Cu-Zn isotope compositions of hydrothermal sediments from the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge: implications to the sediment formation and mineral exploration

Baoju YANG; Lianhua HE; Chuanshun LI; Qiannan HU; Bingfu JIN; Jihua LIU

doi:10.1007/s00343-024-3209-7

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Cu-Zn isotope compositions of hydrothermal sediments from the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge: implications to the sediment formation and mineral exploration

Geology | Updated：2024-11-19

- Cu-Zn isotope compositions of hydrothermal sediments from the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge: implications to the sediment formation and mineral exploration
- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Vol. 42, Issue 5, Pages: 1470-1485(2024)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai264025, China
  2.Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Metallogeny, First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao266061, China
  3.College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao266590, China
- Author bio：
  
  bjyang0535@163.com
  jihliu@fio.org.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s00343-024-3209-7
  CLC：
- Received：13 October 2023，
  
  Online First：18 February 2024，
  
  Published：01 September 2024
- Accepted：
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YANG Baoju,HE Lianhua,LI Chuanshun,et al.Cu-Zn isotope compositions of hydrothermal sediments from the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge: implications to the sediment formation and mineral exploration[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2024,42(05):1470-1485.
DOI：

YANG Baoju,HE Lianhua,LI Chuanshun,et al.Cu-Zn isotope compositions of hydrothermal sediments from the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge: implications to the sediment formation and mineral exploration[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2024,42(05):1470-1485. DOI： 10.1007/s00343-024-3209-7.

摘要

Abstract

Six hydrothermal sediment samples were collected from the Xunmei and Tongguan hydrothermal fields along the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge during the China Ocean Cruise DY46 in 2017. Sulfides and oxides in the samples were separated

and Cu and Zn isotope compositions were analyzed. Results show that the ranges of δ

Cu values of the bulk sediments

sulfides

and oxides were 0.36‰–2.46‰

0.21‰–1.10‰

and 0.68‰–1.52‰

respectively. The δ

Cu values of sulfides in four samples (46II-14

46II-30

46III-06

and 46II-09) were relatively low (0.21‰–0.50‰)

corresponding to the δ

Cu values of sulfides from inactive old hydrothermal chimneys in northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (nMAR)

suggesting that the sulfides in the sediments were originated from collapsed dead chimney mainly. While the δ

Cu values of the other two samples (46III-02 and 46III-08) were relatively high (1.10‰–0.96‰)

corresponding to the δ

Cu values for active hydrothermal chimneys sulfides in nMAR

which indicated that the sulfides in these two samples might mainly come from sulfide particles settled from active hydrothermal plume. Because of the high density of sulfide particles

they tended to settle near the hydrothermal vents first. Therefore

high δ

Cu values of sulfides in 46III-02 and 46III-08 implied that undiscovered active hydrothermal vents near the sampling positions of 46III-02 in the Xunmei hydrothermal field and 46III-08 in the Tongguan hydrothermal field. The δ

Zn values of hydrothermal sediments and sulfides ranged 0.11‰–0.43‰ and 0.29‰–0.67‰

respectively. In the four samples from the Xunmei hydrothermal field

a positive correlation was found between the distance of the sampling position from sulfide mineralized spot and the Zn isotopic ratio

showing that the greater the distance from the mineralized spot

the heavier the Zn isotope composition as seen in two samples (46II-30 and 46II-14) of the Xunmei-3 spot. This result aligned with the findings of Wilkinson et al. (2005) and Baumgartner et al. (2023)

suggesting that the lower the Zn isotope composition

the closer it is to the hydrothermal vent. However

in the Xunmei hydrothermal field

the Zn isotope composition in the other two samples (46III-02 and 46III-06) showed the opposite trend. This indicated that there might be an active hydrothermal vent near the sampling location of sample 46III-02. This observation aligned with the Cu isotope analysis results. This study showed that Cu-Zn isotopes are good indicators for understanding the formation mechanisms of hydrothermal sediments and for locating active hydrothermal vents.

关键词

Keywords

references

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