Create a document with your answers to the following questions:
Why are marine sediments important? How does the analysis of marine sediments provide information about the climate of the ancient Earth?Be sure the in-text citations and reference list are formatted either APA or MLA
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Proto-Earth
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2022FA-OCEA-112-2162 – Introduction to Oceanography
Proto-Earth
The early version of our planet was quite different than
the planet we live on today. The image below highlights
some of the key differences between Proto-Earth and
modern day Earth:
Larger than Earth today
➤ Homogeneous composition
Bombarded by meteorites
• Moon formed from collision
with large asteroid.
It is theorized that Proto-Earth was much, much larger
than our present day planet. There were no oceans or life
of any kind. Additionally, Proto-Earth was believed to be
homogeneous, meaning that from its outermost layer
down to its center, it was made of material that was
evenly mixed. Another way to describe it is by having a
“uniform composition throughout,” as stated by your
textbook. So, how did it start to become the planet we
know today that contains layers that differ in
composition? Well, density played a major role in the
transition.
What is density? Watch the video below for an
explanation.
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Proto-Earth
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2022FA-OCEA-112-2162 – Introduction to Oceanography
Over time, as the Proto-Earth began to compress and
condense. The denser material sank to the center of the
planet and the lighter material rose to the surface,
eventually separating and forming internal layers within
the planet that were no longer homogeneous.
The Sun
During the early stages of proto-planet formation, the
sun also condensed into a solar body that was so large
the pressure at the center of its mass was high enough to
initiate the process of thermonuclear fusion.
Thermonuclear fusion is when temperatures are so hot,
hydrogen atoms combine together to form helium and
release a ton of energy in the process. This caused the
sun to release light and ionized particles. The movement
of these ionized particles is what created solar wind.
Solar wind blew away any excess nebular gases,
essentially stripping all the proto-planets of their first
developed atmosphere.
Eventually, as the sun provided energy through
thermonuclear fusion and the proto-planets started
producing forms of radioactivity at their core, providing a
second source of energy, the rotating system and mature
planets eventually developed into the solar system that
we know today.
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Neptune
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Importance of Marine Sediments
2022FA-OCEA-112-2162 – Introduction to Oceanography
Marine sediments are, in their simplest form, dirt in the
ocean. So, why do we care so much about ocean dirt?
Marine sediments contain a host of information that can
tell us a lot about the current and past conditions of that
particular environment, including information about the
the water and atmospheric conditions. By collecting
sediment cores, as pictured in the images below, we can
extract material and perform experiments which will
provide us information about:
• temperature of the environment
ocean chemistry, oxygen and carbon dioxide gas
levels in the atmosphere
• distribution of marine organisms and abundance of
marine life
• nutrient supply
• atmospheric wind behaviors
⚫ oceanic current patterns
• if there volcanic eruptions
• major extinction events
• any changes in the overall climate
• movement of tectonic plates
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Importance of Marine Sediments
2022FA-OCEA-112-2162 – Introduction to Oceanography
Resources within Marine Sediments:
A host of natural resources can be found and collected
from marine sediments. However, many of these
resources are not easy or cheap to access and the
collection process is often extremely damaging to the
environment.
Here is a summarized list of various resources that are
currently harvest/retrieved from within marine
sediments:
• Petroleum
• Methane Hydrates (natural gas)
• Sand and gravel
• Manganese Modules
• Phosphorite (fertilizer)
• Rare Earth metals
.
Evaporative salts
What to do next:
• This module will not directly cover how marine
sediments are collected, but this is information you
will be expected to know.
• Please read pages 105-108 to explore the different
ways marine sediments are collected and for more.
information on the field of paleoceanography.
Contant adanted from. “Focentials of Cananacranbull by Alan D Tilla Harold V
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Four Major Groups of Marine Sediments
2022FA-OCEA-112-2162 – Introduction to Oceanography
Learning Objectives:
• State the 4 types of marine sediments and
describe:
。 What is found in each
。 Where/How do they form
。 Where in the oceans are they found
Types of Marine Sediments
There are four major types, or groups, of marine
sediments. They are classified by origin, composition and
distribution and are listed below:
1. Hydrogenous: “derived from water”
2. Cosmogenous: “derived from outer space”
3. Lithogenous: “derived from land”
4. Biogenous: “derived from organisms”
Each of these four sediments and their composition,
origin and distribution are summarized in Table 4.1
Classification of Marine Sediments on page 106 in your
textbook. We will be exploring each of these types of
sediments in the following module pages.
Content adapted from: “Essentials of Oceanography” by Alan P. Trujillo, Harold V.
Thurman is licensed under CC BY 4.0
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