Geochemical Fractal Characteristics of Deep-Sea REE-Rich Sediments in the Western Pacific

Abstract

At present, the challenge for geochemical prospecting of deep-sea, rare, earth-rich sediments is the selection of exploration sites. Because of the unpredictability of offshore operations, the distribution and selection of survey line stations face great challenges. In this paper, we study the fact that the concentration distribution of geochemistry in space may be a part of a special complex process, which is called the multifractal. It requires a large number of indexes to characterize its scale characteristics. Based on the multifractal spectrum, 38 geochemical indices in the Pigafetta Basin region of the western Pacific Ocean are divided into three categories. The three indexes are distinguished by the multifractal parameters. The results of multifractals are in good agreement with those of the cluster analysis and principal component analysis. In addition, on the basis of principal component analysis, we further used the multifractal filtering method to extract element anomalies and delineate element enrichment regions. The first principal component clearly represents the potential element enrichment area. The spatial analysis technique and multifractal method proposed in the paper provide a new idea for geochemical prospecting of deep-sea, rare, earth-rich sediments.