Tracking the spatiotemporal variations of statistically independent components involving enrichment of rare-earth elements in deep-sea sediments.

ABSTRACT: Deep-sea sediments have attracted much attention as a promising resource for rare-earth elements and yttrium (REY). In this study, we show statistically independent components characterising REY-enrichment in the abyssal ocean that are decoded by Independent Component Analysis of a multi-elemental dataset of 3,968 bulk sediment samples from 101 sites in the Pacific and Indian oceans. This study for the first time reconstructs the spatiotemporal variations of the geochemical signatures, including hydrothermal, hydrogenous, and biogenic calcium phosphate components that were closely involved in the formation of REY-rich mud over the past 65 million years. An underlying key factor of significant REY-enrichment is a sufficiently low sedimentation rate that enables the mud to accumulate REY fro

SUBMITTER: Yasukawa K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4957207 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature