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Factors regulating the distribution of elements in marine sediments predicted by a simulation model

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Abstract

The contents of oxyanionic elements (V, Se and Mo) and cationic transition metals (Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) in sediments from near-shore to deep-sea environments were measured to clarify factors regulating the distribution of these elements in marine sediments. For cationic transition metals of which contents increase from near-shore to deep-sea environments, the chemical composition of pelagic clays is modeled by a mixture of aluminosilicates having the chemical composition of average shale and Fe−Mn oxides having the chemical composition of associated manganese nodules. The content of V is fairly constant in sediments from near-shore to deep-sea areas. The mixture model of average shale and manganese nodules holds also for V, although most of the V is located in the aluminosilicate lattices. The content of Se in the near-shore sediments is higher and that in the deep-sea sediments is lower than that in average shale. The high content in the near-shore sediments is interpreted as the addition of biogenic materials to aluminosilicates with average shale composition and the low content in deep-sea sediments is explained by oxidative release of Se from aluminosilicates. The content of Mo in sediments increases from near-shore to deep-sea environments. The general distribution of Mo in marine sediments is expressed by the mixture model. An anomalously high content of Mo in a near-shore sediment is attributed to adsorption of molybdate on manganese oxides.

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  1. The Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), 351-01, Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan

    Noburu Takematsu

  2. School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University, 424, Shimizu-shi, Shizuoka, Japan

    Yoshio Sato, Yoshihisa Kato & Shiro Okabe

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  1. Noburu Takematsu
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Takematsu, N., Sato, Y., Kato, Y. et al. Factors regulating the distribution of elements in marine sediments predicted by a simulation model. J Oceanogr 49, 425–441 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02234958

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