Internal precipitation of microcrystalline carbonate: a fundamental problem for sedimentologists

Recent studies of submarine lithification have shown that microcrystalline carbonate or carbonate mud, traditionally thought to represent ooze deposited in quiet water, commonly forms as an internal precipitate below the sediment-water interface. This internally precipitated micrite alters the mud/grain ratio of pre-existing sedimentary deposits and invalidates classifications that relate the amount of micrite matrix in limestones to the degree of water energy associated with the environment of deposition.