Salinity: Different organisms have different tolerances for absolute salinity and salinity fluctuations.

Nutrients: All organisms need nutrients to live, grow, and reproduce. These nutrients include organic matter, as well as elements such as calcium, potassium, etc.

Carbonate saturation: The normal marine environment, where most carbonate sediment is generated, is saturated by calcite, high Mg-calcite, and aragonite, of which most marine carbonate particles are composed. In the deep-marine environment, the waters can be undersaturated with respect to these minerals, and if transported into these deep-water environments, the grains will dissolve. The depth below which calcite will dissolve is called “calcite compensation depth” (approximate depth range is 3.5 to 5.5 km), and the depth below which aragonite will dissolve is called “aragonite compensation depth” (approximate depth range is 1.8 to 2.2 km).