In his 1891 synthesis of pelagic sedimentation based on samples collected during the Challenger expedition, oceanographer John Murray categorized deep-sea deposits into terrigenous and pelagic types. While terrigenous sediments accumulated rapidly along continental margins through riverine runoff, pelagic deposits—comprising biogenic oozes and red clay—accumulated in abyssal basins far from landmasses. Murray noted that calcareous oozes, predominantly composed of globigerina shells, dominated depths shallower than 4,500 meters, but dissolved rapidly below this threshold due to increased hydrostatic pressure and cold, carbon-dioxide-rich bottom waters. Below this calcium carbonate compensation depth, red clay—derived from atmospheric dust, volcanic ash, and extraterrestrial spherules—formed the primary deposit. Crucially, Murray observed that manganese nodules were found almost exclusively within these low-accumulation red clay zones rather than in rapidly depositing calcareous oozes, positing that nodule growth required vast spans of uninhibited metallic oxide precipitation uninterrupted by organic sedimentation.
Based on the passage, which of the following circumstances did Murray identify as characteristic of the locations where manganese nodules predominantly formed?
- Sedimentation consisted primarily of red clay rather than rapidly accumulating biogenic oozes.Cevap
- BThe surrounding water column maintained low hydrostatic pressure, allowing globigerina shells to remain intact.
- CTerrigenous runoff continuously supplied dense mineral sediments to the ocean floor.
- DExtraterrestrial spherules within the sediment acted as catalysts that accelerated metallic oxide precipitation.
- ECold, carbon-dioxide-rich bottom waters dissolved competing organic and inorganic deposits.