diatom ooze

…skeletons of warm-water protozoa, and diatom ooze, containing the frustules (tiny shells) of diatoms. The siliceous oozes exist only where the rate of deposition of diatoms or radiolarians is greater than the rate at which their silica content is dissolved in the deep waters; thus the diatom oozes are confined…

Diatom ooze (formed from microscopic unicellular algae having cell walls consisting of or resembling silica) is the most widespread deposit in the high southern latitudes but, unlike in the Pacific, is missing in northern latitudes. About three-fifths of the bottom itself is covered with mud…

A belt of diatom ooze occurs between latitudes 45° and 60° S and across the North Pacific, between Japan and Alaska. Calcareous globigerina ooze occurs in the shallower parts of the South Pacific, the dissolving power of the seawater at great depths being sufficient to dissolve calcareous material…