well as other
properties (see Fig. 9.4).
9.3.2 The Carbonate Cycles of the equatorial Pacific (first described by G. Arrhenius) are commonly interpreted as dissolution cycles, with high dissolution in
interglacials (low CaC03 values) and low dissolution in glacials (high CaC03
values). Productivity variations (which were once thought to be solely responsible for
the carbonate fluctuations) apparently playa secondary role in producing the cycles.
What is the evidence for this interpretation? The argument is based on the vertical
fluctuation of levels of equal preservation, measured as the degree of shell damage,
above the lysocline. A vertical range of 0.5 to 1 km (as observed) is sufficient to
produce very pronounced carbonate cycles, in depths below 3500 m.
The causes for the dissolution cycles are not clear. Fluctuation of the sea level
must be important. During low sea level stands, shelves - the preferred sites for
carbonate deposition - are exposed. Thus, they cannot receive carbonate. The balance
piles up on the deep-sea floor from deposition of plankton shells. Conversely, during
248
E
-
gU
~
50
100
150
'"">-
...o
200 ~
~ 6 ~~_~
2 50 ~
~ 9
3 00
10
...."
~
..
3 50 '"
'"
400
10
4 50
6,+-~~~~~
50607011090
11
0)
G ME NA RD II
CARBONATE (%)
0 .50 -0.50 -1 .50 -2.50
00"
190
215
24 0
265
Tw
- 3,00
- 2.50
OXYGEN ISOTOPES (518 0)
~oo~--------------
I I I~ I I. I " I .. I ~ I ' lot I" I'" I " I"

________________________________________________
__
c
Fig. 9.4a- c. The Pleistocene record in deep sea sediments. a Carbonate cycles of the eastern Pacific,
magnetically dated (1. D. Hays et aI., 1969,Oeol. Soc. Am . Bull. 80: 1481). b G. menardii pulses
(left) and transfer temperature cycles (right) compared with oxygen isotope stratigraphy, Caribbean
Sea (1. Imbrie et aI., 1973, 1 Quat Res 3: 10). c Dissolution cycles compared with oxygen isotope
stratigraphy, western Pacific. [P. R. Thompson, 1976,1. Foraminiferal Res. 6: 208; N. 1. Shackleton
and N. D. Opdyke, 1973 , Quat. Res. 3: 39]
interglacials, the high sea level allows shallow water carbonates to build up - this
carbonate is extracted from the ocean, and is no longer available for deposition on the
deep-sea floor. Several other factors also playa role: changes in erosion rates on land
and on shelves, growth and decay of forests which affects the abundance of C02 in
the ocean - atmosphere system, changes in the temperature of the deep ocean,
changes in the overall productivity of the ocean, and changes in deep-sea circulation.
The latter, especially, govem much of the carbonate accumulation in the central
The Pleistocene Cycles
249
Pacific, through "basin-basin fractionation" with the Atlantic (Sect. 7.6.5). Whenever
North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) production is increased, the Atlantic traps the
carbonate, leaving less for the Pacific.
On much of the Atlantic sea floor, carbonate cycles tend to swing counter to those
in the central Pacific. The Atlantic carbonate cycles are largely dilution cycles, although effects from varying dissolution and production must also be considered.
During glacials, the supply of terrigenous materials from the continents surrounding
the Atlantic is greatly increased. In high latitudes, the moving ice grinds up enormous
masses of rock. The plant cover, which protects soil from erosion, is less dense. In the
sUbtropics, deserts are widespread, delivering dust. Flash floods in semi-arid regions
are efficient conveyors of huge amounts of material. The tropical rainforest is much
reduced, and semi-arid regions are expanded. The shelves are exposed, and subject to
erosion. All these factors contribute to the glacial increase of terrigenous deposition
rates. As the supply of terrigenous material increases, of course, the proportion of
carbonate in pelagic sediments decreases accordingly - the carbonate is diluted. By
changing the degree of dilution, carbonate cycles are produced.
9.3.3 The Faunal (and Floral) Cycles can be expressed in various ways, most
commonly as warm-cold cycles. Examples are the quantitative plots of Parker (1958)
and Imbrie and Kipp (1971). Parker's method contrasts the relative abundance of
warm-water and cold-water planktonic foraminifers as a function of core depth. The
Imbrie-Kipp method calibrates the warm- and cold-water percentages against surface
water temperature, by a statistical technique called factor regression. Based on this
calibration, the most probable temperatures of surface waters are then calculated for
samples deeper in the core. This technique was also used for constructing the 18 K
map (Fig. 9.2). We see that there were considerable temperature variations in the
Caribbean. We also see that the last change from cold to warm occurred about 11 000
years ago, with the beginning of the Holocene. The faunal cycles rather closely
follow the associated oxygen isotopes, without, however, duplicating them. In principle, comparison of the two curves allows the separation of temperature effect from
ice effect, in the oxygen isotope record, to be discussed next.
There is one other interesting fact that emerges from the faunal analysis: the
present time is rather unusual in being so warm. For the last one half million years or
so the climate was mostly much colder.
9.3.4 Oxygen Isotope Cycles. The fluctuations in the oxygen isotope composition of
foraminiferal shells were first described by C. Emiliani in his classic paper Pleistocene temperatures, published in 1955. He analyzed the planktonic foraminifera
from several long cores taken in the Caribbean and North Atlantic. He concentrated
on those species with the lowest oxygen-18 (Globigerinoides ruber and Globigerinoides sacculifer), reasoning that these species must live in shallow water and therefore reflect surface water temperature. Since the temperture of growth affects the
180/160 ratio (Sect. 7.3.2), the isotopic fluctuations reflect warm-cold cycles. In
addition, the composition of seawater controls the 18 0/ 16 0 ratios in the shells. The
seawater composition fluctuates with the waxing and waning of the continental ice
250
sheets. The reason is that ice is depleted in 180. During buildup of the ice, therefore,
this heavier isotope stays preferentially in the ocean, increasing the 180/160 ratio
here. Shells grown in such water, then, are enriched in 180, and this enrichment is
added to the enrichment caused by the lowered temperature of the water. When the
glacial ice melts, the 18 0 / 160 ratio in the ocean decreases again (see Fig. 5.15).
Today, oxygen isotope stratigraphy forms the backbone of Pleistocene stratigraphy.
We use oxygen isotopes as a master template, to which other records must be
compared to determine their significance. This is also true for nonmarine sequences,
as in the interpretation of the loess record in China, for example (Fig. 9.5). It is seen
(as has been well known for some time) that glacial intervals are characterized by
eolian dust deposits ("loess"; numbered Ll, L2, etc.) and interglacials by soil development ("soil", numbered St, S2, etc.). This is a reflection, among other things, of
drought-wet cycles. Detailed matching to the marine 018 0 record allows the observation that maximum wind supply occurred both during onset of glaciais and during
Xi fen g
AGE
(ka)
Eolian Supply
(mg cm -2 kyr -1)
b
0
V21-146
200 400 600 800
d
0 18
6
0 (/00. POB)
5
LI
100
51
L2
200
52
300
5l
L1
400
51
11
L)
500
13
S~
120'
,,..
600
Fig. 9.5 a- d. Correlation of loess profiles from Xifeng (China, see inset) with marine SlgO record
during the last 500000 years . a Loess profile, L loess; S soil; b Same profile with refined ages of
loess sedimentation based on correlation to eolian flux record in (c); c Eolian flux record of the
North Pacific, Core V 21- 146 (mg/cm 2{kyr) from 3968 m water depth and with a distance of more
than 3000 km from the loess source area; d Sl 80-Stratigraphy (%0, PDB) of thi s core, used for
dating. [So A. Hovan et al. 1989, Nature. 340: 296]
Milankovitch Cycles
251
their maxima. Such supply of dust by wind has implications for deep-sea sedimentation - perhaps (as dust brings phosphate and iron) even for productivity in the ocean
(and hence for atmospheric C02; see Sect. 9.4.2).
9.3.5 Milankovitch Cycles and Dating. As pointed out by Emiliani, the isotopic
variations clearly indicate some sort of regular cycling such as could be produced by
the Milankovitch mechanism, which invokes regular variations in the Earth's orbital
parameters as a cause for the succession of ice ages separated by warm periods (Fig.
9.6). The hypothesis of Milutin Milankovitch (1879-1958) states that long-term fluctuations in the radiation received from the Sun, during summer seasons, in the high
latitudes of the northern hemisphere, have controlled the occurrence of ice ages over
the last 600 000 years.
For Emiliani's suggestion to be tested, a time scale for the isotopic variations was
needed. Three dating methods are available: (1) C-14 dating of the uppermost portion
of the record, and extrapolation downward. This method is not very reliable. (2)
Uranium dating of corals which grew during the last high stand of sea level, a datum
that can be correlated with the warm peak in the Isotope Stage 5 (Fig. 9.4 c). The best
estimates for this age are near 124000 years. From this we obtain an average sedimentation rate, which is more reliable than the one based on radiocarbon. (3)
Magnetic reversals - the same that are recorded in the cooling basalt of the spreading
sea floor (Sect. 1.8) - are recorded also in deep-sea sediments. The last major boundary between magnetic epochs (the Brunhes and the Matuyama) is dated at
790000 years ago. (An earlier date of 730 000 is now abandoned). This date can be
recovered in very long cores only. It allows interpolation of the ages for the isotope
variations.
The time scale derived from methods (2) and (3) is the one used in the comparison
between isotope record and Milankovitch curve in Fig. 9.6. A certain similarity of the
curves is obvious. Spectral analysis - that is, a search for the frequencies contained in
the isotopic record - shows that the following periods are strongly represented: near
20000 years, near 40000 years, and near 100000 years (see next Section). These are
the main periods contained in the Milankovitch irradiation curve. Thus, the evidence
is strong that irradiation of the northern hemisphere is the dominating factor in
controlling the frequencies of the Pleistocene climatic fluctuations.
What are these frequencies? They describe the motions of the Earth's rotational
axis and the change in shape of its path around the sun. The axis is not stationary in
space, and does not always point to the North Star as in the present. Instead, it
describes a circle, of which the North Star is one point. The circle is completed once
in about 21 000 years. This is the precession (Fig. 9.6). Also, the inclination of the
Earth's axis to the plane of its orbit changes through time. It is 66 1/2 0 at present, but
varies between about 65 and 68 once in 41 000 years. This is the obliquity variation. Obliquity is very important, because high obliquity obviously means warm
summers and cold winters, and vice versa. Finally, the Earth's orbit about the sun is
not a circle but an ellipse (as Johannes Kepler, 1571-1630, showed). The ratio between the long and the short axis varies through time. This is the eccentricity variation. One cycle takes about 100000 years. These, then, are the elements governing
252
o.
~'~
in
III
III
-O. QJ.
- 0 .08
~>0'0 ,05~
03
z
III
tl
III
0.01
-0.01
0~--~---I~--'----r2--~~--~3----~--~'----~--~5~--~---6~--~---r7--~m
5>2"5~
23 , 5
Q
22 . 5
...J
21 .5 0
- 0.15
',.'.. 1: t
f
[0 ~
Fig. 9.6. The Croll-Milankovitch Theory of the ice ages. and its test. Upper 3 panels. Curves
showing orbilal parametrs as calculated by a A. L. Berger [in M. A. Kominz et aI., 1979, Earth
Planet Sci. Leu. 45: 394). I m = 100000 yrs.The eccentricity is the deviation of the orbit from a
perfect circle, for which e=O. The eccentricity varies with a period near 100000 years. The precession parameter is a function of both the position of perihelion (point of Earth's orbit which is
closest to the Sun) with respect to the equinoxes (day = night positions) and the eccentricity of the
orbit (which makes the difference of equinoxed and perihelion significant in tenus of seasonal
irradiation). The periodicity of the precession parameter is near 21 000 years. Note the small variations during times of low eccentricity. The obliquity is the angle of the Earth's axis , with respect to
the vertical on the orbital plane (inset, lower right). It varies with a period of 41 000 years. Lower
panel Curves showing the orbital periodicities contained in the oxygen isotope record in a subantarctic deep sea core . The solid line in the middle represents the original isotope record; superimposed (dotted line) is the eccentricity variation. Top cun'e 23 OOO-year component extracted from the
isotope record by band pass filter (a statistical method); bottom curve obliquity component extracted
in a similar fashion. Inset right illustrates obliquity. [J. D. Hays et a!. , 1976, Science 194: 1121]
The Carbon Connection
CD
Cl
n.
253
2.5
2
1.5
'"
Ql
:>
iiien
0.5
Ql
200
400
600
800
1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Age (k.y.)
Fig. 9.7. Oxygen isotope record of G. sacculifer. ODP Site 806. western equatorial Pacific. Age
scale based on counting obliquity cycles extracted from the record (and set at 41 000 years; see Fig.
9.6).5, 9, IS, etc. Isotope stages; 015,030,045 position of crests of obliquity-related cycles; MPR ,
mid-Pleistocene Revolution (at 920 kyrs) , showing a distinct change from obliquity-dominated to
eccentricity-dominated. A, B , C, major cyclostratigraphic subdivisions, each with 15 obliquity
cycles, where 015 = 625000 yrs; "Milankovitch Epoch"; 015-030 "Croll Epoch"; 030--<>45 "Laplace Epoch". [W. H. Berger and G . Wefer, 1992, Naturwissenschaften 79: 541]
the changes in the seasonal irradiation of the northern hemisphere. Presumably, there
is an especially sensitive latitudinal belt in the northern hemisphere where these
changes in insolation are translated into varying amounts of snow cover, which in
tum govern climate by the albedo feedback mechanism (Sect. 9.2.2).
9.3.6 A Change in Thne. The Pleistocene record of 818 0 supports Milkanovitch's
propositions regarding the cause of ice age fluctuations. In particular, it is interesting
how much the 100000-year eccentricity cycle dominates the scene throughout the
last 900000 years. However, a surprise awaits us when we go further back than that:
the lower half of the Quaternary essentially has not 100 000 year cycles at all! The
8 180 fluctuations (that is, the variations in ice mass) in that part of the record are
entirely dominated by the obliquity cycle (Fig. 9.7). A little less than one million
years ago, eccentricity acquired a strong voice in the mixture of tunes within the
climatic record. (It is as though a strong bass joined the choir). We do not know the
reason for this major change in the Earth's climate system (marked MPR, for midPleistocene revolution, in Fig. 9.7). Apparently, there are no astronomical reasons:
the orbital elements, as far as one can tell, were much the same before and after the
event. Thus, we mut assume that the response to forcing changed.
9.4 The Carbon Connection

9.4.1 A Major Discovery. One of the most exciting discoveries in the Earth Sciences,
in the 1980s, was the reconstruction of the composition of the Pleistocene atmosphere
from ice cores. Already in the last century, the physicist John Tyndall (1820-1893)
suggested that glacial periods may have been caused by decreased atmospheric carbon dioxide. The famous Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927) and the
254

300,---------------------------------------------------~
E
a.
.s
N
ICE CORE DATA
250
o
()
1.0
200
()
.0
<l
2.0
40
80
Age (ky)
120
160
Fig. 9.8. Carlxm dioxide concentrations in the Vostok ice core from Antarctica (1. M. Bamola et a!. ,
1987, Nature 329: 408), compared with a productivity-related ol3C signal from the eastern tropical
Pacific (N. J. Shackleton et a!., 1983, Nature 306: 319). The signal plotted is the difference in ol3C
of a planktonic and a benthic species , which constitutes a proxy for the nutrient content in deep
waters. The time scale of the C02 record was adjusted using the deuterium record in the ice and the
0 180 record in the sediments. [W. H. Berger, V. S. Smetacek, O. Wefer, 1989, Productivity of the
ocean: present and past. Wiley-Interscience, Chichester]
distinguished American geologist Thomas C. Chamberlin (1843-1928) both put forward hypotheses about how the concentration of C02 could be changed through time.
The recent ice-core results prove that glacial C02 concentrations in air were lower
than interglacial ones by a factor of 1.5 (Fig. 9.8, upper curve). The C02 fluctuations
run parallel to the temperature at which the snow was deposited. Methane gas also
was measured; the fluctuations are similar to those of carbon dioxide.
The observed amplitude of C02 variation corresponds to a greenhouse effect of
between 1 and 2C, according to recent climate models. Changes are very rapid,
making it very likely that the ocean is responsible: it has a large carbon reservoir
(roughly 60 times that of the present atmosphere), and it has a "memory" of only
about 1000 years (the average age of its deep water masses). Small changes in its
overall chemistry, leading to a small proportional change of carbon dissolved in the
ocean, can potentially have large effects on the atmosphere.
9.4.2 Paleoproductivity. There are a number of ways to affect the sharing of carbon
dioxide between ocean and atmosphere (see Sect. 3.7.1). For example, if dissolved
The Carbon Connection
255
B IOLOG ICAL PUM P
Fig. 9.9. Sketch of a mechanism linking productivity to the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere. According to W. S. Broecker when phosphate is added to the ocean, a new equilibrium is
established, with surface waters being more C02-depleted than before . This then reduces atmospheric C02. An increase in nutrient supply, through biopumping, also increases the 013C of the
dissolved inorganic carbon in surface waters (by preferential removal of 12C into organic matter
which sinks). Thus, the biopump mechanism provides a simple conceptual model linking pC02 and
the difference in ol3 C of planktonic and benthic foraminifers (as shown in Fig. 9.8)
inorganic carbon is preferentially stored at depth, and depleted in upper waters, the
atmosphere should receive a smaller share of the total carbon available. By increasing
the efficiency of biologic pumping such increased vertical fractionation can be
achieved (Fig. 9.9).
The bio-pump mechanism (first proposed by the American geochemist W. S.
Broecker, in 1981) provides a simple conceptual model linking pC02 and 8 13 C (that
is, the records shown in Fig. 9.8). The reason for the link is that the pumping tends to
remove 12C more efficiently from the photic zone than 13C, because 12C is more
readily incorporated into organic matter during photosynthesis. The effect is that 13C
is enriched in surface waters, relative to deep waters. The corresponding difference in
813C, which is picked up in the shells of planktonic and benthic foraminifers, is a
measure of the intensity of the fractionation resulting from the biological pumping.
This intensity, in tum, depends entirely on the nutrient content of deep ocean waters.
The bio-pump model for changing C02 content of the atmosphere (which is controversial and probably can only account for a modest portion of the effect seen in the
ice cores) implies higher productivity of the ocean during glacial time. There is
indeed good independent evidence that productivity was higher during glacials. Off
NW Africa, for example, the rate of burial of organic carbon during glacials is greatly
increased (Fig. 9.\0). The cause, presumably, is increased eastern boundary upwelling due to an increase in trade winds and monsoonal winds. Similar results have been
reported from other coastal upwelling regions. Along the Equator, as well, productivity was higher during glacial time than now. The general increase in productivity may
have resulted in the burial of sufficient additional carbon to pull down the C02
content significantly.
256
SEDIM ENTATION RATE
'0
per mil
cm/ky
10
15
ESTIMATED
PALEO- PRODUCTI VITY
gC .. - 2 ,-1
ORGANIC C
20
100
200
300
10 L-________L-________________-J__________~__~------------~
PRESENT DAY
PRODUCTIVITY
en
10
20
30
40
50
60
a..
vi
>
33
16_6 ~
8_3 E
200
5_6
j. 160
E
PaleoproduC1 lvlty
() 120
0>
80
o
b
10
20
30
40
50
60
AGE ka
Fig. 9.10 a, b. Paleoproductivity reconstructions for the late Pleistocene, off NW Africa. a Oxygen
isotopes, sedimentation rates , and organic matter content in Meteor Core 12392. Right Resulting
paleoproductivity estimate . [Po J. Miiller and E. Suess, 1979, Deep-Sea Res. 26A: 1347, and P. J.
Miiller et ai., 1983 in J. Thiede and E. Suess, Coastal upwelling , Part B. Plenum Press, New York],
Isotope stages as in Figs. 9.7. and 9.4 c. (J Holocene; 2-4 last glaciation; 5a-e last interglacial;
6 earlier glaciation). b Importance of wind in producing changes in upwelling, as seen in correlation
with dust supply (from which the strength of the wind is calculated). [M . S. Samthein et ai., 1987 in
W H. Berger and L. D. Labeyrie, eds. Abrupt climatic change - evidence and implications. Reidel
Dordrechtl
Tertiary Oceans: the Cooling Planet
257
Changes in the sites of carbonate production also must have been important.
During times of low sea level, catbonate deposition would have been greatly decreased on the shelves, and this (together with erosion) would have increased the
carbonate ion content of the ocean, and hence the "alkalinity" of the ocean. In tum,
increased alkalinity allows the ocean to retain a larger share of the total C02 in the
system.
9.4.3 The Long-Range View. On long time scales, not just the ocean's exchange
with the atmosphere has to be considered, but also the weathering of silicates on land,
and the input of C02 from volcanism. The weathering process can be summarily
described by the formula
C02 + CaSi03
CaC03 + Si02 ,
(9.1)
which shows the long-term uptake of C02 from trhe atmosphere. The (volcanogenic)
C02 on the left side, inasmuch as it evolved from the heating of subducted carbonates, is recycled on a very long-term scale (100 million to 1 billion years). Thus,
within the Earth below subduction zones, the equation reads backwards.
From the "Urey equation" (9.1) we can deduce how to effect a long-term decrease
of C02 in the atmosphere: by providing fresh CaSi03, through mountain building and
deep erosion. Mountain-building and sea level drop proceeded all through the late
Tertiary (Fig. 5.18), but especially in the last several million years, as shown in the
changing ratio of strontium isotopes within marine catbonates (see Fig. 8.19). Here is
one possible cause (of several) for the onset of the ice ages: a drop in atmospheric
C02 as a long-term trend within the late Tertiary.
9.5 Tertiary Oceans: the Cooling Planet

9.5.1 Trends and Events: Oxygen Isotopes. Of the host of tools available to paleoceanographers and sedimentologists for studying the sediments newly recovered by
deep-sea drilling, oxygen isotopes promised to yield the greatest return for investment, in the reconstruction of climatic change and the ocean's role in it. However,
nothing much could be achieved without biostratigraphy. It delivers the time frame
and also the all-important information on the response of plankton and benthos to
physical change. Paleobiological studies bring ancient oceans alive. They established,
for example, that "punctuations" in the history of evolution exist, and that they are a
response to climatic change. Only the continuous record of deep-sea sediments, with
its masses of microfossils, could establish such a pattern for sure. On land, hiatus-ridden records (that is, sequences with gaps) commonly do not allow a choice between
gradual and jumpy evolution - as Charles Darwin pointed out long ago in his book,
the Origin of Species (in 1859).
The central theme of climatic evolution in the Tertiary is an overall drop of sea
level, which is accompanied by a general cooling (Fig. 9.11A). The initial work on
the oxygen isotope record of the Tertiary deep ocean was done by C. Emiliani. In the
1950s he used samples of benthic foraminifera from the surface of the sea floor,
258
Q)
'-
::J
CIl
'-
Q)
a. ;:;:.
E
Q)
I-
CIl
.0
0
~
C
CIl
Q)
Quaternary 1-<------- Tertiary
Meso zoic-->-
1 .0 1.8
25
13
58
36
65
100
135 .150 180
: l~UI~1
Ifl l
IIJ'l CENT~~L PACIFIC

:
Ptritonk fCll'Ofrinlf.,o
Bedhlc: foranMnIfero
SU BANT ARCTIC
iliilll.
20
Pi_Ionic loramlnll .. a
&tnthlc forOfnlnlfero
40
AGE (10 8 yr)
Fig. 9.11 a, b. Schematic diagram of the planetary cooling trend in the Cenozoic. a Generalized sea
level curve, showing overall regression (1. Thiede et aI., 1992, Polarforschung 61 [1] : 1; based on a
compilation by L. A. Frakes). b Oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic and benthic foraminifera
in deep-sea sediments. Vertical lin es marked MM and EO show approximate position of major
cooling steps, which involve high latitudes and deep ocean water masses. [W. H. Berger, E. Vincent,
H. R. Thierste in, 1981 , SEPM Spec. Publ. 32: 489, based on data of R. G. Douglas and S. M. Savin
(1975), central Pacific, and N. J. Shackleton and J. Kennett (1975). subantarctic Pacific]
Tertiary Oceans: the Great Partitioningt
259
where old sediments are laid bare by erosion, to identify an overall cooling trend
since the Cretaceous, from the increase of oxygen-I8 in their tests. His guess proved
correct.
Seven years after the Deep-Sea Drilling Project started, two paleontologist-geochemist teams had worked out the essential trends (Fig. 9.11B). The stratigraphies of
the oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic and benthic foraminifers shows separate trends in low latitudes, but similar trends in high latitudes. Thus, the overall
cooling in the Tertiary is largely a high-latitude (and deep-water) phenomenon. In
general, then, temperature gradients must have increased throughout the Tertiary,
since the middle of the Eocene, some 40 million years ago. Wind speed depends
strongly on temperature gradients. If so, winds and their offspring, the surface currents, greatly increased in the late Tertiary, as did coastal and mid-ocean upwelling.
Direct evidence that this is true is found in the increasing diatom supply, both in the
northern North Pacific and around the Antarctic, during the late Tertiary. Other evidence for fertility increases also exists. For example, radiolarian skeletons become
continuously more delicate after the Eocene. Apparently the content of dissolved
silica decreased through time, a sign that silica has been increasingly removed by
diatom production in upwelling areas.
The high-latitude cooling indicated in the oxygen isotope trends shows two major
steps: a more recent one in the middle of the Miocene, and an older one near the
Eocene-Oligocene boundary. We do not know the cause of these steps, which simply
enhance the overall trend of turning a warm ocean into a cold one. Perhaps, at some
critical treshold of cooling around Antarctica, deep water formation off its shores was
greatly enhanced and this set off a chain reaction producing a permanent reorganization in the ocean's circulation patterns, making the change irreversible. Or perhaps
the physical geography changed at that very time, barring or opening certain ocean
passages and thus redirecting the heat carried by ocean currents. The two types of
causes - internal feedback and change of geography - are not mutually exclusive. We
know that both are at work. The question is, how important they are in each given
situation.
9.5.2 The Great Partitioning. All through the Tertiary, changes in geography due to
plate motions profoundly affect the configuration of exchange between ocean basins.
A number of important valve points in the ocean's plumbing system (called "gateways") translate small motions of continents into large effects for ocean currents (Fig.
9.12). The dominant theme is a stepwise partitioning of the global ocean (originally
connected by large circumtropical passages) into the cul-de-sacs we have today. In a
sense, we trade northern and southern embayments along a broad world-encircling
tropical ocean for three separate super-large basins connected through a ring current
far in the south (the "Southern Exchange").
The gateways shown (Fig. 9.12) control access to the Arctic Ocean (east and west
of Greenland), connect the global ocean along the Equator ("Tethys Ocean" between
Africa and Eurasia, Panama Straits, Indonesian Seaway between Borneo and New
Guinea), and control the evolution of the Circumpolar Current (Tasmanian Passage,
Drake Passage). The difference from the present ocean to the Eocene ocean 45
260
" -- /
!P'--;"""')
---
Fig. 9.12. Geography of the middle Eocene (ca. 45 Ma) and major critical valve points for ocean
circulation. Tropical valves are closing (filled rectangles), high latitude valves are opening up (open
rectangles) throughout the Cenozoic. [Base map from B. U. Haq, Oceanologica Acta, 4 Suppl.: 71]
million years ago consists mainly in the closing of the tropical gateways, and the
opening of the poleward ones. In detail, each of these closings and openings holds a
wealth of interesting stories. One of the most fascinating, for example, is the drying
out of the Mediterranean between about 6 to 5 million years ago, as discovered
during Leg 13 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (with W. B. F. Ryan and K. 1. Hsti as
Co-chief Scientists). Huge amounts of salt were deposited at that time in the Mediterranean basin, so much that the salinity of the global ocean may have been reduced by
6%!
The overall trend towards isolation of the major ocean basins resulted both from
the grand switching of the valves and a drop in sea level (Fig. 5.18). This fall - a
long-term regression since the late Cretaceous - was briefly halted or reversed in the
middle Eocene and middle Miocene. It is thought to have been caused by a decrease
in spreading rates and by mountain building (in the late Tertiary). A decrease in
spreading rates makes for a lesser rate of production of young (hence shallow) sea
floor, which leads to deepening of the ocean. Mountain-building doubles up lithosphere, and leaves a hole to be filled. Both processes result in regression, therefore.
Regression results in albedo increase (land reflects sunlight better than does the
ocean), and C02 decrease (from the chemical weathering of exposed continental
rocks). Hence the cooling trend is favored.
9.5.3 The Grand Asymmetries. What are the consequences for ocean circulation of
the large-scale valve switch executed by continents moving away from Antarctica?
There are implications for physical, chemical, and biological oceanography. Generally, we can say that increased compartmentalization allows for a broader range of
temperatures and salinities in the global ocean. Water masses, then, become more
different with time. Eventually, mixing of these masses is restricted to the Southern
Tertiary Oceans: the Onset of the (Northern) Ice Age
261
Ocean, that is, to the "cold box" of the ocean modelers. Thus, the average ocean
water has to be cold (which it is, at present). Since the cold water sphere becomes the
global environment, while the tropical waters are isolated, deep-sea and cold-water
faunas become global, while tropical ones become more provincial.
As concerns the heat budget, one leitmotif of Tertiary ocean history is the increased displacement of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ, the heat equator)
to the north of the Equator. There are several causes for this. One is the whitening of
the Antarctic continent. This has the effect of pushing climatic zones northward.
Another is the northward movement of large continental masses which sets up monsoonal regimes favorable for northward heat transfer. The uplift of Tibet and the
Himalayas as a consequence of the collision of the Indian with the Eurasian Plate had
additional climatic consequences, for example, the strengthening of monsoons, and
an increase in weathering. A fourth factor is the peculiar geographic configuration in
both major ocean basins, Atlantic and Pacific, which provides for deflection of westward-flowing equatorial currents, sending them northward to strengthen the Gulf
Stream and the Kuroshio. The end result is that the southern hemisphere is robbed of
heat by the northern hemisphere: glaciers in southern New Zealand are in walking
distance from the seashore, at a latitude which corresponds to that of the vineyards of
Bordeaux! The significance of this asymmetry for paleoclimatology was emphasized
long ago by James Croll in his book Climate and Time (1875).
One important aspect of this planetary heat asymmetry is the fact that the North
Atlantic tends to deliver deep water to the southern exchange around Antarctica. On
the whole, it receives shallower water in return, not directly from the Antarctic, but
via various routes along which this water was warmed. Thus, the North Atlantic uses
deep water formation as a heat pump: warm water in, cold water out.
When was this "Nordic heat pump" first turned on? We do not know for sure, but
there are certain clues from chemial asymmetries between Pacific and Atlantic
(basin-basin fractionation, Sect. 7.6.5). Whenever the North Atlantic makes cold
deep water, and sends it off to the southern mixing ring, it also sends nutrients and
dissolved silica out of the basin. Also, in order to achieve the necessary density for
making deep water, salinity needs to be increased by sending water vapor to the
North Pacific. In tum, this sets up an esturine deep circulation pattern there, with high
nutrient and silica values at depth (Sect. 7.6.1). The result is that siliceous sediments
become rare in the North Atlantic and abundant in the North Pacific, whenever the
Nordic heat pump is in action. From the record of silica deposition, we see that the
Pacific-Atlantic asymmetry greatly increased between 15 and 10 million years ago
("silica switch"). At that time the Nordic heat pump started working hard (Sect.
9.5.5).
9.5.4 The Onset of the (Northern) Ice Age. Once the Nordic heat pump was turned
on, the north-to-south asymmetry was greatly strengthened - the ice age could proceed in Antarctica, while being kept out of northern latitudes. Eventually, however,
the overall cooling caught up with the north as well, between 3.5 and 2.5 million
years ago (Fig. 9.13). Northern glaciation set in, and the planetary climate moved into
the glacial cycles which we discussed earlier. Again, the Plio-Pleistocene cooling was
262

E_
~
w
~
~ DETRITAL MINERAL GRAINS

~ 0
50
" .5
6 '&01%. 1
" .0
. 35
lO
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r
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y
A
M
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G
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. Glac;ol
Preg loclal
P
P
G
I
lS ~
8
R
Fig. 9.13 a, b. Onset of the ice age. a Sudden increase in the abundance of detrital mineral grains at
DSDP Site 116, NW Atlantic, indicating glacial activity on the adjacent continent. [W. A. Berggren,
1972, Init. Rep. Deep Sea Drilling Project 12: 953] . b Change from a low variability climate (L) to
a high variability ocean climate (H), as indicated in the oxygen isotope stratigraphy of a piston core
from the central equatorial Pacific. The isotopes refer to the benthic foraminifer Globocassidulina
subglobosa, whose present composition is near +3.5 %0 at this site. Magnetic stratigraphy controls
the time scale. PP Panama Seaway closes gradually within the Gauss Epoch. [N. J. Shackleton, N.
D. Opdyke, 1977, Nature 270: 216]
associated with regression, In addition, mountain building and the northward drift of
land masses towards polar areas helped bring about a greater likelihood for snow to
stay on the ground - the necessary condition for glaciation. The exact timing of the
onset of ice age fluctuations may have to do with the closing of the Panama Seaway
at the time. Atlantic and Pacific were now even more isolated from each other than
before.
9.5.5 The Mid-Miocene Cooling Step. The "silica switch" mentioned above, that is,
the large-scale transfer of dissolved silicate from the Atlantic to the Pacific between
15 and 10 million years ago, points to a major reorganization in the deep circulation
of the ocean which preceded the northern ice age (Fig. 9.14). In the stable isotope
Tertiary Oceans: the Mid-Miocene Cooling Step
263
SILICA DEPOSITION
DSDP SITE
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NORTH ATLANTIC
NORTH PACIFIC
Fig. 9.14. The middle Miocene "silica switch" from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific, suggesting the turning on of the Nordic heat pump about 15 million years ago. Silica-rich sequences
marked black. (F. Woodruff and S. M. Savin, 1989, Paleoceanog. 4: 87, based on a compilation by
G . Keller and J. A. Barron, 1983, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 94: 590]
record, the crucial transition appears as a drastic increase in oxygen isotope values in
benthic foraminifera, between 15 and 13 million years ago (Fig. 9.11). This increase
reflects both growth of ice on Antarctica, and a world wide cooling of abyssal waters,
which in tum reflects a fundamental change in deep circulation. A strong increase in
the diversity of planktonic foraminifers at the time suggests the development of a
strong thermocline below warm surface waters, providing for diversification of
plankton habitats which resulted in divcersification of plankton species.
The cooling step is preceded by a substantial carbon isotope excursion toward
heavy values. This carbon isotope anomaly is seen in all oceans, at all depths. The
excursion is synchronous with the onset of abundant sedimentation of organic-rich
sediments in the margins of the Pacific. Presumably, the increase in organic deposition preferentially extracts 12C from the ocean, so that the carbon isotope values of
dissolved inor~anic carbon in the ocean become enriched in the isotope 13C, which
increases the I C/ 12C ratio as observed. In this manner, a link is established between
margin sedimentation, and the isotope record of deep-sea sediments. There is a possibility that the increased burial of organic carbon was in part responsible for the
mid-Miocene cooling that followed: the additional extraction of carbon from the
264
ocean would have lowered the catbon dioxide content of the atmosphere, preparing
the way for the subsequent build-up of ice.
Besides internal feedback mechanisms favoring cooling and ice growth on Antarctica (albedo increase and a lowering of atmospheric C02), we again have to consider
rearrangements in geography. In the case of the middle Miocene, it is the Indonesian
Seaway that closes some time between 20 and 10 million years ago. It is not clear,
however, how the closing of this passage would have contributed to the cooling.
A much discussed question is to what extent the shift in 018 0 toward heavier
values (Fig. 9.llb, MM) reflects cooling, and how much is due to ice buildup. Ice
rafting off Antarctica (as seen in "ice-rafted debris") apparently only sets in "in
earnest" towards the end of the middle Miocene. At that time, one surmises, significant glacial ice growth began on Antarctica. Such buildup could have been responsible for roughly 50 m drop in sea level, beyond the general regression from uplift in
Asia and elsewhere, which is reflected in strontium isotope stratigraphy.
9.5.6 The End-of-Eocene Cooling. Going back in time, we skip over the enigmatic
Oligocene, with its low plankton diversity and its strange Braarudosphaera blooms,
to take a closer look at the late Eocene and the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. On the
very first leg of the Glomar Challenger, the Eocene posed a major puzzle: the drill bit
hit chert in the western North Atlantic, at the level of a prominent seismic reflector
(see Sects. 3.6.2 and 8.6.4). Later, similar beds were found in many parts of the
ocean. In fact, only since the late Eocene (that is, the last 40 million years) do pelagic
sediments look "modem". From then on they have a facies distribution similar to that
outlined in Chapter 8.1.
In essence, Eocene sedimentary facies are less clearly differentiated from each
other than post-Eocene ones. The chemical fractionation machine of the ocean was
less efficient, both because ocean basins communicated more easily than now, and
because there was less of a temperature gradient driving the machine (that is, the
winds were weak, and hence the upwelling that concentrates organic-rich sediments,
silica, and phosphate in the margins). This situation changed towards the end of the
Eocene: the machine turned on. The polar regions cooled, presumably due to thermal
isolation of the Arctic and Antarctic and due to positive feedback from snow cover
and changing vegetation (increase of albedo, Sect. 9.2.2). The polar front migrated
equator-ward, pushing a late Eocene rain belt (and thus the temperature regions)
away from Antarctic shores. We see the effect on the oxygen isotope values in high
latitudes: they quickly move to higher values during the late Eocene, with an especially dramatic change at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary (Fig. 9.11b, EO). This is
the point at which the water in high latitude shelves is cold enough, and saline
enough, to sink and fill the deep ocean basins.
Whatever the cause - most likely internal feedback processes set in motion by
overall regression - the late Eocene cooling irreversible initiated a new type of ocean,
one where strong asymmetries began to develop between north and south, between
Atlantic and Pacific, and between margins and deep sea.
The Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary
265
9.6 The Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary

9.6.1 The Evidence for Sudden Extinction. The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary
marks a major biostratigraphic break in the record. This break, of course, is the
reason why the boundary between the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic was placed here in
the first place. By convention, we count the time since as the age of the mammals
(Appendix A3), which replaced that of the reptiles. In shallow marine sections exposed on land, the evidence for profound change is clear everyWhere. However, one
could never be quite sure to what degree the change observed was the result of
superposition of sediments of greatly differing age. Pelagic sediments exposed on
land gave the best evidence for a rapid and fundamental change in plankton biota a
the "Kff"-Boundary, thanks to the studies carried out by a number of biostratigraphers, in the 1960's (e. g., W. A. Berggren, M. N. Bramlette and E. Martini, H.
Luterbacher, and I. Premoli-Silva). Results from deep-sea drilling fully confirmed
these early results, and demonstrated a largescale, worldwide extinction event (Fig.
9.15). Careful scrutiny of the interval associated with extinction, and global correlation, showed that the catastrophe happened in a geologically short time, say, less than
100 000 years.
9.6.2 The Causes of Extinction. From the viewpoint of paleoceanography, there is
little reason to suspect fundamental differences in circulation or heat budget between
the latest Cretaceous and the early Paleogene, although a general regression apparently was in progress at the time. This observation, combined with the suddenness of
the extinction, and the fact that it was highly selective (warm-water planktonic
species were greatly reduced, but not deep-sea benthic species, for example) makes a
buildup of gradual stress unattractive as a cause. Instead, we must look to a major
unusual global disturbance.
The number of causes that have been proposed to explain the great extinctions at
the end of the Cretaceous (including the demise of the dinosaurs) is truly remarkable.
Radiation from a supernova, poison gas from a comet entering the atmosphere, climate catastrophe from large-scale volcanism or from enormous meteorites colliding
with Earth are among the hypotheses testifying to the fertile imagination of geologists. However, the major cause of the sudden extinctions remained unknown, until L.
and W. Alvarez and co-workers (1980) and J. Smit and J. Hertogen (1980) presented
strong evidence for the impact scenario, that is, for collision with a large mass of
rock coming in from outer space (e. g., a body ca. 10 km in diameter). The evidence
rests mainly on the observation that iridium (a noble rare metal) is greatly enriched in
the Kff boundary layer, and that shocked quartz is present, attesting to sudden high
pressures. These findings made the topic of the Kff extinctions a dominant one all
through the 1980s. Even a candidate for an impact crater has been found, on the
Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, the 200-km-diameter Chicxulub structure.
Alternative scenarios are being debated as well, mainly those centered on volcanism. There is no reason, of course, why volcanism (or regression) could not have
aided in bringing about unfavorable conditions for survival in the aftermath of an
impact, or a series of impacts.
266
% TERTIARY
10
20
30
i
40
i
50
i
60
i
70
i
80
90
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20
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% CRETACEOUS
Fig. 9.15. Fundamental and rapid change in nannofossil content of deep-sea sediments from latest
Cretaceous to earliest Tertiary ("Krr-Boundary"). A highly diversified tropical assemblage is replaced by a less diversified assemblage of opportunistic species, including dinoflagellate cysts (large
sphere with hole) and the stress-tolerant form Braarudosphaera (pentagon). Sample spacing at the
left side. [DSDP Site 384 in the western South Atlantic studied by H. R. Thierstein and H. Okada,
1979, lnit. Reps. Deep Sea Drilling Project 43: 601)
The exact manner in which the global environment was changed as a consequence
of the impact is still a matter of lively discussion. A prolonged darkening of the sun
(from particles in the stratosphere), acid rain (from the burning of molecular nitrogen
when the air was heated), and drastic changes in temperature (from changes in greenhous gases) are some of the possibilities that have been put forward.
9.7 Plate Stratigraphy and CCD Fluctuations

9.7.1 Backtracking and CCD Reconstruction. To interpret the meaning of a given
sample from the sea floor correctly, the sediment has to be placed in its original
latitude and depth, at the time of deposition. This is done by "back-tracking" the path
that a site has taken as it aged. Without taking proper account of this path, the
sediment sequences in drill cores cannot be interpreted. For example, when a site
moves down from the East Pacific Rise, and northward across the equator, it collects
a number of different sediments (calcareous ooze, siliceous clay, siliceous calcareous
ooze, siliceous clay, red clay) as a result of plate motion only and depending on its
original position. To interpret such a facies sequence in terms of changes in the ocean
system would be incorrect.
Plate Stratigraphy and CCO Fluctuations

~Ime->I ~
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10
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20
30
40
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200
300
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400
Depth (m)
Fig. 9.16. Determination of paleodepth of the CCO by backtracking of drill sites. Subsidence track
and sediment sequence of Site 137 Central Atlantic . Lithologic symbols (from left to right at base):
broken lines clays; dots calcareous ooze; random dashes (below 400 m depth) basalt. CCO is
reached near 3.6 km depth, 90 million years ago . [W. H. Berger, E. L. Winterer, 1974, Spec. Pub!.
Int. Assoc. Sedimentol. I: 11]
The changes of facies that are related to changes in oceanography emerge as a

result of "backtracking" of sites, which brings the sediments accumulated on a piece
of sea floor back to the original place of deposition, as a function of age. Horizontal
backtracking is done by reversing the path of a drilling site the appropriate pole of
rotation for the plate the site occupies, For some purposes it is sufficient to obtain the
paleolatitude (that is, the distance to the equator), Vertical backtracking is necessary
any time depth-sensitive properties are involved, such as carbonate content, sedimentation rate, or preservation of calcareous fossils.
The position of the CCD is, by definition, tied to depth of deposition, and the past
positions of the CCD in anyone region, therefore, have to be found by backtracking.
How exactly does the CCD fluctuate? What can this tell us about the changing
chemistry and fertility of the ocean? Before we can answer these questions, we must
reconstruct the depth levels at which the CCD was crossed, for a sufficient number of
drilling sites. To do this we use the generalized subsidence curve (Fig. 1.9) and
proceed as follows.
First, we identify the point which corresponds to the basement age of a given
deep-sea record, on the subsidence curve of Fig. 1.9. Then we walk back up the
268
65
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1400Z
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Fig. 9.17 a, b. Effect of sea-floor subsidence on carbonate sedimentation. a Seismic profile of

well-layered, well-preserved calcareous sediments, western flank of the East Pacific Rise , near the
equator. 6s is the echo-return time and corresponds to 4500 m depth . b Similar profile, further west,
at greater depth (75 5250 m). Topography and sediment cover are irregular, and are interpreted as
deep-sea karst, produced by dissolution of carbonate which migrated into greater water depth with
the subsiding sea-floor. [w. H. Berger et aI., 1979, Mar. Geol. 32: 205]
curve, the distance corresponding to the age of the sediment for which we wish to
determine the depth of deposition. We obtain a paleodepth estimate, as a difference to
present water depth, for the time of deposition. To refine this estimate, we subtract
one half the thickness of the sediment accumulated since that time of deposition, to
account both for the buildup of the sea floor and for isostatic subsidence. The paleoCCD emerges as the paleodepth at which the facies changes from carbonate to
269
Plate Stratigraphy and CCD Auctuations
noncarbonate (Fig. 9.16). In the example, the site crossed at a paleodepth of 3.6 km,
90 million years ago.
To obtain a number of crossings, which would allow reconstruction of fluctuations, we apply the same procedure to a number of sites in the same region. In an
age-depth diagram, each drill site will appear as a subsidence curve, on which the
sedimentary facies (and rates of sedimentation) can be plotted. The changes in CCD
will appear as changing depths of the carbonate-to-noncarbonate boundary. Conditions do not always allow positioning of the CCD by backtracking. Upon moving
down the ridge flank, calcareous sediment can be deeply eroded, wherever bottom
currents remove the protective clay cover, so that "deep-sea karst" can form (Fig.
9.17). When this happens, backtracking will not find the depth of the CCD crossing;
the path of the site will show a hiatus extending above and below that depth level.
9.7.2 Atlantic and Pacific CCD Fluctuations. Reconstructions of CCD fluctuations
provide useful information on deep circulation, on overall and regional productivity,
and on the sharing of carbonate between shelf and deep-sea floor. Quite generally, the
CCD is one of the important proxies for the chemical state of the ocean that bears on
atmospheric C02 content.
Reconstructions differ somewhat depending on the available datings of basement
and sediments, and on the assumptions regarding the rates of subsidence. Nevertheless, the general trends have been well known since the early 1970s (Fig. 9.18): the
CCD stood high in the late Eocene, dropped near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary,
rose in the Miocene when it reached a peak between 10 and 15 million years ago, and
then fell to its present depth near 4.3 km . The most dramatic changes occurred at the
end of the Eocene, and within the last 10 million years, in both oceans. The drastic
drop at the end of Eocene is global, and hence reflects changes in the global carbon
...- ....
1/'-
.,It
::E:
Fig. 9.18. Reconstructions of CCD fluctuations for various oceanic regions.

Solid and dashed lines. Reconstructions
of Tj . H. van Andel et al.. 1977, J Geol
85: 651. Dotted line Reconstructions of
W. H. Berger, P. H. Roth, 1975, Rev.
Geophys. Space. Phys . 13: 561. The reconstructions agree in the general patterns of the fluctuations, which appear
correlated with sealevel changes on the
whole
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270
cycle. The sharp drop in the Atlantic after 10 million years ago has a strong regional
component, and reflects (among other things) the increase in production of North
Atlantic Deep Water discussed in connection with the "silica switch" (Sect. 9.5.5).
The overall similarity in the CCD fluctuations of Pacific and Atlantic indicates
that the chemical climate of the ocean is changing on a global scale throughout.
Comparison with sea level reconstructions and (5 18 0 stratigraphy suggests that
periods of high sea level are characterized by a shallow CCD and by warm high
latitudes; periods of low sea level by a deep CCD and cold high latitudes (and cold
deep waters). Why should a relatively warm ocean have a shallower CCD than a cold
one? Is not cold water less favorable to the preservation of carbonate than warm
water?
9.7.3 Possible Causes of CCD Fluctuations. A simple hypothesis linking sea level
to CCD fluctuations is the concept of "basin-shelf-fractionation". The shelf, being
shallow, is the favored place for carbonate to accumulate, because of the correlation
between solubility and pressure. Flooded shelves, then, are carbonate traps, and
remove CaC03 from the ocean so that the deep-sea floor starves. Conversely, bared
shelve supply carbonate to the deep sea. Thus, it is not the temperature which is
important, but the sea level. Temperature happens to be correlated with sea level for
various reasons (decrease of albedo and increase in pC02 during flooding of shelves;
see Sect. 9.2.2).
There is good reason to believe that the mass balance hypothesis of CCD fluctuations does not suffice. We must, in addition, employ a more subtle argument, based
on internal cycling of carbonate within the deep ocean basins. Remember that the
biological productivity of the ocean is responsible for precipitating carbonate. Removal of solids from a solution lowers saturation. High productivity, then, results in an
undersaturated ocean with a shallow CCD. In this model, we can read the CCD
fluctuations as productivity fluctuations, with fertility high in the Eocene and
Miocene, low in the Oligocene. There is other independent evidence that productivity
was low in the Oligocene, supporting this concept.
CCD fluctuations also are closely associated with the history of erosion on the
deep sea floor. The dissolution of carbonate itself is a form of erosion, of course.
Compilations of sedimentation rates and hiatuses (gaps in the record) show that both
these stratigraphic parameters fluctuated consideraby through time. However, the
relationships between these fluctuations and those of the CCD are still obscure. One
problem is that hiatuses may be "produced" during drilling, whenever recovery is
difficult. This happens, for example, in the chert-rich sediments of Eocene Age.
9.8 Cretaceous Oceans: a Question of Oxygenation

9.S.1 A "Stagnant" Ocean? When the Deep Sea Drilling Project recovered mid-Cretaceous sediments in the Atlantic Ocean, it was found that some of these were very
rich in organic matter, indicating either high organic supply to the sea floor, or
reduced losses of organics due to low oxygen content in deep water at the time, or
Cretaceous Oceans: a Question of Oxygenation
271
Fig. 9.19. Cretaceous organic-rich sediments in the continental margin off the US East Coast. The
diagram is highly schematic and is based on both drilling and seismic profiler records. 1 Basalt; 2
greenish-gray limestone; 3 red clayey limestone; 4 white and gray limestone; 5 calcareous ooze and
chalk; 6 black clay; 7 multicolored clay; 8 hemipelagic mud; 9 terrigenous sand and clay. Age: fUR
Jurassic; CRET Cretaceous; TERT Tertiary; QUA Quaternary. [Y. Lancelot et al.. 1972, Init. Rep.
Deep. Sea Drilling Project 11 : 901]
both (Fig. 9.19). Regionally, the oxygen content apparently dropped low enough to
prevent burrowing organisms from established a mixed layer on the sea floor. Thus,
laminations are common in sediments of this time, especially in the margins.
The various indicators of low oxygen conditions are concentrated during certain
well-defined periods which may have been quite brief ("anoxic events"). They occur
typically in the Atlantic, although some have been found in the Pacific also. What is
the significance of these anaerobic and near-anaerobic deposits? What are the implications for the chemistry and fertility of the ocean at the time? For climate?
To answer these questions, we need to do several things: (I) Search for modem
analogues of deposition under low oxygen conditions (see Sect. 7.6.3). This will give
us an appreciation for the type of environment that might have prevailed in the
middle Cretaceous, or during parts of it. (2) Consider the physical principles of
oxygenation in a warm ocean. (3) Analyze the material to determine its origin (how
much is washed in from land?). (4) Note the stratigraphic details associated with
wide-spread, well-defined anoxic events, to obtain clues about possible specific
causes for specific events. We next take up these points in sequence.
9.8.2 Modern Analogs. There are two situtions where sediments with high organic
content are being deposited today: the partially restricted basins with estuarine circulation, and the open ocean continental slope, where it is intersected by a strong
oxygen minimum (Fig. 9.20). The Baltic and the Black Sea are examples for the first,
the Gulf of California and the Indian continental slope of the Arabian Sea for the
second. Common to both is a high supply of organic matter relative to the oxygen
272
2(mIjL)
0 246 8
'\.
0,5
...
:r
Salinity
("' 00)
17
23
-,~
AEROBIC
2(mljL)
024 6
/'
!ANAEROBIC
...
......a:
~
Oatt! orow"
,.",d..
<l
Rich looblntl'lOS abo.e I ~O -175m_

Laminat.d c lay'Y ond mar ly muds
In 'hi ono. it d.pth . no benthic lift.
BLACK SEA
N . INDIAN
OCEAN
Fig. 9.20. Modern analogs of black shale deposition. a Black Sea, with strong salinity stratification
preventing vertical overturn and hence blocking supply of oxygen to the deep layers. b Intersection
of an oxygen minimum layer with a continental margin, in the northern Indian Ocean. The minimum
layer is a worldwide phenomenon; it is reinforced in areas of high production. [I. Thiede, Tj. H. van
Andel, 1977, Earth Planet Sci. Lett. 33: 301]
supply from the deep water which bathes the sea floor onto which the organic matter
falls. To expand the likelihood of obtaining "black" deposits, then, we can increase
productivity, or decrease the oxygen supply, or do both.
Which of these conditions applies to the mid-Cretaceous? There is no evidence for
high productivity in the mid-Cretaceous, either from sedimentation rates or from the
type of sediment delivered. In fact, productivity may well have been decreased compared to typical present values. Thus, it has to be a low supply of oxygen which is the
crucial factor.
9.8.3 Oxygen in a Warm Ocean. We can readily appreciate why the oxygen content
of deep waters was low: the temperature was relatively high. At present, the ocean
has a temperature of between 0 and 5 0c, except for a thin upper layer. Saturation
values for oxygen are near 7.5 mIll. Typical actual values in the deep ocean are
between 3 and 5 ml/l , that is, about 3.5 mill lower, because of oxygen consumption
through decay. For the Cretaceous ocean, isotopic measurements suggest deep water
temperatures close to 15 C. For water tempertures between 15 and 20C the oxygen
saturation is near 5.5 mIll, that is, 2 ml/l, that is, 2 ml/lless than for the present cold
deep water. We might expect, then, a typical value near 2 mill for the deep Cretaceous
ocean, after subtracing a loss to account for decay. Under these conditions, any
above-average loss of oxygen in an ocean basin with estuarine-type circulation (Fig.
7.12) would make the basin susceptible for developing regional oxygen deficiency.
Unusually high supply of terrigenous organic matter to such a basin could further
Cretaceous Oceans : a Question of Oxygenation
273
reduce the oxygen supply. This is a common factor today, along continental margins
(but is unimportant in the open ocean).
One scenario that also needs to be considered is the formation of heavy warm
saline water masses originating from high evaporation shelf seas. Pulsed input from
such sources to the deep ocean could conceivably produce stagnant bottom water
layers in somewhat restricted areas, as existed in the early Atlantic.
9.8.4 Milankovitch in the Cretaceous? Many pelagic sediments of Cretaceous age some now exposed in the mountains of Italy, others in the deep ocean - show distinct
cyclic deposition. Alternations of organic-rich and carbonate-rich facies are typical.
The detailed mathematical analysis of numerical sequences of such alternations (by
Fourier expansion) indicates that orbital cycles were important in producing them.
What might be the mechanism translating orbital information into sediment cycles,
during ice-free times? We do not know - presumably these mechanisms have to do
with fluctuations in productivity, perhaps linked to oxygen supply to the deep sea
(which releases nutrients) and to a changing rate of overturn, from fluctuations in
deep-water formation, and from a slight change in the latitude where deep waters
formed. It is unlikely that we shall know about these mechanisms soon - after all, we
do not yet understand the cycles of the Quaternary very well, even though they
govern the period we live in.
9.8.5 " Anoxic Events" and Volcanism. The widespread occurrence of Cretaceous
organic-rich sediments was referred to above as something that is not entirely unexpected, given the fact that deep waters were much warmer than today. However, the
question remains why such black deposits occur globally during well-defined time
intervals (leading S. O. Schlanger and H. C. Jenkyns to propose the term Oceanic
Anoxic Events . or OAE, in 1976). That there were such times when an unsual amount
of organic matter was deposited is strongly supported by the ol3 C stratigraphy in
4
& 13 C
/00
(POB)
3
2
0
1
65
75
85
95
105
11 5
125
135
145
MYBP
Fig. 9.21. " Oceanic Anoxic Events" of Schlanger and Jenkyns , and the 1)"0 record of pelagic
marine limestones, showing coincidence of the "events" with positive 1)1 3C excursions (generated
through the lock-up of 12c-rich carbon). Width of black band reflects uncertainty in the value of
ol3e. Lower part: Cretaceous stages from Berrassian (right) to Maastrichtian (left). OAEs are
centred in the Aptian, Cenomanian/Turonian and Santonian/Campanian [M. A. Arthur, W. E. Dean ,
S. O. Schlanger, 1985 , AGU Geophys Monogr 32: 504; modifi ed]
274
marine carbonates (as emphasized by P. A. Scholle and M. A. Arthur, in 1980).

During the crucial intervals, one observes distinct positive excursions in the (i l3 e
record, which result from the preferential extraction of 12e into organic matter, whose
rate of deposition was greatly increased at the time (see Fig. 9.21).
One fascinating scenario, which is quite plausible, is the idea that extensive volcanism was responsible for the origin of the OAEs. There is evidence for enormous
outpourings of basaltic lava in the South Pacific around 120 million years ago, in the
Aptian. One surviving witness of this enhanced volcanic activity is the Ontong Java
s
250
4
"'-OIL
200
r-
PALEOiMPyJ
2
3S
OCEAN . /
CRUST
MAGNETIC REVERSALS
BLACK SHALES
ls+-.,--Th--,--,r-,--.,-....,.............I111111~....-r--r-.....,
Nonnal
Reversed
1M
o
~ II ~ I ~ I ~ I ~ I ~ ~~ ~II ~ II ~I I~IA ~II~ S,

I
10
20 30 40 50
60 70 80
90 100 110 120 130 140 150
MILUONS Of YEARS
Fig. 9.22. Correlation of the rate of production of ocean crust with sea level and temperature
changes, black shale and oil formation, and the abundance of magnetic reversals: basis of the
superplume hypothesis of black shale formation. [R. L. Larson, 1991, Geology 19: 963, courtesy of
the author]
"Anoxic Events" and Volcanism
275
Plateau east of New Guinea, which is some 40 km thick and has the size of Texas. A
"superplume" event may be responsible for its origin. According to recent theories,
the basalt forming the plateau derived from a great hot blob of magma that rose from
the core-mantle boundary during the early Cretaceous, and arrived at the surface
some time in the Aptian. The release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere (and
possibly other disturbances related to hydrothermal reactions and heat input) may be
ultimately responsible for anaerobism in the deep sea. The coincidence of major
volcanism, anaerobism (and petroleum formation), and sea level rise certainly is
striking (Fig. 9.22). In addition, as R. L. Larson points out, the frequency of magnetic
reversals is affected: delivery of a plume of magma extracts energy from the coremantle boundary, which halts the processes responsible for reversals.
The last illustration in this chapter emphasis the complexitiy of factors that are
important in ocean history and paleoceanography. Especially the influence of mantle
processes on climate evolution are being hotly discussed in the geologic community.
Is the formation of black shales and related petroleum source rocks really determined
by volcanism? At this time we cannot say. In the next chapter we address the more
descriptive aspects of resources from the ocean floor, including hydrocarbons.
Further Reading
CLIMAP Project Members (1981) Seasonal reconstruction of the Earth's surface at the last glacial
maximum. Geol Soc Am Map Chart Ser MC-36, Boulder, Colo
Warme JE, Douglas RG, Winterer EL (eds) (1981) The Deep Sea Drilling Project: a decade of
progress. SEPM Spec Publ 32, Soc Econ Paleontol Mineral, Tulsa, Okla
Berger A, Imbrie J, Hays J, Kukla G, Saltzman B (eds) (1984) Milankovitch and climate, 2 vols.
Reidel, Dordrecht
Kennett JP (ed) (1985) The Miocene Ocean: paleoceanography and biogeography. Geol Soc Am
Mem 163, Boulder, Colo
Sundquist ET, Broecker WS (eds) (1985) The carbon cycle and atmospheric C02: natural variations
Archean to present. Geophys Monogr 32, Am Geophys Union, Washington DC
10 Resources from the Ocean Floor
10.1 Types of Resources

The ocean floor contains energy sources (petroleum and gas) and raw materials (sand
and gravel, phosphorite, corals and other biogenic carbonates, heavy metal ores).
Also, the sea floor is used as a dump site for waste, which represents a considerable
economic value. In terms of dollars and cents, energy (hydrocarbons) is the most
important resource, while (at present) raw materials are of regional importance only.
Nothing as yet has been gained from deep sea ores, although they are of great
scientific interest and are potentially valuable. The various resources are summarized
in Table 10.1. Many of the figures given are rather crude guesses: resources within
the ground are difficult to quantrify. We shall briefly treat the geologic background
for seafloor resources here, with some mention of the economic and the political
problems associated with the use of the sea floor.
10.2 Petroleum Beneath the Sea Floor

10.2.1 Economic Background. The present high standard of living of the industrial
countries, unprecedented in all of history, is largely dependent on the availability of
large amounts of cheap energy. In the USA and elsewhere petroleum delivers about
one half of this vital resource. In the USA, 54 % (1991) of the oil is imported, in
Germany and France around 97 %, and in Japan even 100 %. In the long run, these
imports will become more and more expensive, independet of political ups and
downs, reflecting the strong and growing demand, as well as the realization by the
sellers that their goods cannot last forever. In 1991 world production was about 3.15
billion tons of petroleum and 2.1 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. Around 30 % of
the oil and 20 % of the gas came from offshore sources.
Total potential resources and even reserves (= producible petroleum under prevailing economic and technological conditions) are hard to estimate. World resources
may be 200 to 300 billion tons of oil and 200 to 250 trillion cubic meters of gas, and
world reserves 135 billion tons and 124 trillion cubic meters. Expressed in static life
expectancy, reserves for oil are good for 43 years (135 billion tons/3.15 billion tons
per year) and for gas 60 years (124 trillion cubic meters/2.1 trillion cubic meters per
year). US oil reserves estimated at 1 around 4.4 billion tons in 1975 and recently at
around 3.5 billion tons only. Hence, static life expectany would be some 8 years only,
2789
1296
7802
1667
159
0.2
789
247
112
17
Crude oil
(metric tons of
oil equivalent)
Natural gas
(metric tons of
oil equivalent)
Sand and gravel
Shell carbonates
Phosphorites
Mineral placers
Tin
129500
7940
??
Massive sulfides
130
10 900
1600
11
34.5
Very large
90000
2.5
6-24
Very large
> 660000
Co
228210
> 60000
27-100
6-24
2-7
7
55-220
Small
Small
26
S
S'"0
34
181 860
> 61430
0
0
:!l
....
'"::0'"
(")
'
[Il
c::
(l
[Il
'"
Sea-bed
comparison to
world resources
(%)
World
onshore
resources
-..,J
00
Sea-bed
erported
potential
resources
35-13\
Ni
Mn 706-2600
Cu 29-108
14
19
28
(%)
Sea-bed share
of world revenues
Nodules and
Crusts
0.028
World
production
Sea-bed
production
Sea-bed
deposits
(106 metric
tons)
Table 10.1 Sea-bed Resources (After I.M. Broadus, 1987, Science 235: 853, simplified]
Petroleum Beneath the Sea Roor
279
if all US consumption were to be supplied from US reserves as defined in available

statistics.
So far new discoveries have kept up with increasing use . At some point, of course,
new discoveries will fall behind. Some experts think that this is happening right now.
10.2.2 Origin of Petroleum. Petroleum is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and
other organic compounds originating from organic matter produced both on land and
in the sea, but largely from marine plankton. Therefore, essentially, petroleum is
stored fossil solar energy; but this storage system is extremely inefficient. At present,
only 0.23 % of solar radiation is used for photosynthesis (the basis of organic production). During Earth's history, less than 0.1 % of the organic production was preserved
in sediments as organic carbon compounds. Only about 0.01 % of this organic matter
in sediments became concentrated in oil and gas fields. Why so little?
The reasons are manifold. (1) The organic matter captured within the sediment
must be converted to fluid petroleum by thermochemical processes, requiring a blanket of sediments more than 1000 m thick and temperatures of 50 to 150 C. This is ,
HYDROCARBONS GENERATED
o
'BIOCHEMICAL
CH4
UUAIES
~ ~ ~
--~~~
E
~------~l ~J U ~
ILl
:.::
:r 2
a..
w
0
C-ATOI WIIID
:3
RII'IUIIlR
C-ATOI IUIBER
GAS
4
Fig. 10.1. Origin of petroleum. After burial of Ihe organic-rich sedimenl containing the source
material (black). carbon compounds (chains and rings) are produced. In the zone above I km depth
the numbers of C-atoms tend 10 be large within the organic mol ecules. In the oil zone. compounds
with fewer C-atoms (and more H-atoms) are produced by a cracking process. due to elevated heat
and press ure. Under a large overburden, gas is produced (CH.J = methane). [B. P. Tissot,
D. H. Welte, 1978, Petroleum formation and occurrence. Springer, He ide lberg]
280
Resources from the Ocean Roor
of course, very schematic. Long reaction times may compensate for low temperatures. Also, high temperatures may convert organic matter into petroleum very
rapidly, even with only a modest sediment cover. This is demonstrated in the
Guayamas Basin in the southern Gulf of California, where hydrothermal activity
produced oil from sediments less than 5000 years old. If temperatures become too
high, oil is cracked to natural gas (Fig. 10.1). (2) Petroleum must migrate from
organic-rich source-rock sediments to porous and permeable reservoir rocks such as
sandstones or vuggy limestones in response to compaction pressure and gravity (oil
is lighter than interstitial waters) (Fig. 10.2). (3) Reservoirs must be big enough to be
of interest, and they must trap petroleum with impermeable cover rocks such as thick
shales or evaporites. Otherwise, the more volatile hydrocarbons escape to the surface.
Examples of lost petroleum are the pitch lakes in Trinidad and Iraq, where oil has
leaked through the surface, and the more volatile parts have evaporated into the
atmosphere. The La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles are a familiar illustration of the
process. About 200 natural marine oil seeps are reported worldwide. Petroleum seepage into the marine environment has been estimated as 0.6 million tons per year (a
little less than the amount of oil estimated to be spilled at sea). (4) These several
petroleum-forming processes must take place within the correct time frame: each
process needs to complete its tum in the proper sequence: When everything looks just
right, the drill hole may yet be "dry", because the timing in the interplay of the natural
processes was wrong.
10.2.3 Where Offshore Oil is Found. The classic area of offshore oil fields is the
Gulf of Mexico. The conditions of entrapment are much like those onshore. Marine
sediments overlie salt, which is gravitationally unstable, being less dense than the
overburden. It pushes up in plumes, making the so-called salt domes. The uptumed
sedimentary strata butting against the salt provide traps for petroleum (Figs. 10.2 and
10.3).
a
fHEAT
t ttl
t
FLOW
Fig. 10.2 a, b. Prerequisites for petroleum accumulation. a Basic ingredients of a petroleum reservoir system, showing migration from source beds (shales rich in organic matter) into reservoir
(porous rock . e. g .. vuggy reef limestone or sandstone). b Salt dome tectonics as an example for
trapping conditions.
Petroleum Beneath the Sea Floor
N
- - - -- 5",11 - - - - -+O- - SIoPf
'I'
281
S
R,~ - -.....~I--Ab"Jal
PIo;,, -
not to ,col,
D ..d
a
NW
Sond
Sal
CHALLENGER
KNOt.l
SE
b
Fig. 10.3 a, b. Salt plumes in the Gulf of Mexico. a Schematic profile of Pliocene-Pleistocene
sediment wedge intruded by early Mesozoic salt deposits . Intrusion of salt in the Sigsbee Abyssal
Plain produced the Challenger Knoll. (CK). [CO 1. Stuart, C. A. Caughey, 1977. Am. Assoc. Pet.
Geol. Mem. 26: 249: modified]. b Seismic profiler record from Sigsbee Knolls region. Challenger
Knoll was drilled in Hole 2 of Leg I of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, establishing its nature as a
salt dome feature. Time scale is two-way refl ection time (sea floor = 4.5 s Q 3400 mi. [1. L. Worzel ,
C. A. Burk, 1979. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Mem. 29: 403]
Another area from which offshore oil has been produced for a long time is the
Continental Borderland off Southern California. There, oil originates from Miocene
organic-rich marine strata originally formed under conditions of upwelling and
oxygen deficiency. The oil is trapped in sandy layers abutting faults, hence there is
considerably natural seepage into the ocean, as at Coal Oil Point near Santa Barbara
and at the shores of Santa Monica Bay.
The newest highly promising areas for offshore petroleum are on the Arctic shore
of Alaska, where large-scale onshore recovery is already proceeding (Prudhoe Bay) .
The drawback to offshore exploitation here is that climatic conditions are highly
inclement.
282
AUK FIELD
..
6
.....
...
...
<>
..
..
..
..
tAlD NORTH SEA'

.. .tt1~H + .. .. .. .. ... .. ...
1+
EKOfISl( FIELD
....
..
Iw ......... ....................... . "
..
..
..
..
................... .
FORTIES
o
o
Poleocene
Up, Cl'lioceou.
Eocene-PoItoclnl
Low. CrllOClOlll
~ Jurouic
Triouic
(\oIoIconiQ)
Zleh"lln Soli (Permian)
RolIIlQlnd and Olvonia"
8aMmen'
Fig. 10.4 A- C. SlruclUral cross-sections across Auk-Ekofisk and Forties-Maureen fields. North Sea
vertical exaggeration 6.7x. Insert Map with national shelf boundaries. [P A. Ziegler, 1977 , Geo.
Journal I: 7]
In recent years, large reserves of oil and gas were discovered in the thick sedimentary deposits of the North Sea. Its central part is a rift system now inactive. Rifting
began during earliest Triassic, peaked in late J urassic/earliest Cretaceous, and terminated during Paleocene, i. e., after some 160 million years. High rates of subsidence
and sedimentation rates favored oil formation. The North Sea is the most important
hydrocarbon province of Western Europe (Fig. 10.4). Recoverable petroleum reserves
are estimated at more than 2 billion tons (United Kingdom 0.6, Norway 1.5 and
Denmark 0.1 [1989]) - just about two thirds of one year 's present world consumption. Natural gas reserves are about 4000 billion cubic meters. In 1989, production of
oil was some 175 million tons (92 from United Kingdom and 75 from Norwegian
waters) and 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas (45 United Kingdom, 31 Norway,
72 Netherlands, including mainland).
Petroleum Beneath the Sea Floor
283
Exploration in the North Sea started in the early 1960s. In 1969 the Ekofisk Field
was discovered. Offshore production began in 1967 for gas and in 1971 for oil. The
technical difficulties in recovering hydrocarbons in this "fiercest of all seas" are
enormous. Blinding fog, swift and drastic changes in weather, wind speeds of more
than 160 km per hour, and waves frequently 30 m high, are dangerous even for the
huge platforms. In March 1980 in the Ekofisk field, the Norwegian platform Alexander L. Kielland collapsed in stormy weather, a catastrophe leaving over a hundred
people dead. Subsidence of the sea floor due to extraction of oil from overpressured
chalks in this field made it necessary to elongate the legs of several platforms by
several meters - a major engineering endeavor in the midst of the North Sea.
In the south of the hydrocarbon-rich region, a broad belt of gas fields stretches
east-west from Germany to southern England (Fig. lOA). Gas migrated from Carboniferous coal measures to porous Lower Permian sandstones and is sealed by overlying Zechstein (upper Permian) evaporites. Oil fields, however, are concentrated
around the north-south rift in the northern North Sea mentioned above, which originated in the first stages of opening of the northern North Atlantic. The major faults
bordering the rift lie on either side of the political median line between ther United
Kingdom and Norway. In the south the oil occurs in Cretaceous chalk reservoirs, next
to salt domes. Some fields are developed on Jurassic sandstones on the crests of
horsts and tilted blocks. The Forties and other fields get oil from basal Tertiary sands.
10.2.4 Present Oil Exploration. As already mentioned, one of the prerequisites of
petroleum formation and migration is an elevated temperature. A cover of roughly I
to 2 km of sediment is required with some possible exceptions in areas with high heat
flow or in sediments where large time spans for conversion are available. Most of the
ocean bottom, roughly 80 or even 90 %, offers no chances for exploration because it
Fig. 10.5. Regions where Cenozoic sediments are well over I km thick. Only areas where source
beds are deeply buried will produce petroleum (see Fig. 10.1). IW. H. Berger, 1974, in e. A. Burk ,
e. L. Drake , eds. 1974, The geology of continental margins. Springer, Heidelberg]
284
Resources from the Ocean Floor
is too young and the sediment carpet is too thin (Fig. 10.5). The most promising
prospects for petroleum concentrations are continental shelves and slopes, and small
ocean basins with thick sediments produced by high accumulation rates and which
are rich in organic matter (e. g., the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean including the Black Sea, the Bering Sea, Okhotsk, Japan, South China Seas,
and the Indonesian Archipelago). The enormous sediment wedges of the continental
rises bordering the large ocean basins, although rich in organic matter in places, may
or may not contain suitable reservoir rocks; this question is being explored.
The shelf off the US East Coast has become the site of intensive exploration, and
leases have been granted in places, after much opposition from citizen's groups
concerned about the possibility of oil pollution. As shown by occurrences off California (Santa Barbara oil spill, 1969), in the North Sea (Ekofisk oil spill 1977), or in the
Gulf of Mexico (lxtoc-I oil spill 1979), such concern is not without basis. The
problem is a political one of profit and risk distribution; effects of spills on the ocean
as a whole cannot be shown to be damaging (but neither is it known whether spills
are innocuous). Regional damage, of course, can be extensive.
Some years ago, off the US East Coast, the Baltimore Canyon Trough area (Fig.
10.6) was regarded as the best prospect of the outer continental shelf, because of a
sediment thickness of more than 10 km and favorable structural and other conditions.
However, extensive drilling did not result in the discovery of oil fields .
In addition to the shelves, the upper continental slopes are interesting areas for
petroleum exploration. Their sediments were formed in the realm of fertile coastal
waters (including deltaic conditions). Hence, carbon content of the sediments is high
(Fig. 6.4). Also, an oxygen minimum develops in many areas on the upper slope (see
BALTIMORE CANYON TROUGH

100
T DIAPIR
E
200Km
15
Fig. 10.6. Schematic section through the Baltimore Canyon Through off New Jersey. Based on
seismic profiles by the US Geological Survey. In the center the "Great Stone Dome", probably an
area of volcanic sills and dykes , intruding the sedimentary sequence. The oceanic/continental crust
boundary is highly speculative. [L. R. Jansa and J. Wiedmann. In: von Rad et aI. , 1982, Geology of
the Northwest African Continental margin: 225, Springer, Heidelberg, modified]
Raw Materials from Shelves: Phosphorites
285
Fig. 9.20), and favors burial of organic matter. We have briefly mentioned the Mesozoic structures identified as salt domes in the eastern South Atlantic, off Africa
(Sect. 2.3, Fig. 2.4) where organic-rich Cretaceous sediments were found by deep
drilling. Clearly, from the Gulf of Mexico experience, petroleum may be expected in
such a situation.
Regardless of the promise of certain continental slope regions, activity on the
shelves, even in regions with heavy seas or in polar areas, is going to dominate
petroleum recovery from the sea floor in the foreseeable future. Expenses of drilling
increase rapidly beyond the shelf break because platforms either have to have extremely long legs, or they have to be positioned dynamically, that is, by constant
calculated application of power to several thrusters. Also, safety problems rapidly
increase with depth. Beyond the continental slopes, in the deep sea proper, where
sedimentation rates are low, the chances of finding oil rapidly diminish anyhow. This
may be one reason that the Exclusive Economic Zone extends "only" to 200 nautical
miles (371 km) offshore.
10.3 Raw Materials from Shelves

10.3.1 Phosphorites. The naturalist on HMS Challengel~ John Murray, became a
wealthy man (unlike his modem counterparts) as a result of joining an oceanographic
expedition, as a result of his interest in a mining venture which resulted from the
discovery of phosphorite on Christmas Island in the western equatorial Pacific. What
is more, the British Crown's Treasury recovered the expenses of the expedition,
through the taxes derived from the phosphorite produced.
Phosphorites were briefly mentioned in Section 3.8.2. They are cryptocrystalline
apatites and vary in composition. A general formula is CalO (P04, C03 )6 F2-3, with
increases in carbonate running parallel to increases in fluoride (or hydroxide). Modem phosphorites typically occur in areas of high productivity - off Southern and
Baja California, off Peru, off South Africa, for example (Fig. 10.7). They occur as
black or brown nodules from pellets up to head size, and as irregularly shaped cakes.
They are interpreted as replacement products of fine-grained lithified carbonates, as
mineralization of pre-existing organic matter, as precipitates from microorganisms
filling cavities within carbonates, or as direct precipitates from interstitial waters.
Off California these deposits contain about 25 to 30 % P2 Os and 40 to 45 % CaO,
but these values vary in other regions. The common depth of deposition is on the
shelf and upper slope. Fossil phosphorites are abundant in Florida and Georgia.
Miocene phosphorites are mined on a large scale; in West Africa, Eocene deposits are
being exploited. Seamounts bearing Cretaceous carbonates commonly carry phosphorites.
The association of geologically young phosphorite deposits with present-day regions of upwelling (Fig. 4.19) suggests that the source of the phosphorus is organic
matter. Apparently, the algae growing in these regions, in the surface waters, extract
the phosphorus from the water. Also, crustaceans and fish concentrate it further in
their bodies and excrement. During decomposition of organic debris on the sea floor,
286
Resource s from the Ocean Roor
Fig. 10.7. Phosphorites. Circles Shelf phosphorites; I Holocene; 2 late Tertiary; 3 early Tertiary;
4 Cretaceous; triangles sea mount phosphorites; 5 late Tertiary; 6 early Tertiary; 7 Cretaceous.
[G . N. Baturin, P. L. Bezrukov, 1979, Mar. Geol. 31: 317). Continental phosphate deposits: A Precambrium ; B Paleozoic ; C Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous; D Senon to Eocene; E Miocene to Pleistocene. lM. Siansky, 1980. Mem. BRGM, France, 114)
much phosphate is released to the interstitial water (and also to seawater). Thus,
interstitial waters right below the sea floor may become saturated with the phosphate
mineral apatite. Precipitation of apatite, replacement of pre-existing carbonate minerals, and impregnation of sediment can then proceed. Off Peru, nodules with
diameters of several centimeters grow within soft sediments with a rate of some
mm/lOOO years, indicating diffusive upward flux of dissolved phosphorus. The resulting phosphatic concretions are resistant to transport by currents; they can be
mechanically exhumed and concentrated during periods of sediment reworking. Indeed, concretions are commonly associated within the sediment with hiatuses or other
discontinuity surfaces with drastically reduced net deposition rates.
Phosphorites are largely used for fertilizers, but also as a source of phosphorus in
the chemical industry. Marine phosphorites are enriched in some trace elements compared with marine shales (Ag 20x, U 30x, Cd SOx). Offshore phosphorites typically
contain less than 25 % P20S.
Weatheting processes on land concentrate P20S up to 30 to 40 %. Such residual
phosphorites are mined, for example, in Florida and Morocco (Fig. 10.7) Concentrations within marine P-rich deposits as reported from off California, western South
America, South Africa, or on the Chatham Rise (Fig. A6.1), east of New Zealand, are
up to 80 kg/m 2 phosphorites with up to 2S % P20S. They occur over large areas and
in water depths of less than 400 m. Exploitation will depend on the prices charged by
producers on land and on the domestic demand and supply situation. In any case, the
consumption of phosphorites from land increased from 3.5 million t P in 1900 to 140
million tin 1971 and presumably will continue to increase in the future.
287
Raw Materials from Shelves: Placer Deposits
10.3.2 Shell Deposits. Calcareous shell deposits were or are dredged in places as raw
material for calcium carbonate, and also for building roads. For example, oyster
shells have been mined in San Francisco Bay for use in making cement, and in
Galveston Bay in the Gulf of Mexico for calcination and reacton with seawater, to
extract magnesium. Dredging of shells hinders the growth of benthic organisms and
adversely affects the productivity of the sea bed. Conflicts commonly arise where
dredging and fishing activites overlap.
With the advent of worldwide souvenir markets and of face-mask diving, the
collecting of shells and corals has become an important source of income for islanders of the Pacific and other coastal peoples. Not surprisingly, attractive and rare
species suffer considerable depredation from such collecting.
10.3.3 Placer Deposits. Concentrations of heavy minerals and ore particles on
beaches and in estuaries are locally mined for metals such as titanium, gold, platinum, thorium, zirconium, and valuable minerals such as diamond. Seventy percent of
the world production of zirconium is being extracted from placer deposits off East
Australia. Diamonds are found in beach deposits of Southwest Africa, as well as
offshore. Magnetite is being mined from beach placers in certain areas in Japan and
New Zealand. In the USA, gold has been mined from beach deposits near Nome,
Alaska; thousands of tons of ilmenite (FeTi03) were extracted at one time from
free settling
uprush
Quartz Magnetite
p=26 p= 5,2
- :-
:.a-=-~.~.L..-J.~.
B
Fig. 10.8 A- D. Origin of heavy mineral
placers, schematic. A Suspended sediment particles are washed onshore, settle
to the floor, large and heavy ones (shown
solid) first. 8 Re sulting grain association
shows enrichment of large and heav y particles on the beach face. C Backwash
rolls away large particles (greater velocity away from sediment interface, V, to
the right). D Result ing association consists of medium-size, well-sorted heavy
minerals. [E. Seibold, 1970, Chern. Ing .
Tech. 42: A 2081]
baCKwash
+-
;;
C
film- sizing
288
Redondo Beach, California; beaches in western Oregon yield chromite and other
heavy minerals as well as gold and platinum; titanium minerals are taken from beach
sands along the eastern Florida coast.
How do placers originate? The process of concentrating heavy particles on the
beach has much in common with panning for gold - water motion works on the
different settling velocities of the particles and on their different sizes, to separate
heavy from light, large from small.
Terrigenous beach sands commonly consist of more than 95 % quartz, tropical
ones of calcareous grains. Volcanic rocks and other igneous sources supply minerals
which are considerably heavier than quartz or calcite (density of 2.65 and 2.70).
These minerals have densities of greater than 2.85 g/cm3. The "heavy minerals" are
ubiquitous, usually making up a few percent of the sand. The back-and-forth movement of the waves washing over the beach face can concentrate them greatly (Figs.
10.8 and 10.9). Under the microscope, one recognizes minerals such as ilmenite
(iron-titaniumoxide), rutile (titaniumoxide), zircon (zirconiumsilicate), and monazite
(phosphate, containing cerium and thorium).
Thick placers of heavy particles form only in the beach zone. Offshore placers,
therefore, were formed when the sea level stood lower. The gold deposits off Nome,
Alaska, are a case in point. Glaciers of the last ice age brought gold-containing debris
from the hinterland and dropped it on the shelf. This morainal material was then
worked up by the surf, as the sea level rose.
River deposits may contain heavy mineral concentrations, too, such as cassiterite
(Sn02) in Thailand, Malaysia, or Indonesia. In these areas, former river beds on the
shelf, which are now in down to about 100 m water depth, are of potential economic
interest and have been exploited offshore in shallower water for nearly a century. At
present, the offshore revenue reaches some 14 % of that of worldwide tin exploitation
on land.
10.3.4 Sand and Gravel. Considerable amounts of sand are taken locally for building
roads and houses, as well as for coastal protection (dams) and for fill. However, the
main use of beach sand is for building sand castles and for plain enjoyment. Recreation is one of the most important uses of beaches - by far exceeding mineral
extraction in business value. Beaches are commonly eroded by winter storms (Sect.
4.2.2); in some areas sand is brought in from offshore to replace the eroded material,
usually at considerable expense.
Gravel only rarely reaches the sea, unless high mountains are near, or unless
glaciers bring morainal debris. Such debris, when washed by waves or rivers on the
bare ice age shelves can then yield gravel. In the Baltic and in the North Sea, for
example, gravel is mined for a filler for concrete.
In summary, the economic importance of raw materials from shelves is very
modest: they contribute less than 1 % of the more conventional onshore production,
with the exception of tin (not to mention sunken treasures from antiquity, and from
Spanish pirates, licensed and otherwise). For economic impact of marine resources
on a global scale, one must look to hydrocarbons, fisheries, recreation, and waste
diposal.
Heavy Metals on the Deep-Sea Floor
289
Fig. 10.9. Beach placers. The beach south of Quilon (SW India) has a heavy mineral deposit on the
top part (where the boat rests). During SW monsoon, high waves sort the sand as shown in Fig.
10.8., and produce layers of "black sand" (inset). The inset profile is 20 cm high. [Photo E. S.]
10.4 Heavy Metals on the Deep-Sea Floor

10.4.1 Importance of Manganese Deposits. The rich metal deposits on the deep-sea
floor have been a favorite topic of discussion among marine geologists ever since the
manganese nodules (better: ferromanganese concretions) were discovered by the
Challenger Expedition a century ago and were shown to be rich in copper, cobalt,
nickel, and other heavy metals (Fig. 10.10). The abundances of these metals in
seawater are extremely low, largely due to the low solubility of their oxides and
hydroxides. Also, they are readily extracted by biological processes, and sent to the
sea floor within organic matter.
The amount of nodules on the Pacific Ocean floor seems to be in the neighborhood of 100 to 200 billion tons . What is the economic value of these deposits? Right
now, close to zero. It is too expensive and (because of complex international legal
problems) too risky to mine them, transport the material back to shore, extract the
wanted heavy metals, market them, and still make a profit. Nevertheless, there is a
potential value, if prices of copper, nickel, and cobalt rise high enough. This potential
value is a bone of contention among UN members: those nations technically unable
to mine the material wish to make sure that those able to do so must share the profits,
if any should materialize. In addition, metal-exporting countries are apprehensive
290
1----1
lcm
Fig. 10.10 a, b. Manganese nodules . a View (- 10 m 2) of nodule-covered deep sea fioor, central
trropical Pacific (Photo Metallgesellschaft Frankfurt). b Manganese nodules recovered on Challenger stations in the Central Pacific . a Nodule with upper smooth and lower uneve n surface (Station
274 5000 m); h Sliced section (parallel to the sea bottom) showing internal layering and nuclei
(Station 254, 5700 m). [1. MUITay, A. F. Renard , 1891. Report on deep-sea deposits. H. M. S.
Chall enger. 1873-1876. Reprinted 1965 by Johnson Reprint. London]
Heavy Metals on the Deep-Sea Roor: Manganese Deposits
291
about the potential competition Many of them belong to the developing countries.
The resulting concept of the deposits as a "common heritage of mankind" has slowed
development of the resource, since venture capital is hesitant to take the risk both of
failure and of an unknown degree of taxation in case of success. Eventually, however,
the resource will probably be exploited. Mn, Co, Cu, and Ni are so-called strategic
minerals. For example, Co is used for dense and strong alloys in jet engine parts.
Because cobalt production is concentrated in a few African countries, the hostilities
between Angola and Zaire caused an increase in Co prices from US $ 3-6 per pound
during 1960--1977 to more than $ 22 in 1979. Cu, Mn, and Ni prices remained stable
- an illustration of difficulties in attempting to make economic forecasts in the mining industry.
10.4.2 Nature of Manganese Deposits. What are the ferro-manganese deposits like?
Where do they occur? How much of the valuable trace metals do they contain? How
did they originate?
The appearance of the manganese deposits varies. Nodules come in sizes of 1 to
10 cm and look much like small potatoes except for being black. The surface can be
smooth or rough. Not all deposits are nodules: some are crusts several centimeters
thick, others are pavements covering the sea floor in areas of active currents. The
nodules are rather porous. They are easily crushed, which should facilitate on-board
processing and chemical extraction of metals when the time comes. On cutting the
nodules, one notes a concentric structure. In the center there is commonly a core of
altered volcanic material. Fragments of older nodules, bones, or shark teeth can also
serve as core. From the age of such cores it is quite obvious that the deep-sea nodules
must grow very slowly, a few millimeters per million years, at most (Fig. 10.10 Bb).
The manganese nodules occur in areas of low sedimentation rate: because of their
slow growth they would soon be covered up in regions of high sediment supply (Fig.
10.11).
Calcareous ooze accumulates at about 10 m per million years, 1000 to 10 OOOx
faster than nodules; hence no nodules develop (excepting "micronodules" and
encrustations on shells of foraminifera in many areas). Ferromanganese is deposited
here also, but is greatly diluted with carbonate. Brown pelagic clay (Red Clay)
accumulates at less than 1 m, up to about 2.5 m, per million years, the higher values
applying in the Atlantic Ocean. Surprisingly, nodules have time to grow at the surface
under these conditions. Apparently they are moved about sufficiently, through the
activity of benthic organisms, to stay onm top of the clay. In fact, such movement
may be necessary to keep them round rather than mushroom-shaped, and to prevent
them from coalescing into a pavement. If we could mount a time-lapse camera on the
sea floor, taking a picture every 100 years for 10 000 or 100 000 years, what a
spectacle of dancing nodules we might see!
In places, bottom currents prevent clay deposition or even cause erosion over large
areas. Indeed, in sediment cores nodules can be seen to be concentrated at horizons
of Tertiary hiatuses.
The distribution of nodules is patchy (Fig. 10.10 A). For example, in the eastern
central Pacific, records were taken with bottom-near television cameras, for hundreds
292
Fig. 10.11. Areas from which ferromanganese concretions have been reported. The richest areas are
in the north-equatorial Pacific . [w. H. Berger, 1974, in C. A. Burk, C. L. Drake reds], 1974. The
geology of continental margins. Springer, Heidelberg; mainly after D. R. Horn led] 1972, Ferromanganese deposits on the ocean floor. Harriman, New York]
of kilometers. For 5 % of the records the sea floor was covered to more than 50 % by
nodules , that is, up to 25 kg of ore per square meter. Conversely, 5 % of the records
showed sea floor free of nodules. Elsewhere the cover varied, sometimes considerably, even over distances of only 50 m. The reasons for patchiness are not clear; in
part it may be due to alternating burial and uncovering of nodules below slowly
moving clay carpets, somewhat akin to dune migration.
10.4.3 Origin of Manganese Nodules. Questions about the origin of ferromangese
concretions commonly address themselves to the following aspects of ferromangese
distributions. (J) The ultimate source; for example, weathering of continental or
oceanic rocks or sediments or exhalations from volcanic or hydrothermal vents. (2)
The immediate source, that is, the surrounding seawater or the mobilization of ferromanganese and other metals (by reduction) within sediments and diffusion to the
interface. (3) The mode of transport into or within the ocean, that is, whether delivery
is as solute, mineral, or coating on mineral.
The first of these problems, that of ultimate sources, was the one originally raised
by Murray and Renard (1891) and it has dominated much of the subsequent research.
With the discovery of widespread hydrothermal activity, the idea of a "volcanic"
origin of the nodules has gained in acceptance. It is now believed that both hydrothermal release of metals and terrigenous input are important sources.
Ferromanganese crusts derive most of their metal content from dissolved and
particulate matter (able to scavenge metal ions) in ambient bottom water. Nodules
lying on sediments also grow by input from below, i. e ., from metal ions released by
mobilization in interstitial waters. This is illustrated by uneven lower nodule surfaces
(Fig. 10.10 Ba). High organic matter contents in the sediment promote this mobilization and may also promote bioturbation, thus preventing burial of the nodules.
b)
5.41
4.36
0.13
0.045
0.028
0.046
0.0023
-
0.63
-
27.3
11.6
21.6
16.5
Hydrothermal
oxides
2.9
0.17
16.9
10.2
9.2
12.1
36.7
2R.I
34.0
max
19.1
Average
Hot vent sui fides c )
0.2
0.03
4.0
1.2
2.5
min
._-
After F. T. Manheim and C. M. Lane-Bostwick, 1989, Nature, 335: 59, c) After S. D. Scott,
34.00
26.32
2.00
2.57
2.5
0.51
a) Mainly after J. S. Tooms. 1972, Endeavour 31: 113,

1991, in: K. J. Hsii and J. Thiede, 1992.
13.6
15.5
0.33
0.24
0.16
14.9
14.6
0.38
0.31
0.17
0.053
17.2
11.8
0.63
0.36
0.36
0.047
Mn
Fe
Ni
Co
Cu
Ph
Zn
Si02
nun.
Crusts
max.
Indian O.
Average
Pacific
Atlantic
Manganese b )
Manganese nodules a)
Table 10.2. Metal contents of manganese nodules, crusts, and hot vent sulfides.
v.>
tv
'-0
::!l
o
(1)
'0
"c/o
.,
:l
(1)
3:::
'<
(1)
::c
:;:
294
Resources from the Ocean Hoor
In the various discussions about the origin of ferromanganese, the trace element
content, as well as the iron-to-manganese ratio play an important role. Typical values
for Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean are given in Table 10.2. Note that the Mn/Fe
ratio is greater in the Pacific than in the Atlantic. Also, the content of trace elements
in Pacific nodules, on average, is about twice that of Atlantic ones.
What factors control the Mn/Fe ratio? Which control the trace element content?
The Mn/Fe ratio, on the whole, increases with the degree of oxidation and with
depth - the more "deep-sea" character the nodules have, the more manganese they
contain. Shallow water ferromanganese concretions (e. g., on continental slopes) are
generally iron-rich. In the economically interesting manganese zone north of the
central equatorial Pacific, Mn/Fe ratios are as high as ten. High manganese content
appears to be favored by both high biogenous sediment supply and low rates of
accumulation. Under these conditions, presumably, the carrier material dissolves but
leaves its content of trace elements. Also, in the "manganese zone" in the Pacific, the
underlying sea floor consists of dissolving biogenous sediment rich in trace metals.
The sediment was originally formed underneath the Equator, then moved northward
and downward due to plate motion. this motion brought the calcareous sediment from
a zone of accumulation into a zone of dissolution. Thus, one way to concentrate
manganese and trace elements is to have organisms precipitate the metals (which they
do very efficiently), bring them to the sea floor in shells and fecal matter, and
dissolve or oxidize these carriers to obtain a more nearly pure concentrate.
Other mechanisms for concentrating the metals also must exist. For example, the
element cobalt tends to be high (> 1 %) within ferromanganese accumulating on
seamounts under highly oxidizing conditions. Here the manganese precipitates extremely slowly out of seawater (- 1 mm/million years), at the same time scavenging
(co-precipitating catalytically) the chemically similar cobalt. Indeed, cobalt contents
of crusts near hydrothermal vents are two orders of magnitude lower, because they
are diluted by high Mn and Fe precipitation, as indicated by growth rates of more
than 1000 mm/million years.
10.4.4 Ores from Spreading Axes. For some of the ferromanganese deposits on the
deep-sea floor, the origin is hardly in doubt: those on the crest of active spreading
ridges. Here, seawater circulates through cracks in the newly formed crust, reacting
with the hot basalt (Fig. 10.12). Precipitation of sulfides (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, etc.)
originating there may become economically important in the distant future. Up to
now some 100 localities were discovered, by far the most in the Pacific. There is a
great variability in metal contents (Table 10.2).
Seawater penetrates the hot basalt and reacts with it. It takes up Si02 and metals,
gives up Mg to alteration products (smectites and other clay minerals) and gains Ca.
Seawater sulfate is stripped of its oxygen by the reactions with reduced iron in the
basalt, and sulfides precipitate accordingly. The hydrothermally active zone above the
magma chambers feeding the central rift is 3-5 km thick, and temperatures within the
fluids issuing from the vents reach some 350C. The high temperatures, of course,
greatly accelerate all rates of reaction.
Heavy Metals on the Deep-Sea Floor: Hot Vents
SEAWATER
... COLD (2C)
... ALKALINE (pH - 7.8)
... OX IDIZING
"'S04 (2678 ppm)
"'M ETAL-D EFICIENT
{e.g. <0.06 ppb Fe
<0.06 ppb Mn
0.65 ppb Zn
0.45 ppb Cu}
... Mg {1 272 ppm}
295
PRECI PITATION
DUE TO
.,6, T
.,6,pH
SATURATION
HOT (350 0 C)
ACID (pH-3.5)
REDUCING
H2 S (250 ppm)
METAL - RICH
(e.g. 80 ppm Fe
49 ppm Mn
6 ppm Zn
2ppm Cu)
Mg - FR EE (0 ppm)
Fig. 10.12. Hydrothennal circulation model for a sediment-starved spreading ridge.The more important factors for reactions between seawate r and hydrothennal fluid s are illustrated. In addition ,
precipitates near vents act as scav engers - as iron oxides do for vanadium. [Modified from
S. D. Scott, 1991 , In: K. J. HsU and J. Thiede, 1992]
On exiting, the hot acid waters (pH about 3) mix with the cold, slightly alkaline
seawater, so that a great number of minerals, largely sulfides, must precipitate. The
precipitates form crusts and spectacular chimneys several meters high (over 10m in
cases), with growth rates up to I m/year (Fig. 6.20). Mounds, miniature spires, and
various baroque edifices can be built. In places, anhydrite (CaS04) forms, due to high
concentrations of sulfate when the exiting H2S is re-oxidized. A chimney made of
anhydrite in the North Fiji basin (back-arc spreading) was baptized " La Dame Blanche", a reference to its ghost-like appearance (Fig. 10.13), and in contrast to the more
common "hlack smokers", made of metal sulfides and oxides. Amorphous silica can
also form chimneys. In a broad zone around the vents, iron and manganese oxides are
precipitated, as the reduced Fe 2+ and Mn 2+ meets normal seawater, oxidizes, and
forms hydroxides.
296
Fig. 10.13. "La Dame Blanche" , a chimney made of anhydrite at an active hydrothermal site with fluids of 285 C
and active animal colonies. North Fiji
Basin axis, 1900 m watrer depth. [J. M.
Auzende et aI. , 1989, C. R. Acad. Sci .
Paris, 309, II, 1787]
As the ores and other minerals precipitate within cracks in the basalt, they tend to
clog the hydrothermal system, eventually turning it off. Ores near the surface may be
brecciated by hydrofracturing and may be covered by new lava in several cycles.
Fossile massive sulfide ore deposits as in Southeast Japan (Kuroko) or Cyprus
(Troodos) permit the study of these complicated relationships on land.
Metalliferous hydrothermal systems were recently also discovered in back arc
basins: Manus basin north of Papua New Guinea, Lau basin west of the Tonga Plate
boundary (Fig. Appendix AS.l) and others with oceanic crust. Vents in the Okinawa
Through issue from continental crust.
Of course, hydrothermal processes are everywhere associated with volcanic activity - Santorini off Greece, Ebeko in the Kurile Islands, Loihi seamount off Hawaii
(the latest creation of the fire goddess Pele) are examples.
Hydrothermal activity is of fundamental importance for plate tectonics (heat budget of the lithosphere) and for geochemistry (origin of seawater, fractionation of
metals from basalts, sil ica cycle). The heat transfer by this process is of the order of
one fourth of the total global heat loss. Every 8 to IO million years the volume of the
entire ocean passes through hydrothermal systems - conditioning the seawater and
resetting its chemistry. Ultimately, this process also stabilizes the chemistry of the
atmosphere and climate. It should be kept in mind, that seawater/basalt interaction is
not restricted to volcanically active regions - the entire seafloor is young and cools
continuously, and can drive weak hydrothermal flow almost everywhere.
Economically, the Ridge Crest deposits and other deep-sea hydrothermal ores are
as yet not important, despite their presumed large volume throughout the oceanic
Heavy Metals on the Deep-Sea Floor: Red Sea Ore Deposits
297
crust. So far, it is much easier to mine the ores on land, many of which (especially in
active margins) may owe their existence to preconcentration by deep-sea hydrothermal activity (Fig. 1.20).
10.4.5 Red Sea Ore Deposits. A rather specialized case of Ridge Crest accumulation
is represented by the heavy metal deposits in the Red Sea, which are of Considerable
economic interest. Promising metalliferous deposits occur in the Atlantis II-Deep,
named after the Woods Hole research vessel. The basin, which lies offshore of
Mecca, was found in 1963 by the British vessel Discoverer; Atlantis II of Woods
Hole explored it in 1964 and 1965; Meteor and other German research vessels were
there in 1965 and afterwards.
The Glomar Challenger paid a visit in 1972, drilling in this area.
What is it that attracts all this attention to the Red Sea?
In the central Red Sea - an active spreading center which opened only a few
million years ago - there are several enclosed basins, the "deeps". The Atlantis II
Deep is more than 2000 m deep, and only 6 by 15 km in area. The bottom is filled
with a hot salt brine with a temperature of about 60C and a salinity of 25 %, seven
times that of seawater. Iron is 8000 times more concentrated in the brine than in
seawater, zinc 500 times, copper 100 times. The sediment below the brine is incredibly colorful, brick-red layers altemating with ocher, white, black, greenish. A variety
of minerals provides the coloring; economically the most important are the sulfides in
the dark layers. Zinc contents of up to 10 %, copper contents of 3 % or even 7 %
were measured. Unfortunately, the minerals are extremely fine-grained, which will
make extraction difficult.
How did these deposits originate? Apparently, two kinds of processes are important. First, we have to apply the hydrothermal mechanisms summarized in Fig. 10.12.
Second, thick sedimentary deposits of Tertiary age are nearby, abutting the newly
forming sea floor. These contain several-hundred-meter-thick salt and gypsum layers.
Hot water circulating through such sediments can dissolve out metals and salt and
hence produce metalliferous brine issuing into the brine pools. The metals precipitate
upon cooling, and when oxygen is supplied, by mixing with normal seawater. However, such mixing is greatly obstructed by the high density of the brine, and can occur
only at the very tops of the brines. Thus, the metals are trapped in the brine.
Just how rich are the deposits? In the Atlantic II Deep alone there are supposedly
3.2 million tons of zinc, 0.8 million tons of copper, 80000 tons of lead, 4500 tons of
silver, and even 45 tons of gold. Whether the net worth of this ore is significant (after
accounting for recovery, processing, and transport) remains to be seen. However, as
far as deep sea metals, it is the most studied and most promising occurrence found so
far.
Initial rifting of continental margins produced polymetal sulfides in other areas,
also. The Guayamas basin in the Southern Gulf of California is an example.
298
10.5 Waste Disposal and Pollution

10.5.1 A Change in Pace. Man's impact on the marine environment spans a wide
range of interference with natural processes. One of the oldest, one may assume, is
the increased delivery of sediments to estuaries and harbors caused by increased
erosion on land from working the soil, and from deforestation. Basically, this should
accelerate the filling-in of estuaries and affected lagoons. Conversely, the building of
large dams upriver has led to interception of sediments, and the starvation of beaches,
which promotes the erosion of the coastline. For example, since the construction of
the Aswan High Dam in 1964 in the uplands of Egypt, shoreward erosion around the
Nile delta region has increased to annually over 150 m near headlands.
Coastal cities have contributed nutrients for algal growth along their shores for
centuries, and this process has continued and accelerated with population growth. In
places where waste amounts are sufficiently large and water bodies restricted, bays
are fouled, and sensitive ecosystems (such as coral reefs) are damaged.
What is new in our time is a massive increase of waste off rapidly growing cities,
with unhealthy environmental effects well away from the sources of pollution. Such
effects may include dangerous levels of pathogenic bacteria, and bursts of growth
("blooms") of noxious dinoflagellates. Also new is the production of potent and
long-lived industrial poisons which are effective at low concentrations. One prime
example is the accumulation of pesticides in certain seabirds, through the food-chain
effect, which can wreak havoc with their reproductive success. Oil spills and the
introduction of radioactive materials likewise are modem developments, as is the
large-scale addition of chemical-industrial waste.
Because of the economic interests involved, the study of problems connected with
disposal and pollution has become an important subject in environmental marine
geology, and it is a field that is likely to grow. Studies involve the cooperation of
many scientists (e. g., chemists and biologists), commonly from different countries,
as pollution crosses boundaries. How can we monitor environmental changes and
detect possible causes? A promising method is biological monitoring (Fig. 10.14).
The observed changes set a warning signal, but it is commonly difficult to define the
- natural or anthropogenic - factors responsible for the changes.
10.5.2 Sewage and Sludge. Industrial man uses energy and raw materials and produces waste. Most of the waste, such as sewage sludge, is relatively innocuous
provided it is without potent poisons (certain metals, for example, or biocides). Of
course, the amounts introduced must not exceed what the ocean can absorb by dilution and bacterial action (which makes estuaries more vulnerable than open ocean
sites). Under these conditions sludge mainly acts as fertilizer.
When dumping of sludge proceeds on a grand scale in a limited area, problems
arise. For example, several years ago foul bottom conditions were reported from shelf
areas off New York in regions of dumping, as well as diseased benthic organisms.
Fishing activities, especially lobster fishing, are adversely affected under such circumstances. This has led to restrictions on dumping of sludge close to the coast, or
on the shelf; but even "deep" dumping can cause problems. Disposal of municipal
Waste Disposal and Pollution
299
Fig. 10.14. Benthic biota

changed drastically between
1951(52 and 1985 in the Central North Sea (Doggerbank
about 20 m waterdepth).
Mussels and sea urchins
were increasingly replaced
by the less sensitive brittle
stars and worms. This type of
monitoring is useful in identifying change in stressed environments. [J. Lohse et aI.,
1989, Die Geowissenschaften, 7.6, 155, WeinheimJ
sewage sludge in moderately deep water as far as 185 km off the coast of New Jersey
from 1986 to 1992 at a rate of 8-9 million wet metric tons per annum affected the
benthic food web some 2500 m deeper. It had been hoped that dispersal and dilution
of sewage particulates in surface waters would prevent waste from entering the food
web at such depths.
Much greater problems arise in confined water bodies. In the Baltic Sea the influx
of sewage and agricultural fertilizer results in large-scale eutrophication, which leads
to a greatly increased oxy gen demand at the sea floor. A shortage of oxy gen , sporadically exacerbated by climatic conditions, can produce massive fish kills.
Where sewage contains dangerous bacteria and where solids settle out in bays
close to cities, one potential problem is the stirring up of such material by storms, and
the fouling of heavily used recreational areas. Seaside recreation is big business in
many coastal cities. Thus, the pressure for "clean" disposal becomes intense in situations where tourism is at stake. A prime example is the Mediterranean, where there
are as many tourists as inhabitants along the shores, and where up to 25 % of coastal
waters is now deemed unfit for swimming (depending on criteria used).
300
10.5.3 Oil Spills. Certain kinds of pollution and dumping events have high media
visibility. Among these are oil spills. Such reports greatly raise the awareness level of
the public, regarding the potential problems stemming from misuse of the ocean, and
from irresponsible behaviour. In most cases, however, even massive spills (Torrey
Canyon, 1967; Amoco Cadiz, 1978; Exxon Valdez, 1989) have had limited impact in
tenns of area and time period affected (although that is of little comfort to those
whose livelihood is at stake).
One possible exception with potentially long-lasting effects may be the deliberate
release of oil in the upper Persian Gulf, from wells in Kuwait, during the hostilities in
1991. More than half a million tons of crude oil entered Gulf waters from the Mina
AI-Ahmadi oil tenninal, polluting 770 km of Saudi coastline. Significant impacts
from direct oiling are reported for the intertidal habitats (mangroves, sandy and rocky
beaches, and mudflats). Long-tenn damage is expected especially for the upper tidal
zone.
10.5.4 Chronic Hydrocarbon Pollution. In constrast to catastrophic spills, the
steady leakage of hydrocarbons from shipping and other industrial activities (including oil change in automobiles) receives much less attention. In 1985 the annual
petroleum hydrocarbon input to the sea was estimated to reach about 3 million tons with 12.5 % of it from tanker accidents. Additional risks arise from the operation of
more than 600 offshore oil production platfonns globally.
10.5.5 Radioactive Pollution. The principal source of artificial radionuclides in the
marine environment used to be nuclear weapon-testing. This source produced a very
low-level contamination with no obvious ill effects. Scientists use this contamination
for tracing water masses (e. g., by noting the tritium content of deep waters), and for
dating purposes in skeletal parts (e. g., a l4 C spike in the 1960s, in coral and shell). A
relatively smaller source of such nuclides are fission products introduced from military and commercial reactors. Dumping of radioactive waste has been prohibited
among the signatories to the London Dumping Convention (1972) since 1983. However, it may be more widespread than realized, as has recently become obvious (e. g.,
weapons disposal by the fonner USSR in the Barents Sea). Disposal of radioactive
materials (albeit of low-level activity) is also known to have occurred several decades
ago off California and off the U. S. East coast. The impact, if any, is unkown.
The massive release of radioactive materials to the atmosphere at Chernobyl
(April 1986) provided a unique opportunity to study the pathways of a number of
dangerous radionuclides, within the marine environment. Results (from trapping and
coring in the Black Sea and elsewhere) suggest that many, perhaps most, of the
metals involved (e. g., 137Cs) are rapidly removed from surface waters and transported to the sea floor within biogenic debris. Similar results are known from studying the effluent from the Hanford reactor, in the Columbia river mouth.
Problems of an entirely different order are posed by high-level radioactive waste.
Given that large amounts of such waste exist on land now, and that these pose a
considerable hazard for present and future generations, the disposal of such materials
through burial in the sea floor is an option that has received some discussion and
Waste Disposal and Pollution: Radioactive Pollution
301
Exposure to water and sediment
...E
CD
I
on
DeilY Ind dilution

in the water column
BonoM WATER
lOs 01 m
DlIIu.ion through
.edlmenl
SEDIMENT
1.000s 01 m
Fig. 10.15. lnvestigation of risks associated with sub- seabed di sposal of high-level nuclear waste.
The diagram shows hypothetical pathways of contaminants from postulated leaks from waste repositories. These pathway (and others) have to be assessed before subsea disposal can be considered
as low-risk option. Vitrification of canister packages, circulation driven by hi gh temperature s generated by radiation , diffusion throug h sediments or erosion by deep- sea storms, all these might provide
for escape into bottom waters and uptake by benthic organisms, resulting in physical or biological
transport to surfac e waters. [M . F. Kaplan et a\. , 1984, Sandia Natl. Lab. Rep!. Sand 83- 7106]
study. One type of proposal envisions canisters placed into deep-sea sediments (Fig.
10.15).
Geologic questions which must be considered in connection with such contemplated emplacement are as follows : (I) how stable is the area in which disposal is to
take place (i. e., might the sediment be eroded before the radioactivity has died down
sufficiently?); (2) what type of circulation will develop around the containers (which
are hot) , and where would leaked materials end up? (i. e., would they be adsorbed on
sediment particles, or reach the sea floor?); (3) what kind of reactions might leaked
material undergo, and how would this influence mobility and bio-activity? of special
interest are possible pathways into the food web of marine organisms that might be
eaten by humans.
There is no evidence that deep-sea disposal by burial would be infeasible given
reliable containers and well-chosen areas . The main problems may not be geologic at
all: the issue is safety during transportation and emplacement. Also, there is the
ethical problem of the concept of producing highly dangerous substances only to
unload them in "no-man's land" at the risk of future generations.
302
10.5.6 Assessment of risk. Clearly, it is desirable to assess the potential impact of

dumping of hazardous materials before such dumping takes place. In any case, one
would hope that existing (if unfortunate) instances of hazardous dumping are used to
study the processes which determine the fate of the materials in question. These
include dispersion of the substances, and alteration through chemical reactions. Also,
the bio-activity is of vital importance (Fig. 10.15).
Dispersion is controlled by bioturbation, resuspension, and transport by currents,
which oppose the effects from natuml burial. Chemical reactions on and within the
sediment can change the toxicity of materials, and the ease with which they migrate
through the sediment, or are taken up by organisms. A well-known example with dire
consequences is the mobilization of mercury by methylation within anaerobic sediments. Methyl-mercury can end up in fish which then become poisonous, causing
"Minamata Disease", if consumed in sufficient quantitiy. The disease is named after
a bay in Japan where contamination offish occurred from release of mercury, leading
to much suffering and death.
An important aspect of the waste disposal problem is the scarcity of acceptable
dumping sites on land. One reason for this is the subjective desire of most communities to site dumps outside their own jurisdiction where possible, another is the
objective danger of groundwater contamination, which rules out many otherwise
suitable areas. Incineration (which can help heat a city) is rarely favored because of
its effects on air qUality. Thus, the price of dumping has risen sharply. This makes the
ocean attractive as a dumping ground.
Deep-sea dumping is a classic case of cost extemalization. The communities doing
the dumping reap the benefit of being rid of the noxious material which arose from
their activities, while the risk is spread evenly to all using the oceans, including - in
the case where the damage is irreversible - future generations.
One important task of marine geologists studying the sea floor - and perhaps the
most difficult yet - is to help assess the risks with which we burden the future.
Further Reading
Rona PA. Bostrom K. Laubier L. Smith KL (eds) (1983) Hydrothermal processes at sea floor
spreading centers. Plenum Press. New York
Tissot B. Welte DH (1984) Petroleum formation and occurrence. 2nd edn. Springer. Berlin New
York
Notholt AJG. Jarvis I (1990) Phosphorite research and development. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 22,
London
Cronan OS (1992) Marine mineral in exclusive economic zones. Chapman and Hall, London
Hsii KJ, Thiede J (eds) (1992) Use and misue of the seafloor. Dahlem Konferenzen. Wiley, New
York
Epilog
We have attempted, in this brief survey of sea floor studies, to show where we have
been and where we are now. But where are we going? An answer can only be
tentative, of course. Just like other fields in the earth sciences, marine geology has
experienced an exponential expansion of knowledge in the last two decades. This
knowledge explosion is largely driven by technological developments: satellites, submarines, deep-sea drilling, all sorts of remote sensing devices, highly sophisticated
laboratory equipment, and electronic information handling. Also, large-scale integration of geology with physics, chemistry, and biology has continued at a rapid pace,
with new specialities arising from this cross-fertilization in quick succession, and
recombining across disciplines to attack common targets: messages from the mantle,
ridge-crest processes, fluid circulation in the margins, large-scale extinction, global
environmental change.
The safe prediction is to postulate a continuation of these trends resulting in
ever-greater specialization in technological skills, and in increased cooperation across
disciplines when focusing these skills on studying sea-floor processes and on reconstructing sea-floor history, as well as the history of ocean and climate.
What were the "hot" topics of research and discussion in the last decade? How do
they stack up against the topics of the two preceding decades?
Sea-floor studies of the 1960s were characterized by the overwhelming success of
geophysics: discovery of the grand motions of the continents and the sea floor by
continuous echo sounding (for bathymetry), by the mapping of earthquake foci and
heat flow, by seismic profiling, and especially by the mapping of paleomagnetism.
The 1970s saw a great expansion of geologic knowledge based on testing and
applying the new paradigm of plate tectonics, the crowning achievement of marine
geophysics. This expansion owed much to deep-sea drilling, which provided the
"ground truth" for sea-floor spreading, and made available an enormous amount of
rocks and sediments, the likes of which had not been seen before, or only in bits and
pieces. In rapid succession we gained an understanding of the main structural features
of the sea floor, of processes involved in creating and destroying sea floor, and of the
growth of continents through mountain-building in subduction zones. Geochemistry
took the lead in starting to unravel messages from the mantle, in the shape of isotopic
composition and rare earth content of volcanic products in different settings, from
basement rock to island arcs to mantle plumes. These messages, combined with
large-scale mapping of heat flow, magnetism, and gravity, and seismologic modeling,
are providing glimpses of the structure of the mantle, and the character of the convec-
304
Epilog
tion processes responsible for sea-floor spreading and continental drift. Ridge-crest
processes took center stage as it became clear that the interaction between seawater
and basalt is a determinant factor in ocean chemistry. Deep-sea biology made headlines with the discovery of an entirely new kind of deep-sea community, the hot vent
assemblage on the East Pacific Rise. These communities represent a food web whose
base is chemosynthesis: the oxidation of sulfide issuing from the vents by archaic
bacteria specially adapted to high pressure and high temperature. The fact that sunlight is unnecessary to sustain primitive life forms has led to new speculations about
the conditions surrounding the origin of life. Was Earth's heat the energy source
nourishing the first living things?
Also in the 1970s, stratigraphy and its offspring paleoceanography received a
tremendous boost from deep-sea drilling. The main features of the Cretaceous and
Cenozoic history of the ocean were established, using biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and chemostratigraphy (mainly the isotopic ratios in the elements oxygen,
carbon, and strontium, as recorded in calcareous microfossils, and also the preservational state of the fossils, which records saturation and reactivity of deep waters). It
was found that the great evolutionalY breaks near the epoch boundaries were not an
artifact of poor preservation of the record, which is so common in the land sections.
Deep-sea sediments are made mainly of fossils, so neither was there any question of
missing the message due to lack of messengers. What emerged is that in the ocean
evolution proceeds mainly in distinct steps rather than gradually, and that major
discontinuities are tied to rapid climatic change.
Drilling in the margins discovered their architecture and established the course
and effects of continental break-up (in the Atlantic) and of continental accretion (in
the Pacific). Seismic stratigraphy, in conjunction with drilling results, greatly expanded our knowledge about margin structure and margin processes, and allowed the
(tentative) reconstruction of sea level variation on a global scale.
In the meantime, Quaternary research on the youngest deep-sea sediments established the cyclic nature of the record, and the dominance of astronomic forcing within
the background climatic fluctuations which characterize the "normal" situation between the climate steps.
The discoveries of the 1970s provided the base for the search for mechanisms in
the 1980s. The new catch phrases are "earth dynamics" and "global systems" and
they will continue to be most important. How does mantle convection control tectonic
or geochemical processes at the Earth's surface and how is it tied to the coevolution
of climate and life? How is the chemistry of the ocean and of the atmosphere determined, and what is the role of the circulation of seawater through the ocean crust and
through the ocean margins, and how is this circulation affecting crustal materials?
How do hot vents (on ridge crests) and cold seeps (along the margins) control the
abundance and diversity of chemosynthetic-based communities? How do ocean processes (productivity, sedimentation) codetermine climate? What exactly happened at
those times when extinction (or speciation) greatly accelerated in the ocean?
Significant contributions to these major topics came from all disciplines, but several major discoveries and developments set the tone. For the study of mantle
processes (degree of mixing, nature of layering), three-dimensional seismic tomo-
Epilog
305
graphy (pennitting the detection of inhomogeneities) and the discovery of basin-size

isotopic provinces proved crucial. Vigorous discussion about the style of mantle
convection (e. g., the relative importance of shallow and deep convection and the role
of mantle plumes) continues.
The proper description of ridge-crest processes depends on mapping the magma
chambers which underlie the crest like large pearls on a string, and on measuring the
emissions of gases and fluids. Details of topography become available as acoustic
swath-mapping, using mUltiple source and microphone arrangements, becomes almost routine. Geologists now "look" at the sea floor here at the ridge crest and
elsewhere with giant "acoustic searchlights", opening up new frontiers of marine
geomorphology.
For understanding processes within the subduction zone, the detection of fluid
overpressure along overthrust faults, and of seeps along the continental slope, were
very important. Thus, the role offluid circulation within the crust has become a topic
of intensive research.
Regarding the debate about the processes controlling evolution, the iridium spike
at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (reported in 1980) provided a rallying point. This
debate, bolstered by the study of pelagic sediments on land and on the deep-sea floor,
has led to a re-evaluation of the tenets of classic unifonnitarianism, and has emphasized the crucial importance of episodic events in Earth history, especially concerning
the role of impacts of extraterrestrial bolides. It is as though geologists suddenly
realized that Earth is not an isolated fortress in space, but is vulnerable to bombardement - as illustrated by the surface of our Moon.
For Quaternary climate history the discovery of ice age carbon dioxide fluctuations in polar ice (likewise reported in 1980) was of primary importance. The tie-in to
the deep-sea carbonate record proved to be highly instructive regarding the ocean's
role in controlling atmospheric C02. This topic has become the subject of intense
research efforts.
In the continental margins, especially in the passive ones, sea level fluctuations are
recorded in the geometry of sediment bodies of vast volumes. Some of these bodies
contain petroleum and other resources, which has greatly stimulated four-dimensional
basin analysis using the new insights gained from plate tectonics.
History, it is said, is a guide to destiny. First marine geophysics, and, more recently, marine geology and stratigraphy have led the way back to a global view of the
evolution of Earth and its life. The next step in this development is to achieve
detailed correlation between the record in the sea and that on land. Sequence-stratigraphy, magnetic stratigraphy, and bio- and chemostratigraphy will have to be greatly
refined for the purpose, and accurate dating of events becomes crucial. Only with
such tools in hand can we attempt synchronous global reconstructions of paleo-environments, to elucidate with some exactness the complex interactions of the many
processes governing climate change (Fig. E.l). For geologists, the answer to questions of cause and effect must be sought by detennining "before" and "after" across
oceans and continents, with ever-increasing resolution. As we expand our knowledge
of rates of changes in Earth history and the forces controlling them, we gain fun-
306
Epilog
TERRESTtAL
~ RADIATION
CO 2 , H2 0,ETC'
ATMOSPHERE
AEROS:::O:;LS::.-_
===:..
--=-t ~
..
?:~~ PRECIPITATION
Fig. E." Major components of the climate system and central role of the ocean as mediator between
the various elements. (W. H. Berger and L. A. Mayer, 1987, Paleoceanography 2: 613)
damentally new insights on how the face of the planet evolves, and the living things
on it.
During the 1990s and beyond, human interactions with the sea will increase,
leading to intensified investigation of human impacts. Mankind 's activities now have
reached truly global dimensions, outcompeting natural factors in many arenas of
geologic change. This trend began in the Neolithic age, with agriculture and deforestation gradually and regionally changing the rates of erosion and affecting soil
formation. It is now becoming a factor for profound and rapid alteration of the global
environment.
The knowledge gained in these various researches will help define our place in
nature, and will (in principle) allow us to use Earth 's resources more wisely. One area
where there is a pressing need for wisdom is in the disposal of waste, especially of
dangerous chemical and radioactive waste. Another is the assessment of hydrocarbon
resources. Yet another is the entire complex offorecasting, including earthquakes and
volcanism, and especially the effects of the large-scale climatic change which is
expected for the next centuries, as a result of human activities.
List of Books and Symposia

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Briggs JC (1974) Marine zoogeography. McGraw-Hill, New York
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Bromley RG (1990) Trace fossils - biology and taphonomy. Hyman, London

Brooks I, Fleet AI (eds) (1987) Marine petroleum source rocks. Geol Soc Spec Publ 26, Geol Soc,
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314
Important Research Journals in English that Regularly Carry Articles

on Subjects Related to Marine Geology
Published by the American Geophysical Union (Washington, D. C.): Journal of Geophysical Research; EOS, Transactions; Paleoceanography; Maurice Ewing Series (monographs).
Published by the Geologic Society of America (Bouler, Colorado): Bulletin of the G. S. A.; Geology; G. S. A. Memoir.
Published by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (Tulsa, Oklahoma): AAPG Bulletin; AAPG Memoir.
Published by the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists (Tulsa, Oklahoma):
J. Sedim. Petro!.; SEPM Special Pub!.
Published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Washington, D. C.):
Science
Published by the Royal Astronomical Society, Deutsche Geophysikalische Gesellschaft and European Geophysical Society (Blackwell, Oxford): Geophysical Journal International (formerly
Geophys. J. of the Roy. Astr. Soc.).
Published by the European Union of Geosciences (Blackwell, Oxford): Terra Nova.
Published by Macmillan Magazines Ltd., London: Nature.
Published by Elsevier, Amsterdam: Earth and Planetary Science Letters; Marine Geology; Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology; Marine Micropaleontology.
Published by Pergamon Press, Oxdford: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta; Deep-Sea Research.
Appendix
At Conversions Between Common US Units and Metric Units

Temperature
C = (F-32) . 5/9
F = C '. 9/5 + 32 where C is degrees Celsiur or "centigrade" and F is degrees Fahrenheit
Freezing point of water: 0 C, 32 OF
Boiling point of water: 100C, 212 OF
Typical room temperature: 20 C, 68 of
Degrees Kelvin (= absolute scale) = Celsius + 273.2
Length
1 cm = 0.394 inch
1 m = 3.281 ft
1 km = 0.621 miles
1 cm = 10 mm (millimeter)
1 inch = 2.54 cm
1 ft = 0.305 m
1 mile (statue) = 1.609 km
1 mile (nautical) = 1.852 km
1 mrn = 1000 J.IIIl (micrometer,microns)
Volume
1 liter = 1000 milliliters = 0.264 US gallons
1 US gallon = 3.781 I
1 barrel (oil) = 42 gallons
Mass
1 kilogram = 1000 grams = 2.205 pounds

1 pound = 0.454 kilograms
1 metric ton = 1000 kg = 1.102 short tons
316
Appendix
A2 Topographic Statistics
Earth
Equatorial radius = 6378 km
Polar radius = 6356 km
Area = 510 x 106 km 2
Volume = 1.083 x 1012 km 3
Northern hemisphere: 61 % oceans
Southern hemisphere: 81 % oceans
Sea floor = 71 % of Earth's surface
Oceans
Atlantic Ocean (inc!. Arctic and marginal seas)
Area = 107 million km 2
Volume = 351 million km 3
Indian Ocean
volume = 285 million km 3
Pacific Ocean
Total ocean
Area = 362 million km2
Depths: for depths see Table 2.2
Source for A2, H. U. Sverdrup et al. (1942) the oceans, Prentice Hall, Engle wood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Shel ves: for shelf areas see Table 2.1
A3 The Geologic Time Scale
317
A3 The Geologic Time Scale

Period
Epoch
0.01
1.7
5
23
37
53
Holocene (= Recent)
Era
Quaternary
(Age of Man)
Pleistocene
Pilocene
Miocene
Tertiary
(Age of Mammals)
Oligocene
Cenozoic
Eocene
Paleocene
65
135
205
290
Cretaceous
Jurassic
Triassic
410
438
510
250
Permian
Carboniferous
360
Mesozoic
Pennsylvanian
Devonian
Mississippian
Paleozoic
Silurian
Ordovician
Cambrian
570
Precambrian
3800
(Oldest rocks)
Birth of Earth
4600
Numbers indicate boundary ages in millions of years. Note that the age of fossils, the Phanerozoic
is only one eights of Earth's history. All other time belongs to the Precambrian. The deep-sea record
begins in the Jurassic (see Chap. 9). The Holocene is the youngest and the shortest epoch, it begins
with the disappearance of the large ice caps from Canada and Scandinavia, 10 000 years ago.
Sources for A3, Episodes, 1989, 12,2. International Union of Geological Sciences.
318
Appendix
A4 Common Minerals
Silicate Minerals
Most abundant, crust-fonning minerals. Basic building blocks. Si04-letrahedra (see graph).
Fig. A4.1 Si04-tetrahedron, a silicon atom surrounded

by four oxygen atoms
Quartz Si02. Framework structure: each tetrahedron shares all oxygens with other tetrahedra. Found
in granitic rocks and in sediments. Opal = disordered hydrated silica (Si02 . nH20)
Feldspars. Framework structure as in quartz. Replacement of Si by AI in some tetrahedra results in
negative charge which is balanced by cations. Found in virtually all rocks. Examples:
Albite
Na AI Si30S
Anorthite
Ca AIzSi20s
Microcline K Al Si30S
Micas. Sheet structure: each tetrahedron is tied to others by three oxygens. Sheets are bonded by
cations . Ubiquitous. Examples:
Muscovite
K Ah(AI Si3)Ot!XOH)2
Biotite
K Mg3(AI Si3)O\ifOH)2 (also usually contains iron)
Clay minerals. Similar to mica, but deficient in cations. See Fig. 8.7 for clay mineral structure.
Abundant in sediments and in lowgrade metamorphic rocks. Produced during chemical weathering of rocks with feldspar and mica. Examples:
Montmorillonite (= smectite) (AI,Fe 3+,Mg)3 (OH)2[(Si,\I:IAI)40Io]Na' nH20
Illite
K,H30)AIz(H20, OH)2[AI Si301O]
Chlorite
(AI,Mg,Fe)3(OH)2(AI,Si)40IOMg3(OH)6
Kaolinite
AI4(OH)8[Si4010]
Hornblende-type minerals. Double chain structure. Abundant in metarnorphick rocks, and in many
igenous rocks. Example:
Amphibole
(CazMgs)[Sis022](OH)2
Augite-type minerals. Single chain structure. Abundant in basalts. Example:
Pyroxene
(Mg,Fe)Si 03
Olivine series. (Mg,Fe)Si 04 Isolated tetrahedra bonded via cations. Abundant in basalts.
Zeolites. Feldspar-like structure but with large interstices containing water. Common in volcanogenic sediments and in deep-sea clays. Examples:
Phillipsite
(1/2Ca,Na,K)3[AbSisOI6] . 6H20
Clinoptilotite
(CaNa2)[AIzSi?Ols] 6H20
A4 Common Minerals
Nonsilicate Minerals
Carbonates. Bulk of biogenous sediments. Examples:
Calcite
Ca C03 shells and skeletons, see Table 3.3
Aragonite
Ca C03 ditto
Dolomite
Ca Mg (C03)2 diagenesis, see Chapter 3.
Evaporite minerals. Precipitated from seawater. Examples:
Anhydrite
Ca S04
Gypsum
Ca S04 . 2H20
Halite
Na Cl
Epsomite
Mg S04 . 7H20
Bischofite
Mg Ch . 6H20
Carnallite
K Mg C13 . 6H20
Iron oxides and sulfides. Ubiquitous in igneous and sedimentary rocks. Examples:
Goethite
a-FeOOH
Lepidocrocite y-FeOOH
Limonite
FeOOH . nH20
Hematite
a-Fe203
Magnetite
Fn04
FeS2
Pyrite
Marcasite
FeS2
FeS2. nH20
Hydrotroilite
Heavy minerals (see Chap. 3.5.2)
Apatite
Cas(P04)3(F,Cl,OH)
Augite
Ca,Mg,Fe - silicate
Barite
BaS04
Epidote
Ca,Fe,Al - silicate
Garnet
Mg,Ca,Fe,Al - silicates
Glauconite
K,Fe - mica
Hematite
iron oxide
Hornblende
Ca,Fe,Na,K,Mg,Al - silicates
Ilmenite
FeTi03
Limonite
iron (hydr)oxide
Marcasite
iron sulfide
Magnetite
iron oxide
Olivine
Mg,Fe,Ca - silicates
Pyrite
iron sulfide
Rutile
Ti02
Ca,Ti - silicate
Titanite
Zr - silicate
Zircon
Source for A4, any mineralogy textbook
AS Grain Size Classification for Sediments

Boulder
Gravel
mm
256
Sand
2
Silt
0.063
a) Some classifications use 0.002 mm
Clay
0.004 (a)
319
320
Appendix
A6 Common Rock Types

Igneous Rocks. Mineral assemblages (dominated by silicates) which crystallized from hot, fluid
magma. Slow cooling produces coarse crystals, typical for intrusive rocks. Fast cooling produces
small crystals, typical for extrusive rocks (volcanic lava). Classification is by mineral types (from
high-silica to low-silica minerals) and by crystal size.
Intrusive rocks
Extrusive rocks
(Coarse crystals)
Granite
Granodiorite
Diorite
Gabbro
Peridotite
Dunite
(Fine-grained)
Rhyolite
Dacite
Andesite')
Basaltb)
Basalt b)
Basalt
Decreasing
proportion
of Si02, increase
in Mg and Fe
a) Typical volcanic rock in island arcs and landward of trenches (Andes! ). Partial melting of downgoing oceanic crust appears to be an important process in generating andesite (see Fig. A6.1)
b)Typical basement rock for deep sea floor, that is, ocean crust below sediments.
I. Macquane Island
2. Chatham Island
3. Kermadec Islands
4. Tonga Islands
5. Samoa
6: Fiji Islands
7. Santa Cruz
8. Solomon Islands
...
16
9. Bismarck Islands
10. Palau Islands

11. Yap
;'
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Mananas Islands
Bonin Islands
Kurile Islands
Aleutian Islands
Galapagos Islands
Fig. A6.1 Andesite line . The " andesite line" separates andesitic volcanoes from basaltic ones. The
recognition of this boundary predates plate tectonics by many decades (see Fig. 1.2). Graph from
Kuenen Ph H (1950) Marine Geology. John Wiley and Sons, New York
A6 Common Rock Types
321
Sedimentary Rocks. Consolidated sediments. Particle assemblages consisting of minerals, rock

fragments, shell, and amorphous substances in various proportions. Produced by weathering, transportation, deposition, alteration, and cementation. Classification is by grain size and composition
(see Chap. 3).
Detrital or Clastic Rocks
(U nconsolidated)
(Consolidated)
Gravel
Conglomerate
Sand
Sandstone
&It
&ltMore
Clay
Claystone
Mud a)
Mudstone
Shale b )
Decreasing
grain-size
a)Mud is a mixture of silt and clay.

b)Shale is the most common sedimentary rock, it is siltstone, claystone, and mudstone which is
laminated and parts along bedding planes.
Examples of common sand- and siltstones are:

Quartz sandstone: produced through recycling of sedimentary rocks (quartz is resistant to weathering)
Arkose: feldspar-rich sandstone, produced from erosion of granite and granodiorite
Graywacke: cemented "dirty" sand, that is, with abundant clay and rock fragments. Composition is
similar to that of sediments accumulating on active margins (see Fig. 2.7).
Chemical Rocks. Assemblages of minerals produced by precipitation from watery solution, either
by organisms or inorganically. Classification is by origin and composition.
(Biogenous)
(Nonbiogenous)
Reef-limestone
Dolomite
Bedded limestone
Evaporite
Cherta)
Coal
Phosphorite
a)
Chert denotes a series of rocks ranging from silicified mudstones to very fine-grained quartz rock.
The origin of the silica (quartz) is biogenous opal (at least in Mesozoic and younger rocks).
Metamorphic Rocks. Mineral assemblages produced by defonnation and recrystallization of

igenous rocks or sedimentary rocks through elevated temperature and pressure, with or without
addition of material through injection of solutions. Classification is by degree of foliation, types of
minerals present, and grain size. Metamorphic rocks occur at active margins (see Fig. 2.7).
(Nonfoliated)
Hornfels (from shale, tuff, or lava)
Marble (from limestone or dolomite)
Quartzite (from quartz sandstone)
Amphibolite (from basaltic material or corresp. sediments)
Granulite (from shale, graywacke, or andesite)
(Foliated)
Slate (from shale, tuff)
Schist (from basalt, andesite, tuff, or shale)
Gneiss (from granite, diorite, schist, shale, etc)
Source for A6, any geology text book
322
Appendix
A 7 Geochemical Statistics
Chemical Composition of Crust, Ocean, and Atmosphere
Cont. crust
Si
Al
Fe
Ca
Na
Mg
Ti
H
P
CI
N
Ar
Coz
Seawater
Ocean crust
46.3
28.1
8.2
5.6
4.2
2.4
2.3
2.1
0.6
0.14
0.10
Atmosphere
85.8
43.6
23.9
8.8
8.6
6.7
21.0
0.04
1.1
0.14
0.04
1.9
4.5
0.8
0.9
0.2
0.14
10.7
2.0
78.1
0.9
0.03
tr
100.0
100.0
99.8
100.0
The crust is mainly made of alumuno-silicates, with the alkaline and earth-alkaline elements as
cations, and with iron inside and outside of the silicate minerals. Continental crust has a composition
resembling that of granodiorite, ocean crust that of basalt. Seawater is largely a solution of sodium
chloride. The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen, both intimately tied to biological
cycling.
Composition of Igneous and Sedimentary Rocks
Igneous
(continent)
Si02
Alz03
FeO
Fez03
CaO
NazO
MgO
K20
H2O
TiOz
MnO
P20S
CO2
C(org)
S03
59.1
15.3
3.8
3.1
5.1
3.8
3.5
3.1
1.1
1.1
0.3
0.1
99.4
Sedimentary
(continent)
57.9
13.3
2.1
3.5
5.9
1.1
2.7
2.9
3.2
0.6
0.1
0.1
5.4
0.7
0.5
100.0
a)Assumed as zero in the calculation.
Tholeiitic
basalt
(deep sea)
Alkali
olivine
basalt
(ocean
volcanoes)
50.2
16.2
7.1
2.6
48.2
16.5
7.6
4.2
9.1
3.7
5.3
11.4
2.8
7.7
0.2
<la
1.9
<la
0.2
0.1
2.9
0.2
0.5
99.8
99.9
1.5
Red clay
(deep sea)
53.7
17.4
0.5
8.5
1.6
1.3
4.6
3.7
6.3
1.0
0.8
0.1
0.4
0.1
100.0
A8 Radioisotops and Dating
323
On the whole, igneous rocks and the sediments derived from them (mainly shales) have very similar
composition (columns 1 and 2). Note the depletion, in the sediments, of sodium (Na20) much of
which ends up in seawater. Note also the high C02 content in sediments (carbonates), the high
carbon content (coaly matter), and the sulfur (evaporites). The sea floor basalts differ from continental igneous rocks in the abundance and oxidation state of iron, in the calcium content, in magnesium,
and especially in potassium. Red clay has a composition much like sedimentary rock in general,
except for depletion in calcium carbonate (dissolution!), and enrichment in manganese. Also note
the differencein sulfur (no evaporites) and in carbon (high degree of oxidation). (Sources for A7:
Fairbridge R. W. ed. 1972 The encyclopedia of geochemistry and environmental sciences, Van
Nostrand Reinhold Co. New York; A. E. J. Engel and C. G. Engel, 1971 in A. Maxwell [ed] The Sea
vol. 4 pt. 1,465-519, John Wiley and Sons, New York
A8 Radioisotopes and Dating

General. Certain atoms have a nucleus which emits radiation, whereupon the nature of the atom
changes. Atoms of the same kind are called isotopes and those which emit radiation from the
nucleus are radioactive isotopes. Many elements have both stable and unstable (= radioactive)
nuclides (= isotopes), but elements heavier than lead (see A4) generally tend to be unstable. The
radiation emitted from a nucleus may be 0:, ~, or y-radiation. An alpha particle consists of two
neutrons and two protons (= helium nucleus); a beta particle is a high-speed electron, and gamma
rays are like X-rays except more energetic.
The probability that a given atomic nucleus emits radiation (or "decays") is independent of its
age and of environment (pressure, temperature, chemical conditions). From this it follows that the
number of atoms in a given set of radioactive isotopes decreases according to a simple exponential
law, which may be written:
NINo = e-Al ,
where NINo is the proportion of remaining atoms after time t, and 'A is the decay constant. Solving
the equation for NINo = 1/2 we obtain a value for t which is called the half-life
tl/2 =ln2/A. .
The decaying isotope is called parent and the resulting new isotope is called daughter. Geochronological dating is done by assessing the abundance of parent and/or daughter elements. When NINo
is known, and A., then t can be calculated.
Types of Radioactivity. Three kinds of radioactivity are useful in measuring time in the geologic
record.
The first is primary radioactivity from radioisotopes with very long half-lives, which have been
around since the Earth was formed. These isotopes are ;B0tassium-40, rubidium-87, thorium-232,
uranium-235, and uranium-238 (4<X., 87Rb, 232yh, 235u, 80). The decay of 4<K. to 4Ar has been
used to date volcanic rocks (potassium-argon dates). Such dating delivered the time scale for
magnetic lineations on the sea floor (Chap. 1). The decay of 87Rb to 87Sr has been used to date
igneous rocks and meteorites, and to establish the timing of metamorphism (rubidium-strontium
method). The method is also used to study inhomogeneities in the upper mantleA~s reflected in
different 87Srltisr rations in oceanic basalts on the seafloor. 232rh decays to 2~Pb in a series
involving six alpha steps (each decreasing the atomic weight of the preceding parent by 4). 2~i also
is produced in this decay. The 232rh decay has been used to date the time of crystallization of certain
minerals. The two uranium decay series are especially important in dating Pleistocene deposits.
324
Appendix
Another kind of radioactivity is called secondary; it consists in the alpha, beta, and gamma
emissions from the daughter elements along a decay series. The third kind of radioactivity is
cosmic-ray-induced. Certain radioisotopes are continually being produced by cosmic ray bombardment of the atmosphere and the ocean. Their abundance represents an equilibrium between new
production on Earth, and the decay by radioactivity. Examples are carbon-14, hydrogen-3 (= tritium), beryllium-7, beryllium-IO, and silicon-32.
A fourth kind of radioactivity - the man-made type - is useful for measuring the rate of rapid
geologic processes, such as water movements, dispersion of sediments, sediment mixing on the sea
floor, and growth rate of skeleton-producing organisms. The degree to which bomb-produced tritium
and carbon-14 are dispersed in the ocean, for example, contains clues about rates of deep water
formation and rates of carbon cycling. The depth to which plutonium penetrates sediment on the sea
floor tells something about the activity of benthic organisms. Some short-lived isotopes in the
natural uranium decay series also are used for the study of such processes.
Uranium Decay Series. There are two such series, one for 238u and one for 23\;, the heavier
uranium is the more abundant of the two isotopes (99.27 % versus 0.72 %). The two series proceed
by alpha and beta decay, as follows (half-life below each arrow):
''"u
a
) 234Th
~ ) 234Pa
) 214U
a
) 230Th
a
) 226Ra
4.49l0 9 yrs
24.lds
1.1Smin
24SIO'yrs
7.510 4yrs
226Ra a,a,a,~,~,~ 210Pb f3,f3,a
22 yrs
1622 yrs
) 206Pb (stable)
~
22 yrs
) 227Th
IS.6 ds
) 223Ra
223Ra a,a,a,~,a,~ 207Pb (stable)

II. I ds
The ratios between start and end elements, and the ratio between the stable end products (lead-leadmethod) have been used for geochronometry on long time scales. The relatively short-lived intermediate products offer opportunities for dating on time scales of the Pleistocene. Both sediment
accumulation and the age of raised coral terraces have been dated by uranium series analysis.
Sediment dating proceeds from the observation that uranium is much more soluble than thorium
(Th) or protactinium (Pa), daughter products in the decay series. The decay products thorium and
protactinium enter the sediment at the stages shown in Fig. AS.I. At this point the particular
elements form insoluble compounds and they also exist long enough to reach the sea floor as
precipitates within particles. Decay then continues within the sediment at a rather slow rate: 230rh
has a half-life of 75 000 years, and 231 Pa one of 32 500 years.
From Fig. AS.l it is obvious that we should find, within the sediment, the thorium-230 and the
protactinium-231 in excess of what is expected to be delivered by the uranium-23S and the uranium235 present in the sediment. Also, since these daughter isotopes decay slowly in their turn (to
radium-226 and actinium-227, respectively), this excess abundance should decrease with the age of
the sediment, that is, downward in a core. These expectations are fulfilled, and the decreasing
abundance of excess thorium-230 (or of excess protactinium-231) downcore yields a measure for the
sedimentation rate (Fig. AS.2)
In the figure, measurements on thorium activity are plotted against depth in core. Thorium
activity is shown as the difference (in disintegrations per minute) between the activity of 230rh and
of 23\;, its immediate parent. This difference is the unsupported or excess thorium-230. It is
assumed to be the remnant of thorium originally entering the sediment at its former surface. The
broken line shows where one would expect to plot the measurements if the original activity of
excess thorium had been 10 dpm, and the sedimentation rate had been unchanged at 2.4 cm/lOOO
years. The fit is reasonable but not perfect: the throrium activity is too high near the top of the core
and too low between 2 and 4 m depth-in-core.
AS Radioisotops and Dating
325
Atmosphere
Ocean
precip.
precip.
Fig. AS.I. Behavior of uranium series isotopes in the ocean. Uranium is much more soluble than
thorium and protactinium. These elements, therefore, precipitate when formed by decay of their
immediate parent. 23CTh and 231pa are the first long-lived isotopes in their respective series. Thus,
they have time to reach the sediment. (w. M. Sackett, 1964, Ann N Y Acad Sci 119: 340)
Carbon-14 Dating. Carbon-14 arises in the atmopshere from the interaction of nitrogen-14 (the
most abundant isotope in the air) with slow moving neutrons which owe their origin to cosmic ray
bombardment of the atmosphere. About 10 kg of carbon-14 is produced per year, in this fashion.
The half-life of 14C is 5700 years. Thus, the proportion of radiocarbon which disintegrates each year
(back to nitrogen-14) is one hundredth of 1.2 % of the total radiocarbon present. For steady state, the
amount formed equals the amount decaying, and the total mass of radiocarbon present, therefore,
should be near 80 000 kg . Each living organism (and each carbonate shell abuilding) has its share of
this radiocarbon within it. Bomb-produced 14C has considerably increased the total amount (and the
share).
For dating purposes, the condition before the introduction of man-made radiocarbon is taken as
the normal state (A. D 1950). In reality there is not steady state, as was shown by tree-ring dating
for the last 8000 years. Radiocarbon dates may deviate from true ages by as much as 10 % in this
period (and for earlier periods as well; see Fig. 5.6).
The maximum range of the radiocarbon method in sediments is about 40000 years, which
corresponds to seven half-lives or 1/128 of the original activity. One measures the ratio between
radiocarbon and the total carbon present. The original ratio of radiocarbon to stable carbon (carbon12 and a minor amount of carbon-l3) is about one in 10 12 (one in one thousand billion) . The age is
326
Appendix
Age of sed iments I yrs I

200 000
100 000
rll
400 000
300 000
3
230Th_ Hall- lives
~ 10 \
.~
~
. ::~
'!\
\
\
"\
"'\.
1/
' .
20rlQlnol
~ acllvlty
Hall-life of 230Th
! - t/2 -----1
'0t').
!',
'1,
co.
-c
lh oriQinol
, activity
....
t
..c
'l~.......
.............
co.
-c
1/80riginot
I activity
" . . . . . . .L
1116 orig inal

~ act IVI ty
1/32 or iginal
, activity
-- ---o-_L__ _
5
Oe pth in core I m I
1-
Fig. AS.2. Thoriumdating of deep-sea core V 12-122 raised from the Caribbean deep sea floor
(\700 ' N, 7424' W, 2800 m, core length JO.95m). The part of thorium-230 activity which is
unsupported by uranium-234 decay in the sediment is plotted as disintegrations per minute, on a
carbonate-free basis. The dashed line and hollow circles show the decrease of activity expected if
the initial value is 10 dpm. and the rate of sedimentation is 2.4 cm/lOOO yrs, and assuming no
variation of the supply of 23~h through time. (Data from T. L. Ku and W. S. Broecker, 1966,
Science 15 I: 448)
calculated from the equation

(14C/total C)presenl= (14C/total C)m'I,al. e- N ,
where the decay constant is 1/8200.
From this follows
t = 82000 In
( 14C/C )
,ml,al
( 14C/C)presenl
The initial ratio is assumed to be that of living matter in A. D. 1950. There also is a correction for
differential incorporation of 14C and 12C into various types of living and skeletal matter. This
correction is based on the measurement of 13C/12C ratios.
Either carbonate or organic carbon may be dated. In sediments, contamination from redeposition
can be a problem in fine-grained carbonate, as well as in organic carbon, especially near continents.
Also, the 14C content of organic carbon can change through exchange with the atmosphere, during
improper storage of sediment. Sediment mixing is an important problem in interpreting 14C dates of
marine deposits. This problem does not arise in the dating of single large shells, oc course.
The amount of carbon necessary for routine dating is 10 g of carbon (or 100 g of carbonate).
Refined methods can cope with amounts much smaller than this.
10
A9 Systematic Overview of Marine Organisms
327
A9 Systematic Overview for Major

Groups of Common
Marine Organisms Important
in Sea-Floor Processes
The number of species of living organisms on Earth is not
known; estimates range from 3 to 10 million. As far as
animals (including protozoans, i. e., eukaryotic unicellular
organisms without chlorophyll) are concerned, there are
well over a million species, of which 16 % (160000) live
in the ocean. On land, some 75 % of the animal species are
insects. Hence, the number of noninsect species in the sea
is two thirds of the total noninsect species. Benthic species
outnumber pelagic ones by 50: I.
On the basis of similaritiy (and presumed common
origin, therefore) species are grouped into genera (sing.
genus), genera are grouped into families, these into orders,
these into classes, and classes finally into phyla (sing. phylum) (see Table A9.l).
Table 9.1. Taxonomic classification: four examples. (1. L. Sumich, 1976, An introduction to the
biology of marine life. WC Brown Co., Dubuque, Iowa)
Taxonomic
categorie
Blue whale
Common
dolphin
Purple sea
urchin
Giant kelp
Kingdom
Phylum/
division
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Animalia
Chordata
Animalia
Chordata
Animalia
Echinodermata
Plantae
Mammalia
Mysticeti
Balaenopteridae
Balaenoptera
musculus
Mammalia
Odontoceti
Delphinidae
Delphinus
delphis
Echinoidea
Echinoida
Strongylocentrotidae
Strongylocentrotus
purpuratus
\
The highest taxonomic category is the kingdom. Traditionally two kingdoms have been recognized, the "animals"
and the "plants", a division which goes back to the time of
the 18th century naturalist C. Linne. The biologist E.
Haeckel (in 1866) recognized the plVtists (unicellular organisms) as a separate kingdom, and H. F. Copeland (in
1938) elevated the monera (bacteria and blue-green algae)
to this rank. A five-kingdom system is now widely
adopted (R. H. Whittacker, 1966, Science 163: ISO). Such
a system is shown in the phylogenetic tree (Fig. A9.1)
which gives a summary of organism classification. "Archaeohacteria", many of them methanogenic, somewhere
between prokaryotes and eukaryotes, may constitute a separate sixth kingdom.
Phaeophyta
Phaeophycae
Laminariales
Lessoniaceae
Macrocystis
pynj'era
328
Appendix
.
.. Animals "
--
.-
,'/ Annelida
I
I
I
I
I
Hemichordai~:
\ EchiUfida
Pagonophora ::
" Phoronida
\ Brachiopoda
\ , Ectoprocta
'\
--_,
ANI MALIA
",
Chordata
"
,,
,
--1- "Plants "
'I
Echinoder- ~I
mata :
Aschelminth~e~s~~'_~~
'- Platyhelminthes
"
Nemertina
"
Ctenophore
"
Cnidaria
""
Porifera
"-
Fig. A9.1. Evolutionary tree. Hypothetical evolutionary tree showing probable relationships of the
major groups of organisms. Kingdom s are outlined with dashed lines. (J. L. Sumich, 1976, An
introduction to the biology of marine life . W. C. Brown Co., Dubuque, Iowa)
Kingdom Monera. Prokaryotic cells: lacking nuclear

membranes.
Bacteria. Responsible for remineralization of organic
matter and regeneration of nutrients in the water column and on the sea floor. Also for nitrogen fixation,
sulfate and nitrate reduction, sulfide precipitation
(pyrite), ferromanganese precipitation (manganese nodules). Photosynthetic bacteria in the sunlit zone add to
primary produc tion . Chemosynthetic bacteria form the
base of the food chain at hydrothermal vents (a)
Blue-Green Algae (Cyanophyta). Photosynthesis in
plankton and benthos. Stromatolite formation. Nitrogen fixation . Endolithic form s in calcareous shells.
Chemosynthetic forms. Algalmats in lagoons (b, c)
Kingdom Protista. Unicellular eukaryotic cells , possessing nuclear membranes. There are two major groups;
unicellular algae (e. g., dinoflagellates, coccolithophores, diatoms, si licoflagellates) and protozoans
(e. g. , foraminifera, radiolarians, and tintinnids).
A9 Systematic OveIView of Marine Organisms

Dinoflagellates. Photosynthetic plankton, commonly the
dominant form in seawater. Certain types are responsible for "red tide" which can poison fish and render
mussels inedible. Common as symbionts ("zooxanthelae") in foraminifera, radiolarians, corals, sponges, and
some mollusks. Their cysts are found as fossils in organic-rich sediments. Phylum Pyrrophyta (a, b)
Coccolithophores. Photosynthetic plankton and benthos
(the latter rarely as fossils). Calcitic platelets of certain
pelagic species are preseIVed in deep-sea sediments,
hence, coccoliths are probably the most abundant type
of fossils on Earth (since the Mesozoic). Rockforming
(e. g., Cretaceous chalks). Phylum Chrysophyta (c)
Diatoms. Photosynthetic plankton and benthos, extremely
common in all watery environments. Siliceous skeleton
(pill-box principle). Colonial forms abundant in ocean.
Characteristic component of sediments in upwelling
regions. Rock-forming in Tertiary deposits (diatomite).
Phylum Chrysophyta (d, e)
Silicoflagellates. Similar to diatoms but with an inner
skeleton of silica. Photosynthetic plankton of the ocean .
Abundant in fertile regions and their sediments (r, g).
Foraminifera. Heterotrophic plankton and benthos,
marine only. Calcareous shells. Also agglutinated tests,
on the sea floor. Rockforming (e. g. , Eocene nummulitic limestones: building material of Egyptian pyramids). Foraminiferal Ooze ("Globigerina ooze") is
the single most widespread deposit on the face of Earth
at present (covers ca. half of the deep-sea floor) . Many
plankton and reef species have dinoflagellate symbionts (h, i)
Radiolarians. Somewhat similar to foraminifera, but with
internal skeletons made of silica. Marine plankton
only, all depths. Common in pelagic sediments below
fertile regions. Rock-forming (radiolarites of late Jurassic). Shallow planktonic forms can have dinoflagellate symbionts. Main groups: nasselarians (opal), spumellarians (opal), phaeodarians (organic-rich opal
skeleton) . Also there is a distinct group, the acantharians, which have skeletons made of SrS04. Acantharians are common in tropical surface waters, but do not
make fossils (j, k)
Tintinnids. Ciliate protozoans with an organic test
("Iorica"). Abundant in marine plankton . Loricae are
fossilized in organic-rich sediments (upwelling regions) (I)
Kingdom Plantae. Multicellular, with walled eukaryotic
cells, photosynthetic. There are two major groups: the
multicellular algae (e. g., Rhodophyta, Phaeophyta,
Chlorophyta) and the higher plants (Metaphyta).
Rhodophyta (Red Algae). Common in the littoral zone,
especially in warm regions, and on hard substrates
down to very low light levels. Corallinaceae (e. g., Lithothamnion) have calcified cell walls, they are important sediment producers in places (m, n).
329
330
Appendix
Phaeophyta (Brown Algae). Best known as kelp forests
of temperate and cold water coasts, the most highly
productive marine biotope. Typical representatives:
Laminaria, Macrocystis, Fucus. Sargassum is abundant in Sargasso Sea, where it floats on the surface.
Delivery of organic sediments to coastal regions (posibly also below Sargasso Sea) (a, b)
Chlorophyta (Green Algae). Common at the sea shore
(e. g. , sea lettuce, VIva). In warm waters abundant
lime-secreting forms, e. g., Halimeda (Codiaceae) and
representatives of the Dasycladaceae which were rockforming in times past (e . g., alpine Triassic) (e)
Vletaphyta. The higher plants (mosses, vascular plants)
are primari Iy terrestrial. Exceptions are: the sea grasses
(e. g., Zostera) in the littoral zone, which are flowering
plants. Certain halophytes (Salicornia in salt marshes;
mangroves in tropical coastal swamps) are important
in the intertidal zone (d)
Kingdom Fungi. Unicellular and multicellular eukaryotic
organisms lacking photosynthetic pigments and depending on nutrition by absorption. There are few
marine species (e)
Kingdom Animalia. Multicellular eukaryotic organisms
without photosynthetic pigments and depending on nutrition by ingestion. Higher forms have sensory neuromotor systems
Porifera (Sponges). Most species are marine. Common on
firm sea floor in fertile area, in all latitudes . Boring
sponges (Cliona) produce sediment particles, weaken
mollusk shells, and erode calcareous substrates. Calcareous and siliceous form can be rock-forming. Siliceous sponge spicules accumulate in great masses on
the Antarctic shelf, in places (f)
Cnidaria (Coelenterata). Mostly Marine. Planktonic
forms (hydrozoans, siphonophores, scyphozoans) and
benthic forms (hydrozoans, anthozoans) abundant.
Stone corals contribute greatly to reef building in tropical regions (Acropora, Porites, Pocil/opora, etc.).
Deep water and water stone corals also exist (e . g.,
Lophe/ia) but they do not build reefs (g, h)
Worms. This common-name category for elongate softbodied animals (Vermes) no longer has scientific
standing. There are several phyla of worms, such as:
Platyhelminthes. flatworms (some free-living, but
mostly parasites), Nemertea. ribbon worms common
on the sea floor Aschelminthes, round worms (containing the important class of nematodes, which is very
abundant in the marine benthos; parasites common),
Phoronida, phoronid worms (few species, but common) , Sipunculoidea, peanut worms (few species),
Echiuridea, spoon worms (few species, deposit feeders), Annelida, segment worms (common in plankton
and benthos; well-known representative: Arenicola),
POfionophora , beard worms (lack a digestive tract;
tube dwellers, mainly soft bottom, deep sea, few
species; some live near hot vents, see cover photo),
A9 Systematic Overvciew of Marine Organisms
Hemichordata (pterobranch and acorn worms; pterobranchia are common on the sea floor over a large
depth range, tube-building species colony-forming in
places; acom worms are common in soft sediment,
mainly on shelf).
Worms are important in reworking and processing
surface sediment, and in subsurface irrigation of the
sea floor (enhancing chemical exchange between sediment and water). Filter-feeding worms convert suspended matter to sediment. Tube-building worms can
provide solid substrates for epi benthos to settle on (i, j,
a, b, c)
Bryozoans (Moss Animals). Benthic organisms superficially resembling small colonial hydroids. Many
species secrete a protective and supporting structure
made of carbonate. These structures may be encrusting
rocks or shells, or may stand as small bushes or trees
(d)
Brachiopods (Lamp Shells). Common as fossils, but not

so important in the present ocean (30 000 extinct
species, 300 living ones). Benthic organisms, superficially resembling bivalves . Shells are made of chitinophosphatic or of calcareous material (e)
Mollusks. Highly diverse group (more than 60000
species) and of major importance in sediment formation (CaC03). Includes gastropods (snails including
pteropods), pelecypods (mussels, clams, Oysters, etc .),
cephalopods (squids, octopuses, etc.) and the less wellknown classes amphineurans (chitons), scaphopods
(tusk shells), and monoplacophorans, a rare group
thought to be extinct since the Paleozoic before representatives were dicovered in the deep sea in the
1950's (r, g. h, i).
Arthropods. Most diverse of the animal phyla: arthropods
account for more than 75 % of all animal species. The
great diversity of the insects is responsible; there are
only a few marine insects, which belong to the genus
Halobales. the water strider. The arthropods include
the crustaceans, merostomatans, and pycnogonids (sea
spiders). The crustaceans (shrimps, crabs, lobsters, barnacles, isopods, amphipods, and others) are ubiquitous
in and on the sea /loor, reworking sediment and also
contributing to sediment fonnation. by pelletization.
and by precipitation of phosphatic and calcareous hard
parts. The best-known representative of the merostomatans is the horseshoe crab U, k, I)
Echinoderms. Ubiquitous on the sea floor: echinoids (sea
urchins), asteroids (sea stars), crinoids (sea lilies), holothurians (sea cucumbers). and ophiuroids (brittle
stars). Holothurians ingest and process considerable
amounts of surface sediment in certain regions of the
continental slope and beyond. Virtually all echinoderms precipitate calcium carbonate, which contributes
substantially to shallow water carbonates in places (m)
331
332
Appendix
Chordates. Highly diverse phylum including the familiar

back boned animals (fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds,
mammals) and also some rather primitive forms : the
(benthic) sea squirts and the (planktonic) salps. Salps
are important in pelletizing extremely fine-grained suspended matter, which removes it from surface waters
and expedites its way to the sea floor (a, b)
Organisms Illustrated
Page 328
a spherical, rod-shaped, and flagellated bacteria
b pelagic blue-green alga (Trichodesmium. which is red-colored and gives the Red Sea its name)
c colony of a benthic blue-green alga (Phormidium)
Page 329
a, b dinoflagellate (Gonyaulax) and its resting cyst (Hhysnichosphere ")
c coccosphere (Cyclococcolithus) covered with coccoliths
d, e centric diatom (Actinoptychus) and pennate diatom (Nitzschia)
f, g common silicoflagellates (Distephanus, Dictyocha)
h, i benthic foram (Verneulinia) and planktonic foram (Glohigerinoides)
j , k spumellarian and nasselarian radiolarians (Octopyle steno;;ona, Theocorythium trachelium)
I tintinnid (Stenosemella)
m, n red algae (Rhodymenia , Lithothamnium)
Page 330
a, b brown algae, giant kelp (Macrocystis) , rockweed (Fucus)
c calcareous green alga (Halimeda)
d sea grass (Zostera)
e marine fungu s (Alternaria)
f calcareous sponge (Sycon); also shown are various types of sponge spicules
g benthic calcareous hydrozoan (MiUepora)
h stone coral (Fat'ites)
i, j annelid worms (the lugwonn Arenicola, the serpulid Spirorhis)
Page 331
a, b, c worms; echiurid (Boniellia). nemertine (Lineus). echiurid (Echiurus)
d bryozoan colony (Crisia)
e brachiopod (terebratulid)
f, g, h, i shell-forming mollusks: chiton or sea cradle (Nuttallina), pelagic snail (Cal'olinia). razor
clam (Ensis). shell-forming squid (Spirula)
j, k, I arthropods: cirriped (barnacle, Balanus), cope pod (Calanus). shore crab (Crassipes)
m holothurian or sea cucumber (Aspidochirota)
Page 332
a sea squirt (Halocynthia)
b sting ray (Taemiura)
Sources for A9: E. Y. Dawson, 1966. Marine botany, Holt Rinehart Winston, New York; B. U. Haq,
A. Boersma, 1978, Introduction to marine micropaleontology, Elsevier, New York; A. Remane , V.
Storch, U. Welsch, 1976. Systematische Zoologie, Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart; G. G. Simpson, W. S .
Beck, 1965 . Life - an introduction to biology, 2nd ed., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York; H.
U. Sverdrup, M. W. Johnson , R. H. Fleming, 1942, The oceans - their physics, chemistry, and
general biology. Prentice-Hall , Englewood Cliffs.
Index of Names
(also see List of Books and Symposia)
Allegre, C. 9, 13, 23
Allen, J.RL 125
Alvarez, L. 265
Alvarez, W. 265
Ampferer, O. 8
Anderson, R.N. 40
Andrusov, N.!. 2, 4
Archanjo, C.J. 38
Arrhenius, G.O.S. 73, 241, 247
Arrhenius, S. 253
Arthur, M.A. 273
Aubouin, J. 52
Auzende, J.M. 296
Bacastow, R.B. 230
Bacon, F. 108
Baker, P.A. 89
Bally, A.W. 67
Barazangi, M. 30
Bard, E. 136,246
Barker, P.F. 121
Barnes, N.E. 95
Barnett, T.P 153
Barnola, J.M. 254
Barron, J.A. 263
Bascom, W. 102, 107
Baturin, G.N. 286
Be, A.W.H. 189
Beck, R.H. 49
Beck, W.S. 332
Bell, H.S. 63
Bener, P.R. 71
Berann, H.C. 18
Berg, O.R. 155
Berger, A. 213, 246, 252, 275
Berger, W.H. 13, 36, 158, 159, 60, 165, 184,
192,208,210,217,218,219,221,224,226,
227, 228, 232, 235, 253, 254, 256, 258, 267,
268,269,283,292,306
Berggren, W.A. 262, 265
Bezrukov, P.L. 286
Biscaye, P.E. 225
Bleil, U. 213
Boersma, A. 184,332
Bolli, H. 236, 240
Bonnin, J. 40
Bostrom, K. 302
Bouchez, J.L. 38
Bouma, A.H. 63, 95, 122
Bourcart, J. 2, 4
Bramlette, M.N. 226, 236, 265
Brassell, S.C. 212
Brinkmann, R. 136, 172
Broadus, J.M. 278
Broecker, W.S. 13, 120, 194,55,275, 326
Buchsbaum, R. 193
Bullard, E.C. 3, 4, 5, 10,38,9
Bullivant, J.S. 170
Burk, C.A. 52,67,210,281
Caughey, C.A. 281
Chamberlin, T.C. 254
Chester, R. 240
Cooper, A.K. 201
Copeland, H.F. 327
Corliss, J. 182
Correns, e.W. 222
Cox, A. 33,40
Croll, J. 261
Cronan, D.S. 302
Crowell, J.e. 13, 128
Curie, M. 92
Curray, J.R. 52, 138, 142
Daly, R.A. 146
Darwin, e. v, 29, 71, 92, 145,96, 198,257
Davies, D.K. 81
Dawson, E.Y. 332
de Mets, C. 29
Dean, W.E. 273
Defant, A. 120, 133
Delaney, M. 235
Dickinson, W.R 52, 67
Dietrich, G. 202, 203
334
Index of Names
Dietz, R. 5, 6, 33
Dill, RE 4, 61, 67
Donnan, J. 30
Douglas, R.G. 167,258,275
Drake, C.L. 52, 67
Dunbar, C.O. 101
Dunbar, R.B. 159
Duncan, R.A. 32
Duplessy, J.C. 213
Eicher, D.L. 87, 137, 142, 186
Einsele, G. 60, 155
Ekman, S. 213
Eldholm, o. 46
Emeiss, K.C. 213
Emery, K.O. 49, 200
Emery, w.J. 125
Emiliani, C. 12, 13, 144,241,249,251,257
Engel, C.G. 323
Engel, A.E.J. 323
Epstein, S. 163, 193
Euler, L. 10, 29
Ewing, M. 2, 3, 5, 13, 16,64,219
Fairbanks, RG. 246
Fairbridge, RW. 323
Falkowski, P.G. 160, 232
Fischer, A.G. 138, 163
Fisher, RL. 19, 174
Fisk, H.N. 140
Fleming, R.H. 112, 332
Folland, C.K. 209
Foster, T. 186
Forsyth, D. 24
Frakes, L.A. 258
Francheteau, J. 24, 40
Frasetto, R 152
Friedman, G.M. 95
Fiichtbauer, H. 149
Fiitterer, D. 81, 87
Funnell, B.M. 189,238
Gaskell, T.E 5
Gerlach, S. 197
Giese, P. 183
Gilluly, J. 63, 99, 140
Girdler, R.W. 27
Glen, W. 12
Glunow, Dr. 76
Goldberg, E.D. 75
Goodchild, J.G. 92
Griffin, J.J. 224
Grim, R.E. 223
Haeckel, E. 327
Hallam, A. 13
Hampton, M.A. 63
Haq,B.U. 147, 148, 184,238,260,332
Hardenbol, J. 148
Harrison, C.G.A. 238
Hastings, B.S. 155
Hays, J. 240, 248, 252,275
Hedgpeth, J.w. 184
Hee2en, B.C. 2,3,4,8,13,16,18,43,64,74
Heirtzler, J.R. 35
Herguera, J.C. 160,232
Hertogen,J.265
Hess, H.H. 2, 5, 9,29,33,219
Hessler, R. IV, cover
Hill, M.N. 64, 73, 240
Hinz, K.46
Hjort, J. 225
Hjulstrom 99
Holcombe, T.L. 22
Holden, LC. 6
Hollister, C.D. 4, 66, 122, 125
Holmes, A. v,8, 13
Horn,D.R. 292
Hovan, S.A. 250
HSii,K.J. 91,240, 260,293, 295,302
Humboldt, A.v. 5
Hutton, J. 1,92
Imbrie, K.P. 13
Imbrie,J. 13, 189,240,244,248,249,252,275
Inman, D.L. 100
Irving, E. 7
Isacks, B. 27, 29
Jansa, L.E 284
Jarvis, I. 302
Jenkyns, H. 240, 273
Johnson, D.W. 4
Johnson, M.W. 332
Jones, P.D. 209
Judson, S. 138
Kahle, C.E 13
Kalle, K. 203
Kanamori, H. 13
Kaplan, M.E 301
Kastner, M. 89
Kearey, P. 40
Keeling, C.D. 230
Keller, G. 263
Kendall, C.G. 155
Kennett, J.P. 121,258,275
Kepler, J. 251
Index of Names
Kipp, N. 249
Klenova, M.B. 4
Kogler, EC. 174
Komar, P.D. 125
Kominz, M.A. 252
Kopaska-Merkel, D.C. 95
Kroenke, L.W. 235
Ku, T.L. 326
Kudrass, H.R. 72
Kuenen, Ph.H. 2, 3, 13, 62, 63
Kukla, G. 275
Kullenberg, B. 207, 241
Labeyrie, L.D. 256
Lancelot, Y. 271
Lane-Bostwick, C.M. 293
Lange, C.B. 210
Larson, R.L. 274,275
Laubier, L. 302
Lavoisier, A.L. 1
Le Pichon, X. 10, 13,29,40
Lehner, P. 49
Limbaugh, C. 109
Linne, C. 327
Lisitzin, A.P. 240
Livingstone, D.A. 75
Loeblich, A.R. 236
Lohse, J. 299
Londsdale, P. 123, 182
Lowenstam, H.A. 193
Luterbacher, H. 265
Lutze, G.E 205
Lyell, C. 92
Macdonald, K.C. 23
Malfait, B.T. 123
Manheim, ET. 293
Marsili, L.E 125
Martini, E. 265
Mascle, J. 46
Mason, R.G. 33, 34
Masters, C.D. 141
Matthews, D.H. 33, 34
Maxwell, A. 37,323
Mayer, LA 148,235,306
McCave, LN. 125
McIntyre A. 244
McKenzie, D.P. 10,29
Menard, H.W. 13,42,44,58, 131
Middleton, G.V. 63
Milankovitch, M. 251, 253
Mitchum, R.M. 147
Moore, D.G. 52, 97
Moore, J.C. 54
Moore, R.C. 128

Moore, T.C. 244
Moore, W.R. 81
Morgan, w.J. 9, 10,29, 30,31,32
Muller, R.D. 10
Milller, P.J. 256
Munk, W. 113
Murray,J.2,94,215,225,285,290,292
Mutter, J.C. 46
Nansen, E 200
Neumann, G. 112, 133
Newig, J. 111
Newton, R. 104, 115
Ninkovich, D. 74
Normark, W.R. 65, 95
Notholt, A.J.G. 302
Nowell, A.R.M. 123, 125
Oeschger, H. 230
Ogawa, Y. 54
Okada, H. 266
Olausson, E. 241
Oliver, J. 27, 29
Opdyke, N.D. 145,248, 262
Parker, EL. 241, 249
Parker, R.L. 10, 29
Piitzold, J. 165
Payton, C.E. 155
Peng, T.-H. 120, 179
Perch-Nielsen, K. 240
Peterson, M.N.A. 227
Pettersson, H. 4, 241
Pflaumann, U. 189,218
Phinney, R.A. 13, 34
Phleger, EB 4, 241
Pickard, L. 125
Pickering, K.T. 50
Pierson, w.J. 112, 133
Pisias, N. 240
Pitman, W.C. 150
Posamentier, H.W. 155
Premoli-Silva, L 265
Press, E 12
Press, w.L. 213
Prior, D.P. 65
Purser, B.H. 213
Raff, A.D. 33, 34
Raitt, R.W. 19,219
Reade, T.M. 92
Reading, H.G. 95
Reineck,H.E.117, 131, 141, 155, 173
335
336
Index of Names
Remane, A 332
Renard, AE 2, 215, 290, 292
Revelle, R. 222, 225 .
Richter, EM. 239
Richter-Bemburg, G. 91
Rieken, W. 155
Riedel, W.R. 189,236
Robb, J.M. 59
Rodgers, J. 101
Romankevich, E.A. 160
Rona, P.A. 302
Ross, C.A. 155
Roth, P.H. 269
Rottger, R. 169
Royer, J.Y. 10
Rubey, w.w. 101
Runcom, S.K. 7, 13
Ryan, W.B.F. 91, 260
Sackett, W.M. 325
Saltzman, B. 275
Samtleben, C. 169,218
Sanders, J.E. 95
Samthein, M. 37, 207,256
Saunders, J.B. 240
Savin, S.M. 258, 263
Schafer, W. 184
Schlanger, S.D. 273
Schlee, J.S. 59
Schneider, S. 213
Scholle, P.A. 273
Schott, W. 217, 241
Schrader, H.-J. 218
Sc1ater, J.G. 10, 24
Scott, S.D. 293, 295
Seely, D.R. 52
Seibold, E. 24,49, 93, 120, 36, 143, 183, 190,
195,202,87
Seibold, I. 169
Seilacher, A 155, 176
Selley, R.C. 95
Shackleton, N.J. 145, 240, 248, 252, 254, 258,
262
Shepard, F.P. 2, 4, 61, 67, 100, 109
Sibuet, J.C. 46
Siegenthaler, U. 230
Siever, R. 12
Simpson, G.G. 332
Singh,I.B. 141, 155
Slansky, M. 286
Smetacek, V.S. 158, 184,254
Smit, J. 265
Smith, S.M. 42, 44
Smith. K.L. 302
Smyth, W.H. 125

Spiess, E 123
Stanley, D.J. 63, 142
Stefanon, A 154
Stein, R. 161
Storch, V. 332
Stott, L.D. 121
Strakhov, N.M. 2, 4
Stuart, CJ. 281
Suess, E. 45, 184,221,256
Sumich, J.L. 327, 328
Summerhayes, C.P. 213
Sundborg, A. 99
Sundquist, E.T. 275
Sverdrup, H.V. 15,202, 332
Swift, DJ.P. 63
Sykes, L.R. 27, 29
Taira, A. 54
Takeuchi, H. 13
Talwani, M. 26
Tappan, H. 236
Tarling, D.H. 13
Thamdrup, H.M. 172
Tharp, M. 4, 13, 16, 18
Thiede, J. 184, 213, 256, 258, 272, 293, 295,
302
Thierstein, H.R. 237, 258, 266
Thompson, P.R. 248
Thomson, C.W. 2
Thorson, G. 181
Tissot, B.P. 279, 302
Tolderlund, D.S. 189
Tooms, J.S. 293
Trask, P.D. 1
Triimpy, R. 31
Tucker, M.E. 95
Turekian, K.K. 13,74
Tyndall, J. 253
Urey, H.C. 157,192,193
Usiglio 90
Ussher, J. 92
Uyeda,S. 13,32, 40,41
Vacquier, V. 13, 33
Vail, P.R. 147, 148, 149
van Andel, Tj.H. 4, 269, 272
van Wagoner, J. C. 155
Vening-Meinesz, EA. 5
Vincent, E. 258
Vine,F.J.33,34,40
von Rad, U. 284
Index of Names
Walker, R. 65
Walsh, T, 216
Walther, J. 1,2, 128
Warme, J.E. 275
Watkins, J.S. 67
Wefer, G. 158, 164, 165, 184,221,253,254
Wegener, A. v, 2, 5, 6, 7, 13,29
Wells, J.w. 195
Welsch, U. 332
Welte, D.H. 279, 302
Werner, F. 116
Wetzel, A. 178
White,R.S. 46
Whittaker, R.H. 327
Wiedmann, J. 284
Wilgus, e.K. 155

Wilson, J.T. 10,28,30,32,51
Winterer, EL 36,226,267,275
Woodhead, A.D. 160, 232
Woodruff, F. 263
Woolverton, D.G. 155
Worzel, JL 281
Wright, v.P. 95
Wiist, G. 120
Wyllie, PJ. 13
Yarborough, H. 67
Ziegler, PA 282
Zuta, S. 119
337
Subject Index
abyssal, definition 43, 64

storms 123, 124
abyssal hills 25
abyssal plains 20, 43
nature of 66
illustration 17, 66
acantharians 329
accretionary prism 53, 54
accumulation rates 94
acoustic reflectors 234ff
acoustic swath-mapping 305
Acropora 136, 164,246,331
active margins 45, 51
Adriatic Sea 94, 152
Aegean Sea
volcanism 74
African Rift Valley 46
age of sea floor 36
age of bottom water 234
age-depth curve, equation 23ff
and sea level 150
agglutinating forams 174
aggregates 157, 187, 220
air gun profiling 57, 59
Albatross see Swedish Deep Sea Expedition
albedo 243, 244
feedback 253
-and regression 260
Aleutian Trench 25
algal carbonate 164
production of 163, 164
algal mats 88, 90, 134
alkali metals 258
alkalinity 73, 89
alkenones 165,212
allochthons 70
Alvin 182, 183
amphibolites 53
Amphiura (brittle star) 181
community 182
anaerobic conditions 89, 125, 159, 161, 166
anaerobic sediments 77, 118, 206
Adriatic Sea 94
upwelling 118, 119
Baltic Sea 204, 205
Andes, ore deposits in 51,52
andesites 28, 320
Angola Basin 121
Angola cont. margin 48, 49
anhydrite 90, 319
hydrothermal 295, 296
annual layers (varves) 93, 94, 209
anoxic events
Cretaceous ocean 271
and volcanism 273
Antarctic
Bottom Water (AABW) 120 ff
Circumpolar Current 123, 259
Intermed. Water (AAIW) 121
icebergs 186
ice-rafted debris 264
anti-estuarine circulation 124, 125,202,203,
207
apatite, formula 319
Aptian (= epoch within Cretaceous)
salt 49
volcanism 274
Arabian Sea 125
oxygen minimum 271
aragonite 86, 194, 319
in organic hard parts 83
needles 86
calcite ratio
and temperature 194
formula 319
archaeobacteria 327
arctic environments 200
Arenicola (burrowing worm) 131, 172, 173,
177, 330, 331
Argentine Basin 121
arid basins 201 ff
arid climate 90
arkose, definition 321
arthropods 331
340
Subject Index
asthenosphere 19, 27, 28,46

astronomic frequencies 251
and climate 304
Astrorhiza (foram), 180
Atlantic Ocean floor
physiography 18
Atlantic Ocean
hypsographic diagram 18
fit of borders 38
sea floor ages 36
statistics 42
dust in air 73
Atlantic-type margins (= passive margins) 45ff
volcanic and nonvolcanic
types 46,47
morphology 61
Atlantis II-Deep, Red Sea 297
atmosphere, chemical composition 322
carbon dioxide 228
atolls 196,198
Daly's hypothesis 146
Darwin's hypothesis 29, 145 ff
see also coral reefs
Avicennia (mangrove) 143
back arc spreading 52, 53
hot vents 296
backtracking of drill sites 266,277
bacteria 90, 158 ff, 328
Bahamas 143
Banks and Islands 86, 87, 89
overlap 38
mangrove vegetation 143
Baja California, canyon 109;
lagoon 134
Baltic Sea 82, 114, 125
giant ripples 104
current markers 116
forams 205
starfish 162
brittle stars 181
infauna 166
as model 203ff
productivity 204
oxygen minimum
Baltimore Canyon Trough 284
Barbados
sea level change 136,246
Barbados Ridge Complex 53
barchan (= crescent-shaped dune) 123
Barents Sea
weapons disposal 300
barite, formula 319
barrier islands and beaches 88, 140, 141. 142
Lido 152
bars, offshore 104, 105, 107
basalt, nature 31,322
-seawater reaction 294, 296
basement 12, 37
basin-basin fractionation 208, 249, 261
basin-shelf fractionation 270
bathyal, definition 43
Bouma sequence 63
Bay of Biscay, closure 38
beach 78, 103, 287
sand, composition of 78, 80
and waves 102
processes 103 ff
profile, change of 105 ff
erosion 111
deposits 13 Off;
placers 130, 287, 289
dune complex 140
-starvation 298
fouling of 299
Beagle V
bed load 99
bed form, and fluid discharge
rate 100
benthic boundary layer 124
benthic orgauisms 48,83, 157, 158, 166, 176
activity 158;
on sea floor 83 ff
shelf, diversity 163
types 166
food and substrate 167 ff
and hard substrate 168 ff
on sandy substrate 171
communities 180
in Arctic lagoons 200
benthic foraminifera 167
Bolivina, Calif. Borderld. 167
types 169
depth zonation in Baltic 205
carbon isotopes 238
benthic storms 120,123
berm 103, 107
Bermuda 194
calc. algae 164
beryllium 324
Bikini Atoll 196, 198
bio-erosion 170
bio-pumping 194, 255
bioclastic material 80
biogenous sediments 77, 79, 82ff, 188
structures 178
deep-sea patterns 216
biomarkers 211
Subject Index
biostratigraphy 236, 237, 238, 257
resolution 11
vs. paleomagnetic ages 37
bioturbation 124, 175, 177
tidal flats 172
deep-sea clay 174
deep-water 178
and varves 188
birdfoot delta, cross-section 139
black shale deposition 129,272, 274,275
see also anaerobic sediments
organic-rich sediments
black smokers 182, 183, 295
Black Sea 76, 93, 125, 166
oxygen deficiency 271, 272
circulation 203
Blake Plateau 57, 114
blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) 328
see also stromatolites
Bolivina, sensitivity 167
Borderland of Southern California 57,58
boring organisms 169 ff, 197
bottom shear stress 99
bottom currents, calculated 120
see also currents
boundary currents 111 ff, 118, 123
and coral reefs 114
box corer, operation 216
Braarudosphaera (nannofossil)
blooms 264, 266
breaking waves 102
brittle star community 181
Brunhes-Matuyama boundary 145,238,251
bryozoans 170,331
bubnoff, definition 93
Bullard's fit of continents 38, 51
burrows and tracks 171, 174ff
Buzzard's Bay 137
cadmium, nutrient marker 194
calcareous oolites 132
calcareous ooze 188, 225
distribution 225
dissolution patterns 226
sedimentation rates 219
calcareous muds, definition 217
calcite compensation depth
definition 215
see also CCD
calcite, formula 319
calcium, budget 225, 322
Caledonian mountains
closure of proto-Atlantic 51
Paleozoic fold belts 38
calibration (paleotemp.) 190

California; Borderland 57,58
continental margin 58
beaches 106 ff
cliff erosion 110
benthic forams 167
offshore oil 281
Canary Current 111
Cape Hatteras 59, 163
Cape Cod, morphology 137, 163
Cape Verde Rise 81
Cape Cod 137, 163
carbon flux, model 158
carbon dioxide, and carbonate saturation 85
levels of 127, 322
in ice cores 230, 254, 305
Pleistocene 248
and productivity 255
and weathering 257
and global change 229
carbon isotopes 159, 193
stratigraphy 238
and productivity 254, 255
Miocene excursions 263
Cretaceous 273;
carbon reservoir 254
carbon-14 178, 324, 325
dating 178ff
and bioturbation 179
carbonate
-shelf 48
minerals 83, 318
saturation 85
inorganic precipitation 85
carbonate cycles 247, 248, 249
content in deepsea
sediments 225
cycles 247ff
dissolution 121, 191, 206, 226ff
and C-dioxide 230
production and C-dioxide 257
carbonate line
see CCD
Cardium (bivalve) 172
carnallite, formula 319
Carnegie Ridge giant dunes 123
Caspian Sea 91
cassiterite deposits 288
Cavolinia (pteropod) 331
CCD (= carbonate compensation depth)
nature and fluctuations 226 ff 267ff
cementation 76
Cenozoic
cooling trend 258
341
342
Subject Index
sediment thickness 283

duration 317
cephalopods 331
cesium-137300
Challenger Expedition V, 2,15, 16,94,215,
285, 289
Challenger Knoll
salt dome 281
channels on delta 139
on deep sea fan 60, 65
chemical markers 194
chemostratigraphy 238, 239
chemosynthesis 182, 304
Chernobyl 300
chert, origin 84
deepsea 234, 264
definition 217, 321
Chicxulub Crater 265
Chile Trench 19
chitons 331
chlorine, abundance 322
chlorite distribution
structure 82, 222, 224
formula 318
Chondrites (burrows) 178
Christmas Island phosphorite 285
circulation, circumpolar 259
grand asymmetries 260
see also currents
Circumpolar Current 123, 259
clastics (detrital) 70
clathrates 76
clay 78
clay minerals 74
as climate indicators 199
origin, structure, distribution 222ff
formulae 318
clay-sized sediment 82
cliff erosion 107, 110, 129 ff
CLIMAP Project 164, 190,245,275
18k map 244, 245, 249
climate, link to bioturbation 175
zonation 185 ff
indicators (see also oxygen isotopes) 168 ff,
199 ff;
and transgression 191
and global change 191, 211ff, 229, 231
ice ages 244
system 209, 247, 306;
catastrophe 212, 265
coal deposits 129, 133
coastal, lagoons 89
processes 103 ff
engineering 10 I, 108
morphology 127 ff, 140f

morpho and sea level rise 135 ff, 153
upwelling 158, 159, 195
ice age upwelling 243
cobalt in manganese nodules 289, 290
in manganese deposits 289, 290, 294
coccolithophores 84, 218, 329
dissolution aspects 192
whitings 187
coccoliths, size 216
Coccolith us 192
cold seeps 182, 183
collision margins (= Pacific-type m. active m.)
51 ff
comet marks 116
conglomerate 135
continental slope, 42, 43, 57
continental margins, study of 4
general features 41 ff
geographic statistics 42
crustal structure 19
as sediment traps 44 ff
passive 45 ff
active 51 ff
sediments 97
and sea level fluctuations 147 ff
Chile 19
northern California 57
East Coast 271
continental drift, history 5, 7, 19,2938
illustration 6
fit of continents 10
continent-continent coJJision 51
continental rise, geographic statistics 42 ff
illustrations 43
origin of 57ff, 81
continental crust, composition 41, 322
continental accretion 28
Continental Borderland of California
see California Borderland
continents, statistics 44
contour currents 59, 120, 123
contour currents 120, 123
contourites 123
convection system 16, 19
conversions, units 315
cooling steps, Tertiary 263,
copper, in manganese deposits 289, 290
in Red Sea deposits 297
coquina 130, 171
coral reef 114, 165, 194ff
Great Barrier Reef 27, 170
growth rates 93, 195
control by currents 195
Subject Index
growth 145 ff
atoll origin 146, 198 ff
fringing reefs 196
global distribution 194ff
as climate indicators 194ff
framework, fill 195
types 198
climatic record 210ff
whitening 210
nutrient pollution 298
terraces 146
coral 330
Acropora 164
porites, growth rate 165
isotopic analysis 165
climatic record 21 Off
isotopic analysis of 165
temperature record in 165
core of Earth 120
Coriolis Force 118, 119, 123
cosmic spherules 94
Cretaceous, duration 317
Cretaceous ocean 272, 273
organic-rich sediments 271, 273
Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary 265, 266, 305
crinoids 332
Croll-Milankovitch Theory
see Milankovitch
cross-bedding 114 117, 131, 132
crust of Earth
definition 16ff
illustration 47
chemical composition 322
crustaceans 332
cryptocrystalline (= consisting of extremely
fine crystals); see chert
Curie Point 33
currents 111 ff
velocity and transport 99
oceanic 111 ff
markers 114 ff
lineations 116, 122
see also turbidity currents
cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) 134
cyclic sedimentation 3, 128
Pleistocene 249, 250, 261
Cretaceous 273
cycling rate, of surficial sediments 173
Cyclococcolithina (nannofossil) 192
Cyclococcolithus 329
Cyclolithella 192
cyclostratigraphy 240
cyclothems (Paleozoic) 128
Dakar cont. margin 59, 73

dating of sediments 236
by radio-isotopes 323, 324
debris flow, deep-sea fans 65
Deccan flood basalt 32
decollement zone 54
deep circulation 120, 124
halothermal 121
ice age 124
Miocene 263
deep geostrophic currents 120, 122
deep sea fans 57, 66 ff
illustration 58, 64, 65
Bay of Bengal 67
deep sea currents 120 ff
deep sea sediments 215
study of 2
tracks, burrows 174
bioturbation 178
types, patterns, rates of deposition 217ff
Deep Sea Drilling Project 4,215, 259, 260
deforestation, and carbon dioxide 229
and soil erosion 206, 298
deglaciation 246
and sea level 135
delta, cross-section 139;
shelf build-up 56
shapes 138ff
Mississippi 140
oil and gas potential 140
denudation rates 93
deposit feeders 168, 173
depth of sea floor 15, 24
depth-age relationship
see age-depth curve
desiccation cracks 132, 134
detritus, suspended 167
diagenesis 70, 75 ff
clay minerals 82
dolomite 88
and origin of chert 84, 85, 234, 264
also see recrystallization
diamonds see placer deposits
diapirs see salt domes
diatom ooze 231
diatom mud 231
diatom sedimentation, Tertiary 261
see also silica, opal
diatoms 216,218,329
Dictyocha (silicoflagellate) 329
differential dissolution 90, 165, 192
of evaporites 90
343
344
Subject Index
of plankton shells 192

see also selective preservation
dike sheets 23
dilution cycles 250
dinoflagellates 329
as symbiotic algae 164
cysts at the K-T boundary
dipping reflectors 46 ff
Discosphaera (coccolith) 192
dissipative beach stage 103
dissolution
of plankton shells 192
of carbonate 226ff
of siliceous shells 233
see also differential dissolution
selective preservation
dissolution cycles 247
Distephanus (silicoflag.) 329
diversity of marine organisms 157, 191
as climate indicator 163
coral reef 196
Miocene forams 263
patterns of microfossils 237
doldrums 112, 113
dolomite 84 ff, 88ff, 199
formula 319
downwelling, arid basin 203
drainage area 44
Drake Passage 259
drift ice 72, 200
dropstones 71,199
dumping on sea floor
see waste disposal
dunite (basaltic rock) 320
Dupal anomaly 40
dust over Atlantic 73
dysaerobic
see anaerobic
Earth
structure 20
rotation 134
statistics 316
earthquakes
distribution 25, 27, 28, 30
East African margin 48
East African Rift 45
East Coast, USA
slope currents 122
morphology 137
benthic diversity (shelf) 163
oil exploration 284
East Anglia, pebble beach 105
East Pacific Rise 22, 23

hydrothermal circulation 183, 295, 304
eastern boundary currents 119
eastern equatorial Pacific
seismic stratigraphy 268
eccentricity of orbit 251, 252
echinoderms
types 332
echo sounding 16, 17, 59
economic zone 285
Ekofisk Field, North Sea 283
El Nino 118, 188,210,211
geologic record 212
El Chich6n
volcano 211
Emiliana huxleyi (coccolith) 159, 192, 212
Emperor Seamounts 31, 32
endogenic processes 16ff
energy
statistics 277
Enewetak Atoll 196
Enoshima (Japan) wave-cut terrace 130
ENSO Event, see El Nino
environment, man's impact 206,298
Eocene
duration 317
geography 260
chert 264
Eocene-Oligocene Step 264, 269
eolian dust 71
transport,North Pacific 223, 250
epicenter (point on Earth surface closest to
earthquake) 26
epifauna 166, 168 ff
coral reef 197
episodic events 94, 305
and epoch boundaries 304
equatorial Pacific
CCD fluctuations 269
equatorial upwelling 120, 158, 187
in the ice age 243
equilibrium, chemical 85
equinoxes, definition 252
estuaries 125, 138ff
erosion, rates of 69,93,98
in submarine canyons 66
by boring organisms 167ff
estuarine circulation 125, 203, 207
eugeosyncline (= downwarp in crust containing
folded and partly metamorphosed marine
sediments rich in volcanogenic deposits) 53
Euler theorem 9, 10, 29
eustatic sealevel change 127
eutrophication, estuaries 298, 299
Subject Index
evaporation-precipitation pattern and
circulation 20 Iff
evaporites 89 ff
deep sea 48ff
Mediterranean 89, 91
serial fractionation 90
lagoonal 134
event stratigraphy 95
events, and geologic record 65
role of in sediment transport 101
cooling steps in Tertiary 263, 264
anoxic events 271, 273
evolution and the record 12
evolutionary tree 328
excess thorium-230 method 324
exchange patterns, basinal 124, 201
exogenic processes 16, 20ff, 60
export production 160, 220
extinction, Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary 265
extreme conditions (for life)
Arctic 200
subtropis 162
FAD (first-appearance datums) 237
fan valley 65
Favites (coral) 330
fecal pellets 82, 157, 159, 175, 187
accelerated sinking 159
benthic 144, 175
transport 220
and silica flux 233
feedback, albedo 253
climate 259
geochemical 92
feldspar 80, 222
formulae 318
ferromangese concretions
see manganese concretions
fertility
see productivity
fixism 7
fjords 56, 125, 203
oxygen deficiency 166
flood basalt 32, 274
floods, Mississippi 111
Florida Current 111
Florida Keys, Acropora meadows 164
fluid circulation 53, 54, 305
flux 187, 220
siliceous fossils 232
of organic matter 220
flysch 3, 62, 63
food chain 157
345
foraminifers 189,329
ooze 215
see also planktonic foraminifers
benthic foraminifers
and genus names
foreshore 103
fossils, diversity 237
founders of marine geology Iff
fracture zones 27, 28ff
frequency analysis (spectral analysis) in
Pleistocene stratigraphy 251
fringing reef, Society Islands 186
frosted grains 80
fungal mats 175, 330
gabbro 23, 320
Galapagos spreading center (fauna)
Galveston Bay 141, 287
Island 142, 147
gas resources 278, 282
gateways and ocean currents 259
geochemical statistics 322
geologic time scale 317
geomagnetism 7
geostrophic currents 120, 122
geosyncline 53
Gephyrocapsa (coccolith) 192
giant clams 182
giant ripples, giant dunes 114, 121, 123
Gibraltar Current 125
glacial conditions
North Atlantic 190
world ocean 244ff
see also ice age glaciations, onset 146
glauconite 92,319
global warming 129,212,229,231
detection 208, 211
global change 208ff
human impacts 306
Globigerina (foram), climate zones 189
Globigerina ooze (= foram ooze) 215
Globigerinoides(foram) 145, 189,218,249,
329
oxygen isotopes 145,253
Globocassidulina (foram)262
Globorotalia (foram) 189, 217, 218, 248
Glomar Challenger 4, 11,32,33,33,215,241,
264, 297
goethite 90
formula 319
gold, placer 288; Red Sea 297
Gonyaulax (dinoflagellate) 329
graded layers 3, 63ff
see also turbidity currents,
346
Subject Index
turbidites grain size 78

role in transport 98
classification 319
Grand Banks Earthquake 64
granite (rock-type) 320
granodiorite (rock-type) 320
gravel deposits 78
for building 278
gravity anomalies, study of 5, 26
graywacke (rock type) 321
Great Barrier Reef 21,27,83, 170, 199
greenhouse gases 208, 211, 243
Greenland-Faroe Ridge 123
Gulf of California 93
as rift model 51
oxygen minimum 271
Gulf of Mexico 48, 142, 147
heavy mineral provinces 81
barrier beaches 142
petroleum 280
salt 281
Gulf Stream 111 ff
and benthic diversity (shelf) 163
and coral growth 194, 195
and heat budget 261
Guyamas basin, sulfide deposits 297
guyots (flat-topped seamounts) 29, 198
gypsum 89, 90, 134
formula 319
gyres 111
hadal, definition 43, 44
half-life, radioactivity 323
Halimeda (calcareous algae) 164,330
halite 90
formula 319
halothermal circulation 121
Hatteras Abyssal Plain 22
Hawaiian Islands, origin of 30ff
beaches 80, 105
heat budget, ocean 260, 261
plankton-benthos ratio 84
heat flow 24, 296
heavy metals, sea floor deposits 289
heavy minerals 80
-provinces 81
placer deposits 287
types 260
formulae 318
HEBBLE experiment 123
Helicopontosphaera (coccolith) 192
Helminthopsis (burrow) 178
hematite, definition 319
hemipelagic sediments 48,81,89,215
Hercynian Mountains (Paleozoic fold belts) 38

Heterostegina (foram), carbonate production
168
hiatuses 12, 94, 124
and regression 147
and CCD fluctuations 270
high energy environments 82
hinge line 4
Hjulstrom diagram 99
Holocene, duration
holothurians 332
deposit feeders 174
tracks 174
hornblende-type minerals, definition 318,319
horse latitudes 112
hot spots 22, 29ff, 39
mantle plumes 22, 30ff
Iceland 46
tracks in Indian Ocean 32
hot vent 182, 296
communities IV, 182ff, 296, 304
sulfides 293
Huahine Island (Pacific) 186
Hudson Canyon 61
humid basins 201
hurricane activity 56
and global warming 230
hydrocarbons 66, 129,279, 300
see also petroleum
hydrogenous sediments 77, 79, 89ff
hydrothermal circulation 292, 294ff
East Pac. Rise 183
Galapagos spreading center 182
also see hot vent
hypsographic curve 15, 127
ice action, and shelf morphology 199, 201
ice age, conditions, North Atlantic 190
ocean 242, 244
cycles 243
onset 261
ice, drift limits, North Atlantic 72
Tertiary build-up 264
ice build-up on Antarctica 146, 263
ice-cores 212
ice-rafted debris 71, 72, 201, 207,264
icebergs, drift 114
illustration 186
Iceland 20, 22, 46
ichnology 175
igneous rocks 320
illite 82, 222, 224
formula 319
ilmenite placers 287
Subject Index
formula 319
impact scenario, K-T bdry 265
impedance, definition 234
impoverished fauna 162
Indian Ocean statistics 42
hot spot tracks 32
Indonesian Seaway 264
infauna 166, 168 ff, 181, 187
instantaneous transgressions and regressions
150
interglacials 242, 243
intermediate water 124
internal waves 103
interstitial water 75, 76
intertidal 44, 132
oil pollution 300
intertropical convergence zone 261
IRD see ice-rafted debris
iridium, K-T boundary 265, 305
iron, abundance 322
minerals 90
sulfide 76, 90
oolites 92
deposits, Red Sea 297
island arc, geologic profile 52
island chains, as hot spot traces 29, 32
isostasy (= pertaining to crust "floating" on
mantle: thicker and lighter crust floats up
higher)
isostatic block model 41
and sea level 56;
isostatic, equilibrium 41, 51, 129
uplift 129
isotopes 192, 193
equilibrium 193
Pleistocene cycles (oxygen) 145
Isotope Stage Five 251
corals 165
Tertiary record (oxygen) 257
isotopic provinces, ocean crust 305
Japan Trench 25
JOIDES Resolution 4, 12,241
Juan de Fuca Ridge 34
Jurassic, duration
K-T boundary
see Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary
kaolinite 82, 199, 222, 224
formula 318
Kerguelen hot spot 32
Kermadec Trench 25
knot (ca 0.5 m1s) 111
Kurioshio (current) 111
347
and heat budget 261

La Jolla Canyon 61, 108
beach 78, 106
land bridges 144
LAD (last-appearance datums) 237
lagoon 88, 140 ff
Persian Gulf 88
evaporitic 89 ff
Baja California 134
East Coast 161
Gulf of Mexico 140
Venice 152 ff
laminated layers
see varves land and ocean areas 44
land bridges 144
last glacial maximum (LGM) 143, 245
see glacial conditions, ice age laterite 199
Lau basin, hot vents 296
lead-lead method 324
lebensspuren 17 6 ff
length, unit conversions 315
lepidocrocite, formula 319
levees (delta) 139
on deep sea fans 65
light, limiting 186
limiting nutrients 161, 186
limonite, definition 319
listric faults 46
lithogenous sediments 78 ff
lithosphere 19, 27, 28, 51
cooling 24
Lithotlwmnium (calcareous alga) 329, 330
little ice age 209, 212
littoral, definition I, 43, 44
Littorina (snail) 172, 173
load casts 63
loess 71, 201
record in China 250
Loihi seamount 296
London Dumping Convention 300
longshore transport 97, 107, 108, 138
offshore bars 103
Lophelia (deep-water coral) 196, 331
Los Angeles (shore) 108
low energy environment (= quiet env., where
fine materials accumulate) 82
lysocline (boundary between well- and poorly
preserved calcareous plankton) 227,
Macoma (bivalves) 173
magma chambers 22, 294, 305
magnesium in calcareous shells 83
enrichment in brines 88
348
Subject Index
content in shells 194

budget 294
magnetic anomalies 32ff
magnetic lineations 34
magnetic reversals 31, 33, 35, 39, 251,274,
275
time scale 35, 37,39,238
magnetite, placer deposits 287
formula 319
mammoths 144
man as geologic agent 206, 208ff
C-dioxide problem: see global warming
dumping 298
Venice sinking l5lff
manganese, deposits 90, 174, 222, 289ff, 292ff
abundance 322
carbonate 206
rate of growth (nodules) 291
MnlFe ratio 294
mobilization 206
mangroves 141, 143,330
mantle of Earth 17, 20, 40
convection 19, 305
plumes 29, 274
processes 39
Manus basin, hot vents 296
marcasite, formula 319
margins 45
non-volcanic 46
volcanic 48
see continental margin
marginal ridges 57
marginal seas 151
margins, sinking 45
margins, uplifted 135
Mariana Trench 25
marine snow 220
marine geology, history of Iff, 303
marine organisms 157 ff
mineral composition 83
as sediment producers 83
diversity 157
biogeography 188
coral reef community 197
marine sediments, origin, types 69ff, 77ff
sources 69ff
transport of 99ff
in continental margins 44ff, 147
wave action on 102ff, 129ff
current action on I11ff
sea level and succession 128
terraces 135
trapping in estuaries 137, 138
in deltas 13 8ff
in lagoons and barriers 140ff

and organisms 173ff
as climatic indicators 185ff
in the deep sea 215
Pleistocene 247
Tertiary 257
as resources 278
dating of 236, 323
see also carbonates
markers, chemical 194
mass movements, off northwest Africa 59
mass, unit conversions 315
mature sands 80
Matuyama magnetic epoch 145
maximum glaciation
sea level 244
see glacial conditions and ice age
Mediterranean 89, 121, 151,202
submarine canyons 62
volcanic ash layers 74
desiccation 151
sapropels 207
deep circulation and sediments 121, 124
evaporites 89, 91, 260
melange (= jumbled rock masses within active
margin) 53
meltwater pulses, deglaciation 136
menardii stratigraphy 217, 248
mercury, pollution 302
meroplankton 114, 157
Mesozoic, duration 317
metalliferous sediments (Ridge Crest) 293
metals, placer deposits 287
in seawater 289
metamorphic rocks, types 321
metasomatic processes 53
Meteor Expedition 4, 16, 17,57,59, 120, 215,
241
meteorites 95
methane 53, 76
clathrates 76
climatic change 230
ice age 254
methane-bearing fluids 53
metric units 315
micas (minerals), formulae 318
micrites 196
micronodu1es 291
microtectites 95
Mid-Atlantic Ridge 8ff, 17ff
see Mid-Ocean Ridge
Mid-Miocene cooling step 262
Mid-Oceanic Ridge, morphology 5, 17,21 ff
basalt 20
Subject Index
origin 8, 33ff
volume, spreading rate, sea level 150
hydrothermal circulation 292
(see also hot vents)
mid-Pleistocene revolution 253
Milankovitch, mechanism 246, 251
Cretaceous cycles 273
minerals, tables 318
Millepora (hydrozoan) 330
Minamata Disease 302
Miocene, cooling step 262
silica switch 263
duration 317
miogeosync1ine (= downwarp in crust
containing little deformed shallow marine
sediments) 53
Mississippi Delta 48, 140
mixed layer, sea floor 177 ff
mixing rate of ocean (ca 1000 yrs) 118
mixing of sediments by organisms 178ff
mobilism, concept 7
Moho (= Mohorovicic sound velocity
discontinuity) 23,41
molecular markers 159
molluscs, types 331
monoplacophorans 331
monsoonal climate 188
Monterey Canyon 61
Monterey Formation of California 84
montmorillonite (= smectite) 82, 223
formula 318
moraines 55
mountain building 40, 303
and sea level 150
and Sr isotopes 240
mud, definition 79, 321
mud volcanoes 76
mud (= clay + terrigenous silt)
deep sea 79
definition 321
muddy sea floor, substrate 172
Mya (bivalve) 117, 172
burrow 177
Mytilus (bivalve) 172
Nankai trough, seismic profile 54
nannofossils, definition 216
nasselarians (radiolarians) 218, 329
Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (foram) 189
neritic, definition 44
nickel in manganese deposits 289, 290
Niger Delta 48
-overlap 38, 51
Nile Valley 62
349
Ninety-East Ridge 32
nitrogen, abundance 322
Nitzschia (diatom) 159,329
Nome, Alaska, gold placers 287, 288
Nordic heat pump 261, 263
North Atlantic, circulation 111ff
gyre 113
anti-estuarine circulation 208
Deep Water (NADW) 120, 121ff, 226, 249
North Sea 55,108, 110, 114, 131
intertidal 132, 172, 173
petroleum 282
benthic biota 299
North Atlantic Basin, North American Basin 17
map 18
spreading rate 31
sea floor age map 36
fit of borders 38
margin structure 50
margin morphology 46, 47, 49
evaporite deposits 49
margin stratigraphy 149,284,271
ice-rafted sediments 71, 72
surface currents 112
deep currents 121ff
turbidity currents 64
glacial conditions 190
ice age sediments
Norwegian Sea 123
nuclear waste, disposal 301
nutrients 161, 188
trapping in humid basin 204
-depletion 186, 206
fast stripping of 222
see also productivity, upwelling
OAE, see oceanic anoxic events
obduction 53
obliquity of Earth's axis 252
ocean crust, composition 322
ocean gateways 260
ocean margins, see continental margins
ocean history and deep sea drilling II
Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) 4, 13
oceanic anoxic events 271, 273
oceanic crust, illustration 23
chemical composition 41
oceans, drainage areas 44
geographic statistics 315
offshore bars 103, 140
oil, fields, offshore 280
formation 274
exploration 283
pollution 284, 300
350
Subject Index
potential 48, 66, 77, 140, 171

resources 278
Ojo de Liebre 90
Okinawa trough, vents 296
Oligocene, duration 317
olivine, mineral 318, 319
-tholeiites 23
Ontong Java Plateau 235, 274
ooid (== small egg-like calcareous particle, such
as oolite or oolith) 86
oolites 86, 87, 132
calcareous 86, 87
iron 92
oozes, definition 215
opaline silica 118, 125, 231
deposition, dissolution 233
ophiolites (== rock assemblage indicating deep
sea origin, in an active margin or mountain
chain) 22, 53, 236
ophiuroids (brittle stars) 118, 332
orbital parameters 252
ore deposits 52
hydrothermal 293ff
Red Sea 297
also see manganese deposits
organic carbon, productivity 140
; transfer to ocean bottom 158; in marine
sediments 160; total flux 221; organic matter
44, 98, 118, 125, 129, 140, 158ff
organic matter 44,98, 118, 125, 129, 140, 158ff
organic-rich sediments 161
and oxygen deficiency 166
Cretaceous 270
and petroleum 279
see also anaerobic sediments
organisms, categories 327
see marine organisms
oscillation ripples 104, 131
ostracods in restricted environments 162
overwash fans 140, 142
oxygen elemental abundance 322
in atmosphere 90
content of seawater 118
as environmental factor 165
oxygen deficiency 166,205,209,272
in Cretaceous 272
from pollution 299
oxygen isotopes, Pleistocene record, 144ff,
249ff
and paleotemperature, 192 ff
in benthic forams 263
Tertiary record 257, 262
oxygen minimum 159, 209, 271
pachyderma (foram, genus Neogloboquadrina)

189
Pacific Ocean, earthquake belt 27
statistics 42
circulation 260
sedimentation 224ff
seismic stratigraphy, 235, 268
manganese nodules 289ff
Pacific-Atlantic asymmetry 261
Pacific-type margins (==active margins) 45, 51ff
Padina (calcareous algae) 164
paleoceanography, history 241, 304
Paleocene, paleogeography 10, 70
duration 317
paleodepth, reconstruction 267
paleoecologic reconstruction 180
paleoproductivity 254, 256
paleotemperature determination 188ff
record 249
Panafrican foldbelt 38
Panama Seaway 262
Pangaea 6, 151
particle flux, traps 221
passive continental margins 45ff, 50, 51
pavement, manganese 114; erosional 116
peat bogs, coastal 133'
pebble beach 105
pelagic sediments, definition 1, 43, 44
types 215ff
overall thickness 21
clay (== Red Clay) 222
calcareous ooze 225
siliceous ooze 231
pelagic rain 220
pelecypods (== bivalves) 331
Penicillus (calc. algae) 164
peridotite 23, 320
perihelion, definition 252
permeability (== ability to transmit fluids) 147
Persian Gulf 57, 88, 135, 206ff
circulation 124 ff, 202
as model 200ff
oil pollution 300
Peru upwelling 119
Peru-Chile Trench 51
pesticides and sea birds 298
petroleum, 277ff
accumulation 280
resources (== estimated amount recoverable)
277,278
reserves (= now producible) 282
pH, seawater 73
phaeodarians 329
Philippine Trench 25
Subject Index
Phosphate in organic hard parts 83
phosphorite deposits 90, 125, 278
Christmas Island 285
mining 286
phosphorus budget 82, 322
photic zone, thickness 161
photosynthesis, as sea level indicator 134
and benthic sediment production 164
phreatic processes 196
phylogenetic tree 328
physiographic diagrams 18,55
phytoplankton production 161
pillow basalts 22, 23, 183
pioneers, marine geology 1 ff
piston coring 241, 242
placer deposits 130, 287, 288
planktonic organisms 48, 84, 157,218
diversity 157
planktonic foraminifera, oxygen isotopes 144ff,
248ff
as temperature indicators 188 ff
zonation 189
in Persian Gulf 189, 207
carbon isotopes 254
planktonic organisms (= living within water,
drifting with the currents) 84
as tracers of currents 111
shell-bearing; planktonlbenthos ratio 84
Planolites (burrows) 178
plate stratigraphy 266
plate tectonics 28ff, 36, 303
history 5, 7
plate boundaries 9, 29, 31
and volcano chains 32
Pleistocene, sea level fluctuations 144 ff
record 242ff
Milankovitch control 251
atmosphere 253
duration 317
Pliocene 262
duration 317
plumes (= mantle plumes, see hot spots) 30ff
pockmarks (from mud volcanoes) 76
Po Delta (subsidence) 152, 153
Pogonophora (tube worms), 182,331, cover
see hot vent
polar front, ice age migration 190, 246
polar wandering, and continental drift 7
polar zones 186, 187
pollution 298, 300
and oxygen deficiency, 206
polycyclic sands (= eroded and redeposited)
80, 81
porifera, definition 330
351
Porites (coral) 165, 331

porosity (= pore space within sediment) 147
pore water 75
potassium-argon dating 323
potholes, Arctic shelves 200
precession of Earth axis 252
precipitates (= hydrogenous and biogenous
sediments) 70
precipitation patterns 201
preservation, of tracks and burrows 177
limits to ecologic reconstruction 180
selecti vity 191
and biogenous sediments 217
carbonate 229
siliceous shells 233
see also selective preservation, dissolution,
differential dissolution
primary production, world map 160
production rate, benthic carbonate 168
reef carbonate 195
productivity 157
and environmental factors 157
of phytoplankton 158
control by phosphorus 158ff
and export production 158, 220
in temperate latitudes 185
in Baltic 204
and pollution 206
record in varves 210
and biogenous sediments 217
effect on CCD 228
and opal deposition 231
and sediment supply 233
Pleistocene cycles 247
and dust supply 251
in the ice age 255
and carbon isotopes 255
and phosphorites 285
protista (unicell. orgs. with a well-defined
nucleus) 328
Proto-Atlantic 51
Prudhoe Bay 281
pteropod ooze (= rich in aragonitic shells of
pelagic snails) 225
Puerto Rico Trench 25
pyrite (mineral), formula 319
pyroxene (mineral) formula 319
quartz 222, 318, 321

beach sand 78, 80
Quaternary, duration 317
Quilon Beach (India) 289
352
Subject Index
radio-isotopes, dating 178, 323

radioactive waste 300
radiocarbon, see carbon-14
radiolarians, 216, 218, 232, 329
ooze 231
Tertiary trends 259
radiolarites 23
rain, pelagic, 160, 220
Rajmabal flood basalt 32
Reade's age estimate 92
recrystallization 77
silica 234
reef debris 196
see also diagenesis
Red Clay (pelagic clay) 222ff
definition 215
origin 222
sedimentation rates 219
composition 322
x-ray radiograph 174
Red Sea 45, 124
as a model of rifting 45, 48
circulation 203
ore deposits 297
redeposition, types of 93
see also turbidites, turbidity currents,
submarine landslides, marine sediments
redox reactions 76
reef (see also coral, coral reef)
structures 48
limestones 83
growth 145
terraces 146
talus 171
building 195, 330
types 196
reflective beach stage 103
regression 147
and albedo 260
regressive sequence 139
relict sediments 13 8
remineralization 157, 162
remote sensing 143
Reophax (foram) 169
reservoir rock (oil) 140, 171
residence times of elements in seawater 75, 77
resources, types 277
restricted environments 162
Reunion hot spot 32
Reykjanes Ridge, magnetic pattern 35
Rhabdosphaera (coccolith) 192
Rhizopora(mangrove) 143
ridge crest, origin 22, 23
see Mid-Ocean Ridge
ridge-ridge transform fault 28

Riftia (tube worm) 182
rifting and origin of continental margin 45
ring of fire (= volcanoes, earthquake centers
rimming Pacific) 28
rip currents 104
rip-rap (beach protection) 108
ripple formation 104
current ripples 104, 114, 115, 131
tidal flats 11 7
oscillation ripples 104; 131
on outer shelf 103
deepsea floor 123
river, input of sediment 69, 70
mouths (types) 138
water composition 75
rock types 320
as substrates for benthos 168 ff
Romanche Deep 121
Ross Sea 170, 205
shelf epifauna 170
rounding of pebbles 100
rubidium-strontium method 323
rutile (mineral), formula 318
sabkha 88, 90
Salicornia (marsh plant) 330
salinity, distributions 201
and oxygen isotopes 193
and circulation 201 ff
stratification 204
salt age for the ocean 77
salt deposits 90 ff, 151, 199
deep sea 48 ff
salt domes 48, 49, 280, 281,285
salt water intrusion (estuary) 138
Samoan Passage 120
sand 78, 80
ease of travel 100 ff
as substrate 171
for building 278, 288
Santa Barbara Basin 93, 188,209,210,213
Santorini, volcanic ash 74
sapropel layers (Medi-terranean) 207, 217
see also anaerobism
Sargasso Sea 111, 112
Sargassum (sea weed) 330
satellite altimetry 26
saturation, carbonate 227ff
silicate 231
scaphopods 331
Subject Index
scanning electron microscope (= SEM;
particles are viewed in an electron beam
focussd by magnetic fields) 81
Scolicia (burrows) 178
scour marks 114, 116, 122
sea cliffs, origin and rate of retreat 129ff
sea floor age, distribution 36
and depth (equation) 24
sea floor morphology 8ff, 15ff
study of 4ff
subsidence 23, 24: depth (and seafloor
spreading) 150
and topography of ocean surface 26
sea floor spreading, paradigm 5, 7, 8, 12, 16,
19,21,30,31
evidence for 32ff, 37
discovery 5
illustrat. 19
corollaries 27 ff
history 7 ff
spreading rate (half rate is measured from
ridge crest) 27, 150
and sea mount subsidence 29 ff
and island chains 29 ff
and magnetic anomalies 33 ff
age distr. in Atlantic 36
and passive margins 45
and petroleum accumulation 48
and sea level 150
sea grass 171
sea ice, and climate evolution 127
and oxygen isotopes 144 ff
in the Arctic 200
see also ice-, and icebergs
sea level, indicators 127
processes 129ff
recent (deglacial) rise 135
and coastal morphology 137
present and future rise 153, 230
history of fluctuations 143, 145, 147
and sediment bodies 147, 148
and margin subsidence 150
and seafloor spreading 150
Tertiary 257, 260
implications 305
sea mounts 5, 29ff, 198
sea salt 73
sea surface temperatures 187
history 209
see also paleotemperature
sea urchin 327
sea water composition 73ff, 75, 322
sediment types 77
cycle 69
353
see marine sediments

sediment trapping 82, 220, 221
sedimentary rocks 321
sedimentary sequences 139, 147
sedimentation rates 69, 92, 179,217
deep sea 93
general 92ff
Arctic Ocean 200
and organic matter content 161
dated by thorium 323
seismic profiles
northeast Atlantic Basin 22
off Morocco 49, 149
Persian Gulf shelf 57
Voring Plateau 47
Nankai Trough 54
off Dakar 59
pelagic carbonate 235
Gulf of Mexico 281
East Coast 284
seismic reflection profiling 22, 59, 219, 242,
264
seismic stratigraphy 94, 149,235,304
seismic tomography 40, 304
selective preservation, of fossils 165
of coccoliths 192
of foraminifera 227
SEM, see scanning electron microscope serial
fractionation of evaporites 91
serpentinite (= altered rock of basaltic origin)
9,52
seston 167
settling of sediment in water 100, 10 1
see also fecal pellets: accelerated sinking
sewage disposal 298, 299
shale, definition 321
shape of sand grains 80
shear margins 54, 55
shelf
definition and geographic statistics 42, 55 ff
illustrations 43
carbonate, origin of 45
sedimentary processes 55ff
ice action 55
delta build-up 56
-break 56, 57
East Coast, 138
shelf deposits (see also shelf) 80, 84
and waves 103
and currents 103, 114
relict 138
and change of sea level 147
hydrocarbon resources 277ff
354
Subject Index
solid resources 285ff

shell gravel, resources 278
shell pavement 130, 173
see also coquina
shocked quartz, K-T boundary 265
sial (= granitic material, silicon, aluminum) 6
side-scan sonar 22, 114, 115, 123
Sigsbee Abyssal Plain, salt intrusion 281
silica
extraction from the ocean 84
flux 232, 233
rings and belts 231
in interstitial water 235
switch, Tertiary 261ff
deposition and heat exchange 261
cycle 296 ,see also opal
silicate minerals, definition 318
siliceous deposits 216, 231
silicoflagellates 329
silicon, abundance 322
silicon-32 324
silt 78, 80 ff
silver, Red Sea deposits 297
sima (= basaltic material, silicon, magnesium)
sinking of sea floor 25

slides, see submarine slides
sludge disposal, see waste disposal
slumps, see submarine slides
smectite (= montmorillonite) 82, 222, 294
formula 318
Society Islands 186
solar constant 212, 272
Solomon Trench 174
sonograph record 115, 116, 123
source rocks 140 (see petroleum)
South Sandwich Trench 25
South Pacific Islands 186, 198
South Atlantic; sea floor ages 36
CCD fluctuations 267
South Equatorial Current 112ff
Southern Ocean, see Antarctic Ocean
spectral analysis 251ff
(in Pleistocene stratigraphy)
Spiroloculina (foram) 169
sponges, Ross Sea shelf 170
defmition 330
spreading
see sea floor spreading
spumellarian (radiolarian) 329
St. Joseph's Island, Texas 142
stagnation 205
stenohaline organisms 162
Stokes'Law 101
storm action 111, 132

deposits 124, 132, 133
stratification, stable 187
stratigraphic resolution 237
stratigraphy, history 304
stromatolites 134
strontium isotopes 239
stratigraphy 264
and carbon dioxide 257
subduction zones 7, 8, 28, 40, 51, 52
sublittoral, definition 44
submarine canyons 43, 60ff
study of 62, 67
origin 62
off California 61
Mediterranean 62
as sediment funnels 65, 97, 108, 109
and quality of harbors 139
submarine dune fields 98
submarine fans (= deep sea fans) 58, 60, 65,
92
submarine (land)slides 58ff
subpolar gyre 113
subsidence, of the sea floor 23ff, 129
and CCD reconstruction 267
of Venice 151ff
substrate, for benthic organisms 168 ff
subtropical gyres 112, 124
subtropical zone 185, 187
sulfate reduction 76, 89,90, 182,205
in Ridge Crest 294
sulfide deposits, hot vents 296
sulfide-oxidizing bacteria 182
sun-spot cycles 212
Sunda Trench 25
sunlight and productivity 161
superplumes 31, 37, 40, 274
superswell 40
supralittoral, definition 44
surface currents 111 ff
in ice age ocean 243
Tertiary 260
suspended load 99
suspension 173
feeders 167, 171
swash marks 103
Swedish Deep Sea Expedition (Albatross) 4,
215,241,247
Sylt, coastal protection 110
Sylvania sea mount 131
symbiotic algae 164, 168, 169
symbiotic bacteria, hot vents 182
Tasmanian Passage 259
Subject Index
taxonomy; principle 327
systematics 328
tectonic erosion 53
temperate zone 185, 187
temperature, gradients III
in upwelling water 119
reconstruction of 163, 188
record in corals 165
world map 187
species ranges 162, 190
distribution last ice age 243ff
Tertiary 259
unit conversion 315
tempestites 102
tephrochronology (age-correlation from the
sequence of layers of volcanic ash) 73
terraces 28
terranes 28
terrigenous sediments 44
muds, definition 217
Tertiary ocean history 257, 261
cooling 259
duration 317
Tethys Ocean 10, 83, 259
tetrapods (beach protection) 108
thalweg 60
thermocline (= layer below warm surface
waters and above cold deep waters)
Miocene 263
thermohaline circulation 121
tholeiite (type of basalt) 23
thorium (dating) 146, 323
tidal currents 11 7, 118
tidal flats, 131ff
sediment reworking by organisms 172
also see wadden
tidal records 132, 133
tides 132 ff
time scale, geologic 317
tin, placer deposits 278, 288
tintinnids 218, 329
Toba eruption 72
Tonga Trench 25
topographic statistics 316
trace fossils 174 ff
trace elements 23
in manganese nodules 242, 294
tracks and trails 176
tracks and burrows 174
tradewinds 112 ff
trailing edges (passive margins) 44,45
trails, see trace fossils

transfer equations 189, 191
transfer temperature 190
transform faults 9, 10, 28
plate boundaries 31
transgression (= sea level rise) 147
see sea level
conglomerate 135
transgressive sequence 140
transport of sediments 69 ff
see also currents, marine sediments
traps
, see sediment trapping
tree-rings 212
trenches 16, 25 ff, 42
plate boundary 27
Peru-Chile 19
topographic profiles 26
morphology 25
gravity 5
geographic statistics 42 ff
Peru-Chile model 52
Island Arc model 52
Triassic, duration 317
Trimosina (foram) 144
Troodos, sulfide deposits 296
tropical zone 185, 187
tsunami (earthquake-generated wave) 56
turbidites 62 ff
see also graded layer
turbidity currents 62ff, 125
Umbellosphaera (coccolith) 192
Umbilicosphaera, coccolith 192
undercurrents 8
undersea cataracts 124
underwater dunes 114 ff, 123
uniformitarianism 1
units, conversions 315
upwelling 118 ff, 162
-type sediments 118
global distribution 119
profiles of nutrients and oxygen 119
effect on productivity 118, 158, 162
seasonal - 185, 188
equatorial 187
estuarine basin 203
Santa Barbara Basin 209
EI Nino effect 210
Pleistocene 243, 255
Tertiary 263
and phosphorites 285
uranium, dating of reef terraces 146
decay series 323, 324
355
356
Subject Index
Urey Equation 257

UsigJio's experiment 90
Vail sealevel curve, 147ff
varves (annual layers) 93, 94, 119, 166, 188,
209 ff
climatic record 209
Cretaceous ocean 271
Vema Channel 120
Venice, sinking of 151 ff
vent communities 183
Venus (bivalve) community 181
vestimentiferan tube worms 182
also see cover photo
volcanic, sediment input 72, 74
rocks 223, 320
volcanism and anoxia 274
volcanogenic muds, def. 217
volume
unit conversions 315
of oceans 316
Voring Plateau 46ff
wadden (= North Sea inter-tidal) 114, 117,
131, 132
organisms 172
also see tidal flats
Walther's Rule 128
Walvis Ridge-Rio Grande Barrier 48
Walvis Bay 118
Warm Saline Deep Water (WSDW) 121
warm-cold cycles 249
waste disposal 124, 298, 302
of radioactive w. 300, 301
risk assessment 302
water column, stability 204

wave action 97, 102, 103, 129
wave base 103
wave-cut terraces 106, 129, 130
wave erosion 135
weathering 69
Weddell Sea Bottom Water 120
West Coast, USA, continental margin 97
west-equatorial Pacific, stratigraphy 145, 179
west winds 112 ff; see also California
western boundary current 123
Wilson's hypothesis: opening and closing
Atlantic 51
winds and circulation 112
wind input of sediments 71, 73
wind distribution 112
winnowing offines 114
Wisconsin ice age 144
worms, types of 331
WSBW, see Weddell Sea Bottom Water
Wiirm (last glacial period) 143ff
see also glacial conditions and ice age
X-ray diffraction, analysis of clay minerals 82,
223
X-ray radiography, deep-sea clay 174
Xifeng, loess profiles 250
Younger Dryas 246, 247
zeolites 222
formula 318
zinc, in Red Sea deposits 297
zircon, heavy mineral 319
placer deposits 287
Zoophycos (burrow) 178
Zostera (sea-grass) 330

The Sea Floor

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E.

The Sea Floor

With 209 Figures and 9 Tables

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Eugen Seibold

ISBN 978-3-662-22521-9 ISBN 978-3-662-22519-6 (eBook)

Originally published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York in 1993

Pnnted on acid-free paper

Man's understanding of how this planet is put together and how it

for the elementary facts and concepts of marine geology, especially as

Origin and Morphology of Ocean Margins.. . . . . .. . ..

Sources and Composition of Marine Sediments. . . . . . ..

3.2.4 Volcanic Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Effects of Waves and Currents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Sea Level Processes and Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

Productivity and Benthic Organisms - Distribution,

6.7.2 Mixing Model .............................. 179

Deep-Sea Sediments - Patterns, Processes,

Inventory and Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

Paleoceanography - The Deep-Sea Record. . . . . . . . . . ..

9.3.5 Milankovitch Cycles and Dating ................

10 Resources from the Ocean Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

10.5 Waste Disposal and Pollution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

Epilog ................................................ 303

Index of Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 333

Pioneers of Marine Geology: Identifying the Basic Questions

Pioneers of Marine Geology: Identifying the Basic Questions

Upper row, left to ri8ht N. M. Strachow (1900--1978), Philip H. Kuenen (1902-1976),

Pioneers of Marine Geology: Identifying the Basic Questions

Seafloor Spreading and Plate Tectonics: the New Paradigm

Seafloor Spreading and Plate Tectonics: the New Paradigm

CONTIN EN TAL BLOCK

Seafloor Spreading and Plate Tectonics: the New Paradigm

movement of the plates is a theorem of the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler

Deep-Sea Drilling : Discovering New Worlds

Deep-Sea Drilling: Discovering New Worlds

mation of the theory of sea-floor spreading: sediments overlying the "basement"

Deep-Sea Drilling: Discovering New Worlds

1 Origin and Morphology of Ocean Basins

1.1 The Depth of the Sea

EARTH's SURf"ACE IN 10 K"' "

Origin and Morphology of Ocean Basins

On H. M. S. Challenger, depth soundings were done by laboriously sending a

1.2 Endogenic Processes

4000 - --U-------4--- ~--r_----+_~~

MID -OC EANIC RIDGE

Origin and Morphology of Ocean Basins

> OCEA NIC CRUST ,

Fig. 1.4. Cru stal structure of

Origin and Morphology of Ocean Basins

~~r---~t-- Outer COR E

Fig. 1.6. Onion structure of the Earth:

1.3 Exogenic Processes

Morphology of the Mid-Ocean Ridge

1.4 Morphology of the Mid-Ocean Ridge

Origin and Morphology of Ocean Basin s

Morphology of the Mid-Ocean Ridge

Axial s UJlUlll t qraben

Origin and Morphology of Ocean Basins

From the relationship given above, we can evaluate k as follows:

Sea Floor Age (million years)