The widespread sea ice prevents the deposition of fresh carbonates in ocean sediment.

Large quantities of methane clathrate exist on the seabed and in ocean sediment at a temperature of around and these are of interest as a potential energy source.

They originated from ocean sediments deposited between 400 million and 1 billion years ago.

This includes research on the biogeochemical cycles of the element carbon and on the record of climate change contained in polar ice and ocean sediments.

P rich deposits have generally formed in the ocean or from guano, and over time, geologic processes bring ocean sediments to land.