Radiolarian skeletons: solution at depths.

Radiolarian skeletons were placed at several depths on the taut mooring wire of a buoy in the central Pacific for 4 months. Recent radiolarian sediment dissolved at appreciable rates at depths shallower than 2000 meters; solution was greatest near the surface and decreased with depth. This pattern correlates with bathymetric distributions of dissolved silicon and of temperature. Siliceous Radiolaria from planktonic samples appeared to dissolve about eight times faster than those from sediment. Tripyleans seemed to be less resistant than polycystins. Acantharia dissolved completely at all depths.