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Calcareous refers to a sediment
Sediment

Sediment is any particulate matter that can be sediment transport by fluid dynamics, and which eventually is deposited.Sediments are most often transported by water transported by wind and glaciers....
, sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock is one of the three main Rock types . Sedimentary rock is formed by deposition and consolidation of mineral and organic material and from precipitation of minerals from solution....
, or soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
 type which is formed from or contains a high proportion of calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate

Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CalciumCarbonOxygen3. It is a common substance found as Rock in all parts of the world, and is the main component of seashells, snails, and eggshells....
 in the form of calcite
Calcite

Calcite is a Carbonate minerals and the most stable Polymorphism of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite....
 or aragonite
Aragonite

Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the two common, naturally occurring polymorphism of calcium carbonate, calciumcarbonoxygen3....
.

It can also be used as an adjectival term applied to anatomical structures which are made of calcium carbonate in animals such as gastropods, when referring to such structures as the operculum
Operculum

In biology, operculum has been used to describe several different anatomical features, in animals, in humans and even in plants. The following list gives some of the uses of the term:...
, the clausilium
Clausilium

The clausilium is a calcareous anatomical structure which is found in one group of air-breathing land snails: terrestrial animal pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Clausiliidae, the door snails....
, and the love dart
Love dart

A love dart is a hard, sharp, calcium carbonate or chitinous dart which some hermaphroditic land snails and slugs create. Love darts are made in sexually mature animals only, and are used as part of the sequence of events during courtship in animals before actual mating takes place....
.

Calcareous sediments are usually deposited in shallow water near land, since the carbonate is precipitated by marine organisms that need land-derived nutrients.






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Calcareous refers to a sediment
Sediment

Sediment is any particulate matter that can be sediment transport by fluid dynamics, and which eventually is deposited.Sediments are most often transported by water transported by wind and glaciers....
, sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock is one of the three main Rock types . Sedimentary rock is formed by deposition and consolidation of mineral and organic material and from precipitation of minerals from solution....
, or soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
 type which is formed from or contains a high proportion of calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate

Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CalciumCarbonOxygen3. It is a common substance found as Rock in all parts of the world, and is the main component of seashells, snails, and eggshells....
 in the form of calcite
Calcite

Calcite is a Carbonate minerals and the most stable Polymorphism of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite....
 or aragonite
Aragonite

Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the two common, naturally occurring polymorphism of calcium carbonate, calciumcarbonoxygen3....
.

It can also be used as an adjectival term applied to anatomical structures which are made of calcium carbonate in animals such as gastropods, when referring to such structures as the operculum
Operculum

In biology, operculum has been used to describe several different anatomical features, in animals, in humans and even in plants. The following list gives some of the uses of the term:...
, the clausilium
Clausilium

The clausilium is a calcareous anatomical structure which is found in one group of air-breathing land snails: terrestrial animal pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Clausiliidae, the door snails....
, and the love dart
Love dart

A love dart is a hard, sharp, calcium carbonate or chitinous dart which some hermaphroditic land snails and slugs create. Love darts are made in sexually mature animals only, and are used as part of the sequence of events during courtship in animals before actual mating takes place....
.

Calcareous sediments are usually deposited in shallow water near land, since the carbonate is precipitated by marine organisms that need land-derived nutrients. The farther from land sediments fall, the less calcareous they are, usually. Some areas can have interbedded calcareous sediments due to storms or changes in ocean currents.

Calcareous soils are relatively alkaline soil. This is because of the very weak acidity of carbonic acid. Note that there are other causes for a high soil pH
Soil pH

The pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. An acid solution has a pH value less than 7. While a basic solution always has a pH larger than 7, an alkaline solution does not necessarily have a pH larger than 7....
.

Calcareous coatings, or calcareous deposits, are mixtures of calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate

Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CalciumCarbonOxygen3. It is a common substance found as Rock in all parts of the world, and is the main component of seashells, snails, and eggshells....
 and magnesium hydroxide
Magnesium hydroxide

Magnesium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Mg2. As a suspension in water, it may be referred to as Milk of Magnesia....
 that are deposited on cathodically protected
Cathodic protection

Cathodic protection is a technique to control the corrosion of a metal surface by making it work as a cathode of an electrochemical cell. This is achieved by placing in contact with the metal to be protected another more easily corroded metal to act as the anode of the electrochemical cell....
 surfaces because of the increased pH
PH

pH is a measure of the Acid or Base of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the Activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations....
 adjacent to the surface.


Calcareous ooze is a form of calcium carbonate derived from planktonic organisms that accumulates on the sea floor. This can only occur if the ocean is shallower than the CCD or carbonate compensation depth (CCD). Below this depth, calcium carbonate begins to dissolve in the ocean, and only non-calcareous sediments are stable, such as siliceous ooze or red clay.