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Unscrambling the sediment-forming chemical signals

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Marine Geochemistry

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Abstract

In Chapter 3 it was suggested that rivers could be viewed as the carriers of chemical signals to the oceans. We are now attempting to understand the factors that control the chemical composition of marine sediments, and from the point of view of the present volume attention is focused on the upper portions of the sediment column since it is the material here that reacts directly with sea water. In a manner broadly similar to that used for rivers, the oceanic water column can therefore be viewed as a medium through which chemical signals, or fluxes, are transmitted to the upper portions of the marine sediment column. In addition, signals can be transmitted through interstitial water. However, there is a problem in identifying the various chemical signals that are actually transmitted through the water column. A number of authors have suggested that the overall elemental compositions of deep-sea sediments can be considered in terms of the contributions made by individual sediment fractions For example, Krishnaswami (1976) postulated that the total concentration of an element in Pacific pelagic clays is the sum of the contributions made by the detrital and the authigenic fractions — see Equation 16.1.

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  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK

    Roy Chester

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© 1990 Roy Chester

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Chester, R. (1990). Unscrambling the sediment-forming chemical signals. In: Marine Geochemistry. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9488-7_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9488-7_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-9490-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-010-9488-7

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