Article
Article
Marine sediment
Article By:
Van Andel, Tjeerd H. Department of Geology, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
Biscaye, Pierre E. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York.
Nafe, John E. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York.
Murray, James W. Department of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Takahashi, Taro Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York.
Farrington, John W. Department of Chemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
Lonsdale, Peter Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California.
Turekian, Karl K. Department of Geology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
Hagelberg, Teresa King Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island.
Last reviewed:November 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.407000
The accumulation of minerals and organic remains on the seafloor. Marine sediments vary widely in composition and physical characteristics as a function of water depth, distance from land, variations in sediment source, and the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of their environments. The study of marine sediments is an important phase of oceanographic research and, together with the study of sediments and sedimentation processes on land, constitutes the subdivision of geology known as sedimentology. See also: Marine geology; Oceanography; Sedimentology
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