GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Areas of the ocean that lie beneath the carbonate compensation depth (CCD), below which calcium carbonate dissolves, typically beneath 4-5 km, will be dominated by siliceous ooze because calcium-carbonate-based material would dissolve in these regions.

Detailed explanation-2: -Typically, siliceous ooze is present only in regions of high biological surface water productivity (such as the equatorial and polar belts and coastal upwelling areas), where depth of the seafloor is deeper than the CCD.

Detailed explanation-3: -The distribution of modern calcareous ooze is generally found along mid-ocean ridges and in low-latitude ocean basins. The reason for this occurrence is that most mid-ocean ridges are at a level higher than the CCD and that low-latitude ocean basins are typically warm and often not as deep as the CCD.

Detailed explanation-4: -Calcareous sediment can only accumulate in depths shallower than the calcium carbonate compensation depth (CCD). Below the CCD, calcareous sediments dissolve and will not accumulate. The lysocline represents the depths where the rate of dissolution increases dramatically.

Detailed explanation-5: -The siliceous oozes include radiolarian ooze, comprising essentially brown clay with more than 30 percent of the skeletons of warm-water protozoa, and diatom ooze, containing the frustules (tiny shells) of diatoms.