Rivers and submarine hydrothermal emanations supply 6.1 × 10 g SiO yr to the marine environment. Approximately two-thirds of this silica input is stored in continental margin and deep-sea deposits. Siliceous deep-sea sediments located beneath the Antarctic Convergence (convergence zone) host some 25% of the silica supplied to the oceans (i.e. 1.6 × 10 g SiO yr) and consequently form one of Earth's major silica sinks. The highest biogenic silica accumulation rates in this area are observed in the South Atlantic, with values as large as 53 cm.kyr during the last 18,000 yr. Further, extensive biogenic silica accumulation has been recorded in the deep-sea sediments of the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and Subarctic North Pacific. Total biogenic silica accumulation rates in these regions amounts nearly 0.6 × 10 g SiO yr, which is equivalent to 10% of the dissolved silica input to the oceans.
Continental margin upwelling areas, such as the Gulf of California, the Peru and Chile coast, are characteristic for some of the highest biogenic silica accumulation rates in the world. For example, biogenic silica accumulation rates of 69 g SiO/cm/kyr have been reported for the Gulf of California. Due to the laterally confined character of these rapid biogenic silica accumulation zones, upwelling areas solely account for approximately 5% of the dissolved silica supplied to the oceans. At last, extremely low biogenic silica accumulation rates have been observed in the extensive deep-sea deposits of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, rendering these oceans insignificant for the global marine silica budget.