Significant contribution of subseafloor microparticles to the global manganese budget.

ABSTRACT: Ferromanganese minerals are widely distributed in subseafloor sediments and on the seafloor in oceanic abyssal plains. Assessing their input, formation and preservation is important for understanding the global marine manganese cycle and associated trace elements. However, the extent of ferromanganese minerals buried in subseafloor sediments remains unclear. Here we show that abundant (108-109 particles cm-3) micrometer-scale ferromanganese mineral particles (Mn-microparticles) are found in the oxic pelagic clays of the South Pacific Gyre (SPG) from the seafloor to the ~100 million-year-old sediments above the basement. Three-dimensional micro-texture, and major and trace element compositional analyses revealed that these Mn-microparticles consist of poorly crystalline ferromanganese oxide

SUBMITTER: Uramoto GI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6365551 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature