Rare earth elements and yttrium in ferromanganese deposits from the South China Sea: distribution, composition and resource considerations |
| |
| Authors: | ZHONG Yi CHEN Zhong GONZALEZ Francisco Javier ZHENG Xufeng LI Gang LUO Yun MO Aibin XU Antao WANG Shuhong |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1.Key Laboratory of Ocean and Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Guangzhou,China;2.Department of Marine Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology of China,Shenzhen,China;3.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,China;4.Geological Survey of Spain (IGME),Madrid,Spain |
| |
| Abstract: | Ferromanganese nodules and crusts contain relatively high concentration of rare earth elements (REE) and yttrium (REY), with a growing interest in exploitation as an alternative to land-based REY resources. On the basis of comprehensive geochemical approach, the abundance and distribution of REY in the ferromanganese nodules from the South China Sea are analyzed. The results indicate that the REY contents in ferromanganese deposits show a clear geographic regularity. Total REY contents range from 69.1×10–6 to 2 919.4×10–6, with an average value of 1 459.5×10–6. Especially, the enrichment rate of Ce content is high, accounting for almost 60% of the total REY. This REE enrichment is controlled mainly by the sorption of ferromanganese oxides and clay minerals in the nodules and crusts. Moreover, the total REY are higher in ferromanganese deposits of hydrogenous origin than of diagenetic origin. Finally, Light REE (LREE) and heavy REE (HREE) oxides of the ferromanganese deposits in the study area can be classified into four grades: non-enriched type, weakly enriched type, enriched type, and extremely enriched type. According to the classification criteria of rare earth resources, the Xisha and Zhongsha platform-central deep basin areas show a great potential for these rare earth metals. |
| |
| Keywords: | ferromanganese deposits rare earth elements and yttrium abundance characteristics controlling factors potential source South China Sea |
| 本文献已被 CNKI SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
| 点击此处可从《海洋学报(英文版)》浏览原始摘要信息 |
|
点击此处可从《海洋学报(英文版)》下载全文 |
|
