Distribution and accumulation rate of ore elements in Holocene and Late Glacial Sediments of the Deryugin Basin,Sea of Okhotsk

Results of the study of contents and accumulation rates of Fe, Mn, and a number of trace elements in Upper Quaternary sediments of the Deryugin Basin are presented. Maps of the average contents and accumulation rates of excess Fe, Mn, Zn, Ba, Ni, Pb, Cu, and Mo in sediments of the first oxygen isotope stage (OIS) have been plotted. Anomalous contents and accumulation rates are confined to peripheral zones of the Deryugin sedimentary basin and large fracture zones. Different mechanisms of the influence of fluid-dynamic processes on the rate of hydrogenic and biogenic accumulation of ore elements are assumed.Translated from Litologiya i Poleznye Iskopaemye, No. 2, 2005, pp. 115–132.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Astakhov, Gorbarenko, Bakhareva, Gretskaya, Sattarova.     

Geochemical characteristics of the surface layer of bottom sediments from the Deryugin Basin, Sea of Okhotsk

This paper reports data, including new analyses, on the contents of Ni, Co, V, Mo, Fe, Mn, Zn, Ba, Sc, Y, Cd, Rb, Cs, and W in the sediments of the Deryugin Basin. The features of the distribution of chemical elements in the bottom area were identified, and the zones of maximum accumulation of the major and trace elements were allocated. A correlation between the elements was shown.     

Manganese metalliferous sediments of the Deryugin Basin (Sea of Okhotsk): Chemical composition and geological setting

This paper reports the results of an investigation of the chemical composition and distribution of manganese-rich metalliferous sediments in the Deryugin Basin. They compose an upper sedimentary layer up to 30 cm thick within a strip up to 40 km wide and 180 km long in the central part of the basin along the East Deryugin suture zone bounding the Deryugin sedimentary basin to the east. The sediments are enriched relative to the regional background composition in Mn (by a factor of 35); Au; Ni; Zn; Co (by a factor of 3–5); and, locally, in Mo, V, Ba, Cu, Pb, and Hg. It was supposed that their formation was controlled by several processes: precipitation of Mn and some other trace elements from hydrothermal plumes of seawater that occasionally form above submarine hot vents in the northern part of the basin, precipitation from anoxic bottom waters at the eastern boundary of the Deryugin sedimentary basin, and early diagenetic migration of Mn into the surface sediments.     

Rare Earth Elements in the Bottom Sediments of the East Arctic Seas of Russia as Indicators of Terrigenous Input

The REE distribution was studied in the bottom sediments of the East Arctic shelf of Russia. It is established that sediments of the Laptev and western East Siberian seas are significantly enriched in REEs, the contents of which are much higher than those of other near-continental basins. The main REE sources are runoff of the Lena River, the basin of which comprises ancient crystalline shields and magmatic rocks enriched in LREEs with significant contribution from the coastal erosion of the ice complex from the Laptev Sea and western East Siberian Sea. The terrigenous flux with a specific REE composition is supplied to the Chukchi Sea through the Bering Strait.     

The REE species and their distribution in ferromanganese crusts in the Sea of Japan

Polished sections of ferromanganese crusts on underwater rises in the Sea of Japan were studied with a JXA8100 microprobe analyser. Mineral phases of REE have been detected. They have Ln₂O₃ chemical composition, where Ln is La–Ce–Pr–Nd, La–Ce–Nd, or, much more rarely, La–Ce and La–Ce–Pr. With regard to the same chemical composition of REE grains in the ore crusts and basalts from Medvedev Volcano, it has been concluded that these REE were supplied during postvolcanic gas–hydrothermal processes.     

Distribution and accumulation rate of Hg in the upper quaternary sediments of the Deryugin Basin,Sea of Okhotsk

The Hg distribution and some mineralogical-geochemical features of bottom sediments up to a depth of 10 m in the Deryugin Basin showed that the high and anomalous Hg contents in the Holocene deposits are confined to a spreading riftogenic structure and separate fluid vents within it. The accumulations of Hg in the the sediments were caused by its fluxes from gas and low-temperature hydrothermal vents under favorable oceanological conditions in the Holocene. The two mainly responsible for the high and anomalous Hg contents are infiltration (fluxes of hydrothermal or gas fluids from the sedimentary cover) and plume (Hg precipitation from water plumes with certain hydrochemical conditions forming above endogenous sources). The infiltration anomalies of Hg were revealed in the following environments: (1) near gas vents on the northeastern Sakhalin slope, where high Hg contents are associated only with Se and were caused by the accumulation of gases ascending from beneath the gas hydrate layer; (2) in the area of inferred occasionally operating low-temperature hydrothermal seeps in the central part of the Deryugin Basin, in which massive barite chimneys, hydrothermal Fe-Mn crusts, and anomalous contents of Mn, Ba, Zn, and Ni in sediments develop.     

Implications of Color and Lightness Characteristics for Lithostratigraphy of Bottom Sediments from the Chukchi Plateau,Arctic Ocean

Marine sediment cores from the Chukchi Plateau are used to demonstrate the efficiency of digital photographic determination of sediment color and lightness, supplemented with the statistically processed data on sediment composition, for lithostratigraphy and paleoreconstructions. Several clusters were established that correspond to brown and gray sediment layers, carbonate-rich beige interlayers and specific segments of unclear lamination and/or lens-like intercalation of brownish and grayish beds. Correlation of the studied cores with other sediment cores from the region with well-established stratigraphy revealed good correspondence (though with certain specific features) to the conventional model of the Late Pleistocene–Holocene sediment accumulation in the offshore Arctic Ocean beyond shelf areas with clearly defined glacial–interglacial cyclicity. It was shown that enhanced red-color component corresponds to the enrichment of the interglacial brown sediment layers with manganese and accompanying elements. Glacial gray layers with enhanced green-color component are enriched in iron, as well as rubidium, vanadium, titanium and yttrium and bear evidence for considerable diagenetic transformations. Blue-color component is related to the high calcium content (carbonate rock fragments) in the carbonate-rich interlayers accumulated during the periods of active disintegration of continental ice sheets and iceberg-rafting of terrigenous lithic fragments. Intermediate values of the studied parameters are likely indicative of specific sedimentation environments.     

First Data on Modern Sedimentation Rates in the Southern Part of the Tatar Strait of the Sea of Japan

Doklady Earth Sciences - The study of natural archives, such as bottom sediments of lakes and seas, is promising for paleoreconstructions due to rapid environmental changes, human impacts, and...