Which sediment is an ooze composed mostly of hard remains of organisms containing calcium carbonate?

Which sediment is an ooze composed mostly of hard remains of organisms containing calcium carbonate?

• A. Clay
• B. Biogenous Sediment
• C. Calcareous ooze
• D. Authigenic Sediment

Answer: (C)

Calcareous ooze is a biogenous sediment made primarily from calcium carbonate shells and skeletons of calcifying organisms such as foraminifera, coccolithophores, and molluscs. When these calcium carbonate hard parts accumulate faster than they dissolve, they form an ooze rich in CaCO3. This distinguishes it from clay, which is lithogenous and made of fine mineral particles from land, and from authigenic sediment, which forms by in-place chemical precipitation rather than from biological remains. The key feature is the calcium carbonate composition, defining this as calcareous ooze.

Calcareous ooze is a biogenous sediment made primarily from calcium carbonate shells and skeletons of calcifying organisms such as foraminifera, coccolithophores, and molluscs. When these calcium carbonate hard parts accumulate faster than they dissolve, they form an ooze rich in CaCO3. This distinguishes it from clay, which is lithogenous and made of fine mineral particles from land, and from authigenic sediment, which forms by in-place chemical precipitation rather than from biological remains. The key feature is the calcium carbonate composition, defining this as calcareous ooze.