Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
    • Special Volumes and Special Issue
  • Subscriptions
    • Subscribers
    • Pricing
    • FAQ
    • Terms & Conditions for use of AJS Online
  • Instructions to Authors
  • Site Features
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Usage Statistics
    • RSS
  • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • The Journal

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
American Journal of Science
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
American Journal of Science

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
    • Special Volumes and Special Issue
  • Subscriptions
    • Subscribers
    • Pricing
    • FAQ
    • Terms & Conditions for use of AJS Online
  • Instructions to Authors
  • Site Features
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Usage Statistics
    • RSS
  • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • The Journal
  • Follow ajs on Twitter
  • Visit ajs on Facebook
  • Follow ajs on Instagram
Research ArticleArticles

Controls on trace metal authigenic enrichment in reducing sediments: Insights from modern oxygen-deficient settings

Susan H. Little, Derek Vance, Timothy W. Lyons and James McManus
American Journal of Science February 2015, 315 (2) 77-119; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2475/02.2015.01
Susan H. Little
* Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, Clausiusstrasse 25, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: susan.little@erdw.ethz.ch
Derek Vance
* Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, Clausiusstrasse 25, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Timothy W. Lyons
** Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California, 92521 USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
James McManus
*** Department of Geosciences, University of Akron, Crouse Hall Room 115, Akron, Ohio 44325-4101 USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Any effort to reconstruct Earth history using variations in authigenic enrichments of redox-sensitive and biogeochemically important trace metals must rest on a fundamental understanding of their modern oceanic and sedimentary geochemistry. Further, unravelling the multiple controls on sedimentary enrichments requires a multi-element approach. Of the range of metals studied, most is known about the behavior of Fe, Mn, and Mo. In this study, we compare the authigenic enrichment patterns of these elements with a group whose behavior is not as well defined (Cd, Cu, Zn, and Ni) in three oxygen-poor settings: the Black Sea, the Cariaco Basin (Venezuela), and the Peru Margin. These three settings span a range of biogeochemical environments, allowing us to isolate the different controls on sedimentary enrichment. Our approach, relying on the covariation of elemental enrichment factors [EF, defined for element X as: EFX = (X/Al)sample/(X/Al)lithogenic], has previously been applied to Mo and U to elucidate paleoenvironmental information on, for example, benthic redox conditions, the particulate shuttle, and the evolution of water mass chemistry. We find two key controls on trace metal enrichment. First, the concentration of an element in the lithogenic background sediment (used in calculating EFX) controls the magnitude of potential enrichment. Maximum enrichment factors of 376 and 800 are calculated for Mo (∼1 ppm in detrital sediments) and Cd (∼0.3 ppm), respectively, compared to values not greater than 17 in any setting for the other five metals (∼45 ppm to ∼4.5 wt.% in detrital sediments). Second, there is a relationship between the aqueous concentration of the element in overlying seawater and its degree of enrichment in the sediment. We further identify four important processes for delivery of trace metals to the sediment. These are: (1) cellular uptake (especially important for Zn and Cd), (2) interaction/co-precipitation with sulfide (Mo, Cu, and Cd), (3) passive scavenging via the traditional particulate shuttle (Mo, Ni, and Cu), and (4) an association with the benthic Fe redox shuttle (Mn, Ni). Finally, we summarize the oceanic mass balance of Cd and Mo and place the first constraints on the contribution of reducing sediments to the oceanic mass balance of Cu, Zn, and Ni. We show that reducing sediments are the ultimate repository for up to half the total output flux of these elements from the oceanic dissolved pool.

  • reducing sediments
  • trace metals
  • authigenic enrichment
  • euxinia
  • ocean redox
  • mass balance
View Full Text

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

American Journal of Science: 315 (2)
American Journal of Science
Vol. 315, Issue 2
1 Feb 2015
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Ed Board (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on American Journal of Science.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Controls on trace metal authigenic enrichment in reducing sediments: Insights from modern oxygen-deficient settings
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Journal of Science
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Journal of Science web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
3 + 4 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
Controls on trace metal authigenic enrichment in reducing sediments: Insights from modern oxygen-deficient settings
Susan H. Little, Derek Vance, Timothy W. Lyons, James McManus
American Journal of Science Feb 2015, 315 (2) 77-119; DOI: 10.2475/02.2015.01

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Controls on trace metal authigenic enrichment in reducing sediments: Insights from modern oxygen-deficient settings
Susan H. Little, Derek Vance, Timothy W. Lyons, James McManus
American Journal of Science Feb 2015, 315 (2) 77-119; DOI: 10.2475/02.2015.01
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • INTRODUCTION
    • BACKGROUND: THE GEOCHEMICAL BEHAVIOR OF TRACE METALS
    • SITE AND SAMPLE SELECTION
    • ANALYTICAL METHODS AND CALCULATION OF TRACE METAL ENRICHMENT FACTORS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • Appendix
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Spatial heterogeneity of redox-sensitive trace metal enrichments in upper Ediacaran anoxic black shales
  • Selenium Isotopes as a Biogeochemical Proxy in Deep Time
  • Ambient Redox and Hydrothermal Environment of the Wolverine Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposit, Yukon: Insights from Lithofacies and Lithogeochemistry of Mississippian Host Shales
  • Key role of continental margin sediments in the oceanic mass balance of Zn and Zn isotopes
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Timing and Nd-Hf isotopic mapping of early Mesozoic granitoids in the Qinling Orogen, central China: Implication for architecture, nature and processes of the orogen
  • India in the Nuna to Gondwana supercontinent cycles: Clues from the north Indian and Marwar Blocks
  • Unravelling the P-T-t history of three high-grade metamorphic events in the Epupa Complex, NW Namibia: Implications for the Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic evolution of the Congo Craton
Show more Articles

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • reducing sediments
  • trace metals
  • authigenic enrichment
  • euxinia
  • ocean redox
  • mass balance

Navigate

  • Current Issue
  • Archive

More Information

  • RSS

Other Services

  • About Us

© 2022 American Journal of Science

Powered by HighWire