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Sedimentary manganese (Mn) deposits in the southeastern Yangtze Platform of China have been newly discovered with considerable potential for resource exploration. Such deposits formed due to dynamic changes in the global environment, including the break-up of the supercontinent Rodinia, Snowball Earth glaciation, and the Neoproterozoic Oxygenation Event. The Mn-bearing sequences are hosted in the basal Datangpo Formation and are interbedded with black carbonaceous shale in a series of graben sub-basins in the Nanhua Rift Basin. We investigated the origin of these Mn deposits by analysing the major and trace elements, total organic carbon, and stable carbon and oxygen isotopes. Positive Eu anomalies were observed, indicating that the Mn was derived from a hydrothermal system. Redox-related elements, including Ce, Mo, U, V, S, and P, indicated that the depositional environment of the Mn layers was oxidative and that Mn2+ was initially oxidized to Mn oxides. However, the host rock (i.e. black carbonaceous shale) was deposited under dysoxic – anoxic and even sulfidic water conditions. The alternating distribution of Mn ore and host rock suggested alternating redox conditions in the sub-basins. A negative correlation between the Mn content and δ13Ccarb values (−10‰–−7‰) and a deficiency of sulphide minerals indicate that the diagenetic degradation of organic matter (δ13Corg from − 34‰ to − 31.9‰) took place through Mn oxide reduction rather than microbial sulphate reduction and can contribute to a considerable source of bicarbonates. The approximately homogeneous δ13Ccarb depletion and their apparent discrepancy with δ13Corg indicate that the post-depositional genesis of the Mn carbonate ore occurred in a relatively open early diagenetic pore water system with a considerable contribution from seawater-derived carbon sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferromanganese nodules are a potential energy resource because of their high contents of economically interesting elements (i.e. Mn, Ni, Cu, and Zn). These are higher in diagenetic layers than in hydrogenetic layers. The study of the causes of elemental accumulation in the diagenetic layer is useful for the exploration metal-rich nodules. A diagenetic-dominant ferromanganese nodule, from the central Clarion–Clipperton Fracture Zone of the eastern Pacific Ocean was studied from core to rim. It was divided into four layers and seven sublayers, of the four typical diagenetic sublayers (L1, L2-1, L2-2, and L3-1). Differences were observed in these diagenetic sublayers. L1 presents the highest Mn/Fe ratio (54), the lowest Co content (2262 ppm), and a positive Ce anomaly. L2-1 exhibits high Co (3122 ppm) and Ba contents (4020 ppm), a positive Ce anomaly, and an obvious peak for 10 Å manganate minerals. L2-2 contains the lowest Ni+Cu contents (3.2 wt%), the highest Ba and Co contents (5110 ppm), and the strongest positive Ce anomaly. In L2-2, the δCe value can be positively correlated to the Mn/Fe ratio and a pronounced peak for 10 Å manganate minerals indicates that this layer has the highest mineral crystallinity. L3-1 shows the highest Ni+Cu contents (5.4 wt%), the lowest Ba (1247ppm), and Co (1725 ppm), a weakly positive Ce anomaly, and the poorest mineral crystallization. Diagenetic- and hydrogenetic-endmember mixing models reveal that hydrogenetic input contributes minimally to these chemical changes, whereas diagenetic input contributes greatly. The changes in diagenetic input may be caused by the changes in primary productivity brought about by movement of tectonic plates and the intense activity of the diagenetic pore fluid. The activity may provide a metal source for the diagenetic sublayer (anomalously high Co and Ce content) via the incorporation of metals released from dissolved buried nodules and micronodules under a suboxic or reducing environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbonate recycling in subduction zones has a strong influence on arc magmatism and carbon reservoirs in the mantle. However, geochemical evidence of carbonate recycling during subduction, especially at sub-arc depths, is rare and the related process is poorly understood. In this study, we document high-Mg olivines (81–91 mol.% forsterite) with extremely low Ni concentrations (mostly <600 ppm), which occur in host dacites recovered from the southwestern Okinawa Trough (SWOT). The temperature–pressure of crystallization had a negligible effect on the Ni contents of the olivines, and reactions between primary basaltic magmas and the lithospheric mantle were also insignificant. Small sulphide droplets are present in the olivines, which suggest that sulphide–silicate melt immiscibility occurred during the early stages of magmatic evolution. Although early segregation of sulphide melts could reduce the Ni contents of the primitive magmas, our forward modelling suggests that sulphide segregation cannot solely explain the low Ni contents. Therefore, the most likely explanation for low Ni concentrations is the interaction between Ca-rich carbonate melts and the mantle wedge, forming an olivine-rich mantle source by consumption of orthopyroxene, as indicated by the extremely low Ni/Mg and high Ca/Fe ratios of magmatic olivines. Given that the SWOT is located just ~100 km above the Wadati–Benioff zone, our results provide rare evidence for carbonate recycling at sub-arc depths in an active subduction zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The northern Lau back-arc basin (NLB) lavas display a diverse geochemical nature caused by complex geological processes in this region. Independent component (IC) analysis was applied to investigate the nature of mantle sources in the NLB, based on a compiled geochemical data set from the NLB, central-southern Lau Basin (C-SLB), Pacific and Indian Ocean ridges, and Samoan islands. We identified three ICs in the five-dimensional space of Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic ratios, which can account for 96.5% of the isotopic variance. The correlations between the ICs and the incompatible trace elements ratios were further used to examine the origin of these ICs. The first IC (IC1) separates Samoan islands (IC1 < −1) from the other groups, and shows negative correlation with (La/Sm)N ratios. The second IC (IC2) discriminates mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) from Pacific (IC2 > 0) and Indian (IC2 < 0) Ocean ridges as well as the C-SLB (IC2 > 0) and NLB (IC2 < 0) lavas. IC2 correlates positively with Ba/Th ratios. The third IC (IC3) distinguishes MORBs (IC3 > 0) and back-arc basin lavas (IC3 < 0), and displays a negative correlation with Th/Nb values. On a regional scale in the NLB, there is a broad increase in IC1, IC2, and IC3 from the north to the south. Only IC3 presents obvious decrease from the west to the east, i.e. with decreasing distance from the arc. The geochemical nature and the statistical properties of these ICs suggest that IC1 is related to an enriched mantle component most likely from the nearby Samoan plume, and the IC2 corresponds to a fluid-rich component from the subducting Pacific slab. The IC3 may represent partial melt of recycled subducted sediment or recycled continental crustal materials. The geographic distribution of three ICs supports that the relatively recent mixing of Samoan plume materials with the subduction-metasomatized back-arc mantle may be responsible for the observed geochemical diversity in NLB lavas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lipid biomarkers were investigated to reveal the microbial life preserved in sulfide and Si-rich chimney from the 49.6°E hydrothermal vent field. In sulfide chimney, iso-/anteiso-fatty acids and H-shaped glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers are the main microbial biomarkers. In Si-rich chimney, monounsaturated fatty acids (C16:1n7, C18:1n7) are the main bacterial biomarkers detected, and crenarchaeol and its isomer are relatively abundant (up to 25% of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers) archaeol biomarkers. Composition of lipid biomarkers reveals the diversity of microbial communities in different types of chimney structures. Sulfate-reducing bacteria and hyperthermophilic archaea were considered to be the majority microbial life in sulfide chimney, and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria were abundant in Si-rich chimney while archaea in Si-rich chimney and mainly attributed to Thaumarchaeota, which were predominately ammonia oxidizers. Our result suggested that fluid temperature and gaseous components could be the main constraints for the diversity of microbial communities in hydrothermal chimney structures in 49.6°E hydrothermal vent field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sound refraction artifacts are often present in multibeam swath bathymetry data. For a flat array, the artifacts are usually more serious in outer beams than in inner beams. In a 3D topographical mapping they appear as ridges that parallel the tracks of the vessel. To shorten the survey time, the outer beams should be utilized as often as possible. Therefore, the refraction errors should be removed. In this paper, we present a model of reduced sound speed profile that consists of three water layers. The sound speed of the two upper layers has a constant gradient, and the third layer has the same sound speed as the most bottom measured layer. The model parameters can be searched based on the principle of the minimum difference of depth between the overlap of two neighboring swaths. The horizontal position and depth of each beam can be accordingly recalculated using the model parameters. To avoid being trapped in local optimum, the initial search scope is limited according to assumed lunch angle and travel time in each subregion. The method is verified by comparing the simulated and real data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]