The Oceans - Chapter 1: Sea Floor Sediments

Question 1

Except for a few areas, the ocean floor is mantled with ____

Answer 1

sediments

Question 2

Even though deposits of sand sized particles are found on the Atlantic floor, ___ is the most common sediment

Answer 2

mud

Question 3

Sea floor sediment is divided into three broad categories:

Answer 3

lithogenous
biogenous
hydrogenous

Question 4

True or false: all sea floor sediments are mixtures

Answer 4

True

Question 5

This consists primarily of mineral grains that were weathered from continental rocks and transported to the ocean

Answer 5

Lithogenous sediment

Question 6

Where are lithogenous sediments settled?

Answer 6

Near shore

Question 7

True or false: there are no lithogenous sediments in the deep ocean

Answer 7

False

Question 8

Why are there ample opportunities for chemical reactions to occur?

Answer 8

Fine particles remain suspended in the water

Question 9

Why are deep sea sediments often red or brown

Answer 9

Because iron on the particle or the water reacts with dissolved oxygen and creates a coating of iron oxide (rust)

Question 10

This sediment consists of shells and skeletons of marine animals and plants

Answer 10

Biogenous sediment

Question 11

Biogenous debris is produced mostly by the ________ living in the sunlit waters

Answer 11

microscopic organisms

Question 12

What are the most common biogenous sediments?

Answer 12

calcareous oozes (CaCO3)

Question 13

True or false: calcareous ooze accumulates where depths are great

Answer 13

False; cold seawater has more CO2 and is more acidic so they will dissolve

Question 14

This ooze is composed primarily of opaline skeletons of diatoms (single cell algae) and radiolarians (single cell animals)

Answer 14

Siliceous (SiO2)

Question 15

What are phosphate rich materials in terms of deposits?

Answer 15

It is derived from the bones teeth and scales of fish and other organisms

Question 16

This sediment consists of minerals that crystallize directly from seawater through various chemical reactions

Answer 16

Hydrogenous

Question 17

What is a type of hydrogenous sediment that is has economic potential?

Answer 17

Manganese nodules

Question 18

Rounded blackish lumps composed of a complex mixture of minerals that form slowly on floor of ocean basins

Answer 18

manganese nodules

Question 19

Some scientists suggest that ___ animals living in and on sea floor are responsible for keeping the nodules at the surface

Answer 19

benthic

Question 20

What is benthic?

Answer 20

The term benthic refers to anything associated with or occurring on the bottom of a body of water.

Question 21

What kind of organisms produce a slight lifting effect that keeps nodules from being buried?

Answer 21

burrowing

Question 22

One of the more interesting and important techniques for analyzing the earth’s climatic history is studying the ____ from the ocean floor

Answer 22

sediments