EFFECT OF LIVING ORGANISMS ON THE GRAIN SIZE AND MINERALOGICAL PROPERTIES OF SANDY SEDIMENTS

Abstract

The authors conducted an experiment under conditions corresponding closely to natural conditions, for the purpose of ascertaining possible changes induced in the grain size and mineralogy of sandy material by organisms and their metabolic products. Study conclusions indicate that under the influence of living organisms (and possibly also the products of their metabolite activity), sandy sediments on the floors of water bodies covered with vegetation may undergo large decreases in grain size and changes in the ratios of their main constituents. This occurs instantaneously (in one year), in terms of the geologic time scale.