Abstract
In addition to iron and manganese, deep sea ferromanganese deposits, including nodules and crusts, contain significant amounts of economically interesting metals, such as cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), and rare Earth elements and yttrium (REY). Some of these metals are essential in the development of emerging and new-generation green technologies. However, the resource potential of these deposits is variable, and likely related to environmental conditions that prevail as they form. To better assess the environmental controls on the resource potential of ferromanganese deposits, we have undertaken a detailed study of the chemical composition of ferromanganese nodules and one crust sample from different oceanic regions. Textural and chemical characteristics of nodules from the North Atlantic and a crust from the South Pacific suggest that they acquire metals from a hydrogenous source. These deposits are potentially an economically important source of Co and the REY. On the other hand, nodules from the Pacific Ocean represent a marginal resource of these metals, due to their relatively fast growth rate caused by diagenetic precipitation. By contrast, they have relatively high concentrations of Ni and Cu. A nodule from the Arctic Ocean is characterised by the presence of significant quantities of detrital silicate material, which significantly reduces their metal resource.
Highlights
Marine ferromanganese deposits, including polymetallic nodules and crusts, are important resources of metals such as Co, Ni, Cu, Mo, Li, and Te, as well as the rare Earth elements and yttrium (REY) [1]
Our LA-ICP-MS analyses indicate that the chemical composition of the crust and nodules is heterogeneous, and factor analysis shows that individual deposits can acquire metals and REYs from a variety of different sources, including seawater, sediment pore waters, and aluminosilicate material
Based on the relative abundances of Mn, Fe, and Ni + Cu + Co [40], the ferromanganese crust and nodules from the Atlantic Ocean mainly acquire metals from seawater, whereas different layers within the nodules from the Pacific Ocean acquire metals either from seawater or sediment pore waters (Figure 9), which would not be apparent from measurements of their bulk chemical composition
Summary
Marine ferromanganese deposits, including polymetallic nodules and crusts, are important resources of metals such as Co, Ni, Cu, Mo, Li, and Te, as well as the rare Earth elements and yttrium (REY) [1]. Crusts contain relatively high concentrations of platinum [2,3], as well as smaller amounts of Rh, Ru, Os, Pd, and Ir. Ferromanganese deposits are distributed throughout the world’s ocean basins, but their chemical and mineralogical compositions and, their resource potential, can be variable (e.g., [2,3,4,5,6,7]). Ferromanganese crusts usually form on the top and slopes of seamounts, ridges, and plateaus. Both types of deposits have a complex internal structure, and some can form extremely slowly
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