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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Biogeochemistry
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1470134
This article is part of the Research Topic Biogeochemical Cycling and Depositional Processes of Critical Metals in the Deep Sea and Their Constraints on Global Changes View all 3 articles

Early diagenesis, sedimentary dynamics and metal enrichment reveal deep-sea ventilation in Magellan Seamounts during the middle Pleistocene

Provisionally accepted
Zhongshan Shen Zhongshan Shen 1*Yanping Chen Yanping Chen 2*Pavel Mikhailik Pavel Mikhailik 3Yun Cai Yun Cai 4*Haifeng Wang Haifeng Wang 5,6*Liang Yi Liang Yi 4
  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
  • 2 Zhejiang Academy of Marine Sciences, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 3 Laboratory of Regional Geology and Tectonic, Far East Geological Institute, Far East Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia
  • 4 State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
  • 5 Key Laboratory of Marine Mineral Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources, Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, China Geological Survey, Guangzhou, China
  • 6 Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 510301, China, Guangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Seamounts are ubiquitous topographic units in the global oceans, and the Caiwei Guyot in the Magellan Seamounts of the western Pacific is a prime example. In this study, we analyzed a well-dated sediment core using magnetic properties, sediment grain-size, and metal enrichment to uncover regional ventilation history during the middle Pleistocene and explore potential linkages to global climate changes. Our principal findings are as follows: (1) The median grain size is 3.3 ± 0.2 μm, and clay and silt particles exhibit minimal variation, with average values of 52.8 ± 1.8 % and 38.2 ± 1.6 %, respectively, indicating a low-dynamic process; (2) Three grain-size components are identified, characterized by modal patterns of ~3 μm (major one), ~40 μm, and 400–500 μm, respectively; (3) Magnetic coercivity of the deep-sea sediments can be classified into three subgroups, and their coercivity values are 6.1 ± 0.5 mT, 25.7 ± 1.0 mT, and 65.2 ± 2.1 mT. Based on these results, we propose a close linkage between magnetic coercivity and metal enrichment, correlating with changes in deep-sea circulation intensity. Conversely, sediment grain-size changes seem to be more strongly influenced by eolian inputs. Consequently, we suggest that reginal ventilation has weakened since ~430 ka, likely linked to a reduction in Antarctic bottom water formation.

    Keywords: Abyssal ventilation1, Early diagenesis2, Magnetic properties3, Caiwei (Pako) Guyot4, Middle Pleistocene5, Western Pacific6 Abyssal ventilation1, Western Pacific6

    Received: 25 Jul 2024; Accepted: 18 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shen, Chen, Mikhailik, Cai, Wang and Yi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Zhongshan Shen, State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
    Yanping Chen, Zhejiang Academy of Marine Sciences, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
    Yun Cai, State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, Shanghai Municipality, China
    Haifeng Wang, Key Laboratory of Marine Mineral Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources, Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, China Geological Survey, Guangzhou, China

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