BIOGENIC SILICA SEDIMENTATION ON THE SHELF AND CONTINENTAL SLOPE OF THE BLACK SEA

Abstract

Investigation of the marine sediments processes, regularities of their accumulation in the inland seas is one of the main tasks of marine geology and sedimentology. Biogenic sedimentation is extremely important in the general sediment deposition cycle in the Black Sea basin. This article provides an overview of the literature and analysis of our own research of the distribution of biogenic siliceous deposits in Holocene bottom sediments on the shelf and continental slope of the Black Sea. The composition and conditions of biosilicates formation, their relationship with coccolithic silts and sapropels in sedimentary strata, sources and forms of siliceous biogenic matter input, the dynamics of transformation of modern bottom sediments, as well as the influence of various environmental factors on the process of sedimentary accumulation of silica in the Black Sea basin in the late quarter are considered. The relevance of the topic is caused by insufficient coverage of a number of issues regarding the sources of mobilization and the nature of material input, the features of the origin and deposition of silicate biogenic matter in the basin, paleogeoecological factors that influenced on sedimentogenesis in the late Quarter. The study of the formation processes of modern bottom sediments in a wide range of facies conditions is of undoubted practical importance for diverse geological, sedimentological and facies research, both fundamental and applied, related to prospecting, exploration and exploitation of minerals, as well as for using the results obtained in the development of marine water area.