Terrigenous sediment

Terrigenous sediments are derived from the chemical and physical weathering and erosion of continental rocks and consists primarily of mud, sand, and silt that is carried to the ocean by rivers. Their composition is mainly rock fragments and silicate minerals like quartz, feldspar, and clay minerals. Terrigenous sediments are mostly found closest to continents in coastal environments and continental shelves. Finer grained sediments like clay may be carried into deep-sea abyssal plains. They can accumulate in a wide variety of depositional environments, including fluvial, coastal, eolian, and in deep marine settings. This reflects diverse transport mechanisms such as rivers, wind, glaciers, and turbidity currents.