Noble gas isotopic compositions of cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts from the Western Pacific Ocean and their geological implications

Noble gas isotopic compositions of various layers in three-layered (outer, porous and compact layers) cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts and their basaltic and phosphorite substrates from the western Pacific Ocean were analyzed by using a high vacuum gas mass spectrum. The analytical results show that the noble gases in the Co-rich crusts have derived mainly from the ambient seawater, extraterrestrial grains such as interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and wind-borne continental dust grains, and locally formation water in the submarine sediments, but different noble gases have different sources. He in the crusts derives predominantly from the extraterrestrial grains, with a negligible amount of radiogenic He from the eolian dust grains. Ar is sourced mainly from the dissolved air in the seawater and insignificantly from radiogenic Ar in the eolian continental dust grains or the formation water. Xe and Ne derive mainly from the seawater, with minor amounts of extraterrestrial Xe and Ne in the IDPs. Compared with the porous and outer layers, the compact layer has a relatively high 4 He content and lower He-3/He-4 ratios, suggesting that marine phosphatization might have greatly modified the noble gas isotopic compositions of the crusts. Besides, the He-3/He-4 values of the basaltic substrates of the cobalt-rich crusts are very low and their R/R-a ratios are mostly < 0.1R(a), which are similar to that of phosphorite substrates (0.087 R-a), but much lower than that of fresh submarine MORB (8.75 +/- 2.14 R-a) or seamount basalts (3-43 R-a), implying that the basaltic substrates have suffered strong water/rock interaction and reacted with radiogenic He-4 and P-rich upwelling marine currents during phosphatization. The trace elements released in the basalt/seawater interaction might favor the growth of cobalt-rich crusts. The relatively low He-3/He-4 values in the seamount basalts may be used as an important exploration criterion for the cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts.