Minor Element Composition of Ferromanganese Nodules

Abstract

Mineralogical and chemical analyses performed on 67 ferromanganese nodules from widely varying locations and depths within the marine environment indicate that the minor element composition is controlled by the mineralogy, and that the formation of the mineral phases is depth dependent.

Origin, mineralogy, and chemistry of manganiferous and ferruginous precipitates found in sand and gravel deposits in Finland

“…7-10, Table 5). This mineral has been found in Mn-ores, usually as an alteration or weathering product (McMurdie and Golovato 1948;Frondel et al 1960;Hariya 1961;Larson 1962;Levinson 1962;Sorem and Gunn 1967;Brown et al 1971), in marine manganese nodules (Buser and Grütter 1956;Barnes 1967;Cronan and Tooms 1969;Finkelman et al 1972;Glasby 1972;Finkelman et al 1974), and in soils (Jones and Milne 1956;Taylor et al 1964;Taylor and McKenzie 1966;Taylor 1968). Jones and Milne who assigned the name found it in a »manganese pan cutting in a fluvio-glacial deposit of gravel» in Scotland and, together with Li-bearing lithiophorite, it is the most common manganiferous mineral found in several different soils in Australia (Taylor et al 1964).…”

Analysis of the world distribution of metal-rich subsea manganese nodules

“…Many previous investigators have reported a relation between nodule composition and water depth (Menard, 1964;Mero, 1965;Barnes, 1967; 17.10 percent, combined nickel and copper decreases to 0.99 percent, iron increases to 13.01 percent, and cobalt content remains unchanged. Given the rather marked differences in the metal contents of these groups, one might expect the correlations of nickel, copper, and cobalt with depth to be stronger than tables 1, 3, 6, and 7 indicate.…”

“…But to what factors do variations in the proportion of mineral phases relate? Barnes (1967), Cronan (1967), Cronan andPiper (1972) found that the relation between metal content and depth is also a function of the mineralogy of the nodules, todorokite being more abundant in deeper water nodules and vernadite being dominant in nodules from shallower depths. The three manganese oxide phases represent different degrees of oxidation of manganese, and Cronan and Tooms (1969) concluded that variations in the mineralogy of nodules with depth may reflect variations in the degree of oxidation of the environment of deposition.…”

“…Birnessite-Na4Mn14027*H20, according to Fleischer (1980)-apparently has somewhat similar properties (Burns and Burns, 1977). It is the nodules rich in todorokite and birnessite that are rich in nickel and copper and the other minor metals previously described as most abundant in the 5: 1-percent combined nickel and copper type (Burns and Fuerstenau, 1966;Barnes, 1967;Cronan and Tooms, 1969;Tooms and others, 1969;Margolis and Burns, 1976;Piper and Williamson, 1977;Calvert and Price, 1977;Halbach and Ozkara, 1979;Usui, 1979;Piper and others, 1979;Cronan, 1980;Bischoff and others, 1981). It is also the todorokite-rich nodules that have a manganeseiron ratio of >1.5 (Margolis and Burns, 1976;Piper and Williamson, 1977;Calvert and Price, 1977;Halbach and Ozkara, 1979).…”

“…Birnessite is less common and generally occurs only where the other two are present (Barnes, 1967;Piper and others, 1979;Bischoff and others, 1981). The vernadite phase is extremely fine grained, and, when 150°W 36°S.…”