The Ocean Bottom 29 
mal or plant which predominates in the surface layers of the 
ocean, the oozes on the ocean floor will be of different kinds. 
Ordinarily we recognize four varieties of ooze: Diatom ooze; 
Globigerina ooze, Pteropod ooze and Radiolarian ooze. It 
is unfortunate that such little creatures should have such big 
names. It seems to be the way of the biological world—but 
even though they are Greek to most ordinary mortals, such 
terms are quite descriptive to the biologist. They are pro- 
nounced as follows: 
Diatom: “DIet is A cruelty to the sTOMach.” 
Globigerina: “GLOBal strategy Is to keep GERmany IN 
An unarmed state.” 
Pteropod: “TEAR Old peas from the PODs.” 
Radiolarian: “RADIO, tooL of the totalitARIAN!” 
These, then, are the creatures who, when alive, frolic and 
swim through all the seven seas, and who, when overtaken 
by old age and death, fall to the ocean bottom to become part 
of the eternal ooze. 
Diatoms are microscopic plants abounding in the polar 
seas. They develop delicate cases of silica—the same sub- 
stance of which sand and quartz are made. When the tiny 
diatoms die the plant tissue soon decays, but the silica cases 
are made of tougher stuff and fall slowly to the bottom to 
form diatom ooze. Diatom ooze is predominant on the floor of 
the Antarctic Ocean and also is found in a narrow belt south 
of the Aleutians extending from Canada to Northern Japan. 
Radiolarians are minute animals with very intricate skele- 
tons of silica; their accumulated skeletons make up the ra- 
diolarian ooze which predominates in the tropical regions of 
the eastern portions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. 
Both diatom and radiolarian oozes are made of silica. Ani- 
