High concentrations of Silica in Ocean Water


Enigma Statement:

Silicate concentrations of deep Bering Sea basin water exceed 230 μM, values higher than in any other basin of the World Ocean and nearly 40% T.E. Whitledge is currently at Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK. 286 Coachman et al. — Silica in Bering Sea Deep and Bottom Water greater than at the same depths in the adjacent North Pacific. The Bering Sea has aptly been dubbed “the sea of silica” (Tsunogai et al. 1979). Whence these uniquely high values?

Silica in Bering Sea Deep and Bottom Water, L K Coachman, T E Whitledge, J J Goering

Two more patches of siliceous sediments should be noted which are not included in the belts of silica accumulation. One of the patches has been found in the Gulf of California, where maximum amorphous silica content is up to 65 % and the other lies off southwest Africa near the month of the Orange River, where maximum values are more than 50 %.

Sedimentation in the world ocean, Lisitzin, A.P., 1972. Society of economic paleontologist and mineralogists. Special publication no. 17, pages 149-158, web page at Radiolaria.org.

All three of the referenced sites of high silica in water are associated with Perigee: Zero impact craters. We submit that the disruption of the hydrated silicate comet bodies would release substantial amounts of silica in the surrounding waters. The scientific community holds that the the silica is generated via a biological accumulation in diatomaceous algae.