Disseminated phosphorus in oceanic sediments — A review

Abstract

The content of disseminated phosphorus in sediments of the World Oceans fluctuates between 0.01 and 4.36%. Terrigenous and hemipelagic sediments contain, on average, about 0.07% phosphorus. Higher concentrations are characteristic of sediments enriched in iron and manganese hydroxides or bone detritus and phosphoritic material. The general features of the phosphorus distribution in surface sediments depend on the ratio of continental runoff area to basin area which diminishes from the Atlantic to the Indian and Pacific areas. The relative extent of the nearshore phosphorus-rich zone contracts whereas that of the pelagic phosphorus-rich zone widens in the transition from the Atlantic through the Indian to the Pacific areas. The distribution of phosphorus in vertical sections of sediments gives some evidence of the diagenetic mobilisation of phosphorus and its partial loss to bottom water. The rate of phosphorus accumulation in oceanic sediments is evaluated as between < 0.05 and > 10 g cm −2 k.y −1. The bulk mass of phosphorus is accumulated in marginal zones of the oceans.