Abstract
Deep-sea sediments enriched in rare earth elements and yttrium (REY) are gaining interest as new sources of REY. The northwestern Pacific is considered as one of the most promising regions with high REY resource potential; however, information on this region outside of the Japanese exclusive economic zone around Minamitorishima is limited. This study aimed to perform bulk chemical analyses on ten sediment cores obtained from the Ogasawara Fracture Zone, and Eastern Mariana and Pigafetta basins in northwestern Pacific. A noticeable peak of total REY content (∑REY) > 1600 ppm was found in a core, indicating the possible distribution of highly REY-enriched mud in the area; moreover, the low sedimentation rate in this region, resulting from a water depth of 6000 m, is also favorable for the development of REY-rich mud. Correlations between elemental concentrations and shale-normalized REY patterns strongly suggest that REY enrichment is primarily associated with biogenic calcium phosphates. The downcore profiles of ∑REY content were not consistent in the depths and the number of REY-enriched layers among the studied cores, presumably affected by core penetration depth, supply of detrital materials from nearby topographic highs and physical erosion by bottom currents. Our results provide a better understanding of the REY-rich mud properties and its distribution in the deep-sea sediments of these regions of the northwestern Pacific.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data generated during this study are included in this published article (supplementary file).
References
Abbott AN, Lohr S, Trethewy M (2019) Are clay minerals the primary control on the oceanic rare earth element budget? Front Mar Sci 6:504. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00504
Bryant CJ, Arculus RJ, Eggins SM (2003) The geochemical evolution of the Izu-Bonin arc system: a perspective from tephras revoereed by deep-sea drilling. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 4(11):1094. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002GC000427
Deng Y, Ren J, Guo Q, Cao J, Wang H, Liu C (2017) Rare earth element geochemistry characteristics of seawater man porewater from deep sea in western Pacific. Sci Rep 7(1):1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-16379-1
Dubinin AV, Rimskaya-Korsakova MN (2011) Geochemistry of rare earth elements in bottom sediments of the Brazil Basin, Atlatic Ocean. Lithol Miner Resour 46:1–16. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0024490211010032
Dubinin AV, Rozanov AG (2001) Geochemistry of rare earth elements and thorium in sediments and ferromanganese nodules of the Atlantic Ocean. Lithol Miner Resour 36:268–279. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010485510346
Dunlea AG, Murray RW, Sauvage J, Spivack AJ, Harris RN, D’Hondt S (2015) Dust, volcanic ash, and the evolution of the South Pacific Gyre through the Cenozoic. Paleoceanography 30(8):1078–1099. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015PA002829
Fujinaga K, Yasukawa K, Nakamura K, Mahida S, Takaya Y, Ohta J, Araki S, Liu H, Usami R, Maki R, Haraguchi S, Nishio Y, Usui Y, Nozaki T, Yamazaki T, Ichiyama Y, Ijiri A, Inagaki F, Machiyama H, Iijima K, Suzuki K, Kato Y (2016) Geochemistry of REY-rich mud in th Japanese exclusive economic zone around Minamitorishima island. Geochem J 50:575–590. https://doi.org/10.2343/geochemj.2.0432
Humphries M (2010) Rare earth elements: the global supply chain. CRS Report for Congress R41347, Washington DC, p 27. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41347
Iijima K, Yasukawa K, Fujinaga K, Nakamura K, Machida S, Takaya Y (2016) Discovery of extremely REY-rich mud in the western North Pacific Ocean. Geochem J 50(6):557–573. https://doi.org/10.2343/geochemj.2.0431
Juan C, Van Rooij D, De Bruycker W (2018) An assessment of bottom current controlled sedimentation in Pacific Ocean abyssal environments. Mar Geol 403:20–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2018.05.001
Jung H-S, Choi M-S, Kim D, Cha H-J, Lee K-Y (1998) Geochemistry of rare earth elements in two-color core sediments from the Korea Deep Ocean Study (KODOS)-90 sie, NE equatorial Pacific. Geochem J 32:281–299. https://doi.org/10.2343/geochemj.32.281
Kashiwabara T, Toda R, Nakamura K, Yasukawa K, Fujinaga K, Kubo S (2018) Synchrotron X-ray spectroscopic perspective on the formation mechanism of REY-rich muds in the Pacific Ocean. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 240:274–929. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.08.013
Kato Y, Fujinaga K, Nakamura K, Takaya Y, Kitamura K, Ohta J (2011) Deep-sea mud in the Pacific Ocean as a potential resource for rare-earth elements. Nature Geosci 4(8):535–539. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1185
Kennett JP, Watkins ND (1975) Deep-sea erosion and manganese nodule development in the southeast indian ocean. Science 188(4192):1011–1013. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.188.4192.1011
Kennett JP, Watkins ND (1976) Regional deep-sea dynamic processes reorded by late Cenozoic sediments of the southeastern Indian Ocean. Geol Soc Am Bull 87(3):321–339. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1976)87%3c321:RDDPRB%3e2.0.CO;2
Kim MG, Hyeong K, Yoo CM (2022) Distribution of rare earth elements and yttrium in sediments from the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, northeastern Pacific Ocean. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 23:e2022GC010454. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010454
Kynicky J, Smith MP, Xu C (2012) Diversity of rare earth deposits: the key example of China. Elements 8(5):361–367. https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.8.5.361
Lancelot Y, Larson L (1990) Site 800. Ocean Drilling Program, College Station. https://doi.org/10.2973/odp.proc.ir.129.102.1990
Lee TG, Lee K, Hein JR, Moon JW (2009) Geophysical investigation of seamounts near the Ogasawara Fracture Zone, western Pacific. Earth Planet Space 107:563–576. https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352914
Liao J, Sun X, Wu Z, Sa R, Guan Y, Lu Y (2019) Fe-Mn (oxyhydr)oxides as an indicator of REY enrichment in deep-sea sediments from the central North Pacific. Ore Geol Rev 112:03044. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2019.103044
Liu Y, Jing Y, Zhao W (2023) Distribution of rare earth earth elements and implication for Ce anomalies in the clay-sized minerals of deep-sea sediment. Western Pacific Ocean Appl Clay Sci 235:106876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2023.106876
Matsuoka A (1992) Jurassic and Early Cretaceous radiolarians from ODP Leg 129, Sites 800 and 801, western Pacific Ocean. Ocean Drilling Program, College Station
McCave IN, Machida S, Robinson SG (1995) Sortable silt and fine sediment size/composition slicing: parameters for palaeocurrent speed and palaeoceanography. Paleoceanography 10(3):593–610. https://doi.org/10.1029/94PA03039
Menendez A, James RH, Roberts S, Peel K, Connelly D (2017) Controls on the distribution of rare earth elements in deep-sea sediments in the North Atlantic Ocean. Ore Geol Rev 87:100–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2016.09.036
Milinovic J, Rodrigues FJL, Barriga FJAS, Murton BJ (2021) Ocean-floor sediments as a resource of rare earth elements: an overview of recently studied sites. Minerals 11(2):142. https://doi.org/10.3390/min11020142
Milliman JD, Syvitski JPM (1992) Geomorphic/Tectonic control of sediments discharge to the ocean: the importance of small mountainous rivers. J Geol 91:1–21
Nakanishi M, Tamaki K, Kobayashi K (1992) Magnetic anomaly lineations from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Geophys J Int 109(3):701–719. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.1992.tb00126.x
Ohta J, Yasukawa K, Machida S, Fujinaga K, Nakamura K, Takaya Y (2016) Geological factors resposible for REY-rich mud in the western North Pacific Ocean: implications from mineralogy and grain size distributions. Geochem J 50(6):591–603. https://doi.org/10.2343/geochemj.2.0435
Pattan JN, Rao CM, Higgs NC, Colley S, Parthiban G (1995) Distribution of major, trace and rare-earth elements in surface sediments of the Wharton Basin, Indian Ocean. Chem Geol 121(1–4):201–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2541(94)00112-L
Paul SA, Volz JB, Bau M, Köster M, Kasten S, Koschinsky A (2019) Calcium phosphate control of REY patterns of silliceous-ooze-rich deep-sea sediments from the central equatorial Pacific. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 251:56–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2019.02.019
Paytan A, McLaughlin K (2007) The oceanic phosphorus cycle. Chem Rev 107:563–576. https://doi.org/10.1021/cr0503613
Plank T, Langmuir CH (1998) The chemical composition of subducting sediment and its consequences for the crust and mantle. Chem Geol 145:325–394. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2541(97)00150-2
Ren JB, Yao HQ, Zhu KC, He GW, Deng XG, Wang HF (2015) Enrichment mechansm of rare earth elements and yttrium in deep-sea mud of Clarion-Clipperton Region. Earth Sci Front 22(4):200–211. https://doi.org/10.13745/j.esf.2015.04.021.html
Ren J, He G, Zhu K, Deng X, Liu J, Fu P (2017) REY-rich phosphate and its effects on the deep-sea mud mineralization (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Geol Sin 91(6):1312–1325. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.0001-5717.2017.06.011
Ren JB, Liu Y, Wang FL, He GW, Deng XG, Wei ZQ, Yao HQ (2021) Mechanism and influencing factors of REY enrichmet in deep-sea sediments. Minerals 11(2):196. https://doi.org/10.3390/min11020196
Robertson AHF, Kutterolf S, Avery A, Baxter AT, Petronotis K, Acton GD (2018) Depositional setting, provenance, and tectonic-volcanic setting of Eocene-Recent deep-sea sediments of the oceanic Izu-Bonin forearc, northwest Pacific (IODP Expedition 352). Int Geol Rev 60(15):1816–1854. https://doi.org/10.1080/00206814.2017.1393634
Rudnick RL, Gao S (2014) Composition of the continental crust. In: Holland HD, Turekian KK (eds) Treatise on geochemistry. Elsevier, pp 1–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-095975-7.00301-6
Seo I, Lee YI, Yoo CM, Kim HJ, Hyeong K (2014) Sr-Nd isotope composition and clay mineral assemblages in eolian dust from the central Philippine Sea over the last 600 kyr: implications for the transport mechanism of Asian dust. J Geophys Res-Atmos 119(19):11492–11504. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD022025
Simandl GJ (2014) Geology and market-dependent significance of rare-earth element resources. Miner Deposita 49:889–904. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-014-0546-z
Takaya Y, Yasukawa K, Kawasaki T, Fujinaga K, Ohta J, Usui Y (2018) The tremendous potential of deep-sea mud as a source of rare-earth elements. Sci Rep 8(1):1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-23948-5
Takebe M (2005) Carriers of rare earth elements in Pacific deep-sea sediments. J Geol 113:201–215. https://doi.org/10.1086/427669
Tanaka E, Nakamura K, Ysukawa K, Mimura K, Fujinaga K, Iijima K (2020a) Chemostratigraphy of deep-sea sediments in the western North Pacific Ocean: implications for genesis of mud highly enriched in rare-earth elements and yttrium. Ore Geol Rev 119:103392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2020.103392
Tanaka E, Nakamura K, Yasukawa K, Mimura K, Fujinaga K, Ohta J, Iijima K, Nozaki T, Machida S, Kato Y (2020b) Chemostratigraphic correlations of deep-sea sediments in the western north Pacific Ocean: a new constraint on the distribution of mud highly enriched in rare-earth elements. Minerals 10(6):575. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10060575
US Geological Survey (2013) Mineral commodity summaries 2013. US Goverment Printing Office, Washington DC, p 198
Wang FL, He GW, Sun XM, Yang Y, Zhao TP (2016) The host of REE+Y elements in deep-sea sediments from the Pacific Ocean. Acta Pet Sin 32:2057–2068
Wessel P, Kroenke W (1997) A geometric technique for relocating hotspots and refining absolute plate motions. Nature 387:365–369. https://doi.org/10.1038/387365a0
Yasukawa K, Liu H, Fujinaga K, Machida S, Haraguchi S, Ishii T (2014) Geochemistry and mineralogy of REY-rich mud in the eastern Indian Ocean. J Asian Earth Sci 93:25–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2014.07.005
Yasukawa K, Nakamura K, Fujinaga K, Iwamori H, Kato Y (2016) Tracking the spatiotemporal variations of statistically independent components involving enrichment of rare-earth elements in deep-sea sediments. Sci Rep 6(1):1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep29603
Yasukawa K, Ohta J, Mimura K, Tanaka E, Takaya Y, Usui Y (2018) A new and prospective resource for scandium; evidence from the geochemistry of deep-sea sediment in the western North Pacific Ocean. Ore Geol Rev 102:260–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2018.09.001
Yasukawa K, Ohta J, Miyazaki T, Vaglarov BS, Chang Q, Ueki K (2019) Statistic and isotopic characterization of deep-sea sediments in the western North Pacific Ocean: implications for genesis of the sediment extremely enriched in rare earth elements. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 20(7):3402–3430. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008214
Yasukawa K, Kino S, Azami K, Tanaka E, Mimura K, Ohta J (2020) Geochemical features of Fe-Mn micronodules in deep-sea sediments of the western North Pacific Ocean: potential for co-product metal extraction from REY-rich mud. Ore Geol Rev 127:103805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2020.103805
Zhou L, Kyte FT (1992) Sedimentation history of the South Pacific pelagic clay province over the last 85 million years inferred from the geochemistry of Deep Sea Drilling Project Hole 596. Paleoceanography 7:441–465. https://doi.org/10.1029/92PA01063
Zhou T, Shi X, Huang M, Yu M, Bi D, Ren X, Yang G, Zhu A (2020) The influence of hydrothermal fluids on the REY-rich deep-sea sediments in the Yupanqui Basin, eastern south Pacific Ocean: constraints from bulk sediment Geochemistry and mineralogical characteristics. Minerals 10(12):141. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10121141
Acknowledgements
We thank the crew and shipboard scientists of KIOST for their assistance with the study. We also appreciate the editors and anonymous reviewers for their constructive and thoughtful comments that improved the quality of this manuscript. This research was part of the project titled ‘Selection of prospective mining area for Co-rich ferromanganese crust in western Pacific seamounts: 3-D resource estimation and environmental impact evaluation’, funded by the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Grant Number 20220509) and the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology project (Grant Numbers PE0123 and PE0124).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Lee, J., Kim, M.G. & Hyeong, K. Distribution of REY-Rich Mud in Deep-Sea Sediments from the Magellan Seamount Trail Zone in the Northwestern Pacific. Ocean Sci. J. 59, 13 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12601-024-00137-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12601-024-00137-2