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Metal-enriched sediments from the TAG Hydrothermal Field

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Abstract

A SERIES of sediment samples from the TAG Hydrothermal Field1 have been collected and analysed for transition metals, and for uranium and thorium isotopes. We show here that metal enrichment of sediment samples is ubiquitous, but geographically variable. Non-detrital metal accumulation rates in one core are Fe and Mn 15.0 and 0.7 mg cm−2 10−3 yr; and Ni, 180; Co, 93; Cu, 134; and Cr, 148 µg cm−2 10−3yr. The hydrothermal field is located on the eastern wall of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Rift Valley at 26°N and covers ∼100 km2. It is characterised by extensive deposits of thick, rapidly growing MnO2 (ref. 2) and by a magnetic low in the axial anomaly1.

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SCOTT, M., SCOTT, R., MORSE, J. et al. Metal-enriched sediments from the TAG Hydrothermal Field. Nature 276, 811–813 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/276811a0

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