A magnetic approach to unravelling the paleoenvironmental significance of nanometer-sized Fe hydroxide in NW Pacific ferromanganese deposits

Ferromanganese nodules and crusts (Fe-Mn deposits) are being widely explored for their significant economic potential and paleoenvironmentally significant archives. Fe-Mn deposits contain abundant Fe-bearing minerals including detrital minerals, biogenic Fe-bearing components, but predominantly amorphous Fe hydroxides (AFH). Particularly, the hydrogenetic Fe that is formed in bottom water should be closely related with oceanic environmental and Fe-cycling processes. However, it remains challenging to characterize and quantify the x-ray amorphous AFH component in Fe-Mn deposits. To resolve this problem, we systematically investigated thermally treated hydrogenetic Fe-Mn deposits sampled from the northwestern Pacific Ocean to unravel the AFH component. Our results show that the nanometer-sized AFHs can be transformed into strongly magnetic nanometer-sized (approximately 10-20 nm) magnetite upon heating above 500 degrees C, which can be feasibly quantified by systematic rock magnetic analyses. Using this novel approach, several Fe-Mn deposits at different water depths from the western Pacific Ocean are investigated. Our results indicate that the abundance of AFH increase at a water depth of similar to 5000 m, which can be ascribed to bottom-current stratification. The magnetic approach to indirectly quantify the AFH component in Fe-Mn deposits has a great potential in exploring oceanic paleoenvironment significance. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Ferromanganese deposits are being widely explored for their economic potential and paleoenvironmental archives. A novel approach using thermal treatment can transform nanometer-sized amorphous Fe hydroxides (AFH) into magnetic magnetite, allowing for feasible quantification in Fe-Mn deposits. Investigations in the western Pacific Ocean suggest an increase in AFH abundance at a depth of around 5000 meters, possibly due to bottom-current stratification.