[3] LSi can either be accumulated "directly" in marine sediments as clastic particles or be transferred into dissolved silica (DSi) in the water column.
Eolian LSi can also accumulate in the atmosphere and fall as rain dust, a phenomenon in which raindrops contain macroscopic amounts of sediment.
[8] Seafloor inputs, including hydrothermal vents and low-temperature dissolution of basalt and other terrigenous marine sediments, represent considerable sources of lithogenic DSi.
[8] High-temperature fluids leach silicon from the oceanic crust as they rise toward the seafloor, accumulating great amounts of DSi.
More recent experiments adding lithogenic sediments (including clay, shale, basalt, and sand) to the calculation gave values of 1.9 ± 0.7 Tmol Si year−1.
A 2019 study proposed that, in the surf zone of beaches, wave action disturbed abiotic sand grains and dissolved them over time.