The nature and composition of the acid-insoluble residue and hydrolysate fraction of manganese nodules from selected areas in the equatorial and S.W. Pacific

Abstract

The composition of the acid-insoluble residue and hydrolysate fraction of manganese nodules along an equatorial Pacific transect between 16°30′N and 20°S at 134°W (including the Aitutaki Passage) as well as the Peru Basin has been determined. Variations in the average % acid-insoluble residue of the nodules along the transect are observed but are not sufficient to account for the variations in the bulk element compositions of the nodules. Variations in nodule composition between the equatorial Pacific high productivity zone and the S.W. Pacific low productivity zone therefore reflect genuine differences in the composition of the authigenic phase (hydrolysate fraction) of the nodules and not merely dilution by lithogenous material. X-ray diffraction analyses of the acid-insoluble residue of the nodules are not incompatible with a volcanic origin for this material. Barite is found in the acid-insoluble residue of nodules from the equatorial high productivity zone and is a host mineral for barium in these nodules. In the hydrolysate fraction of the nodules, high Mn/Fe rations and high Ni, Cu and Zn contents of the nodules are most pronounced in a fairly narrow band about 500 km wide on the margins on either side of the equatorial high productivity zone. The influence of biogenic processes (i.e. thein situ dissolution of siliceous tests in the sediment column) appears to be the main factor controlling this process. The enrichment sequence of elements in nodules due to this process lies in the approximate sequence Cu>Ni>Zn> Mn. Cu is therefore the most biogenically enriched element in nodules in the equatorial regions. The biogenic supply of Cu is about 5.5 times that of seawater in the zone of maximum productivity. Both the Mn/Fe and Cu/Ni ratios of the nodules vary systematically across the equator. Examinations of pre-existing data show that nodules from beneath the low productivity subtropical anticyclonic gyres of both the central North and South Pacific are characterized by Mn/Fe ratios of the order of unity and low Ni+Cu contents. The compositions of nodules in the North and South Pacific therefore appear to some extent to be mirror images of one another. Manganese crusts appear to be quite distinct from nodules in both their % acid-insoluble residue and composition of the hydrolysate fraction.