Sediment samples obtained from the South Mid-Atlantic Ridge were studies by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer （GC-MS） for the abundance and distributions of total fatty acids （TFAs）. Approximately 34 fatty acids were identified, with the chain-lengths ranging from C12 to C30. The total concentrations of TFAs （∑TFA） ranged from 7.15 to 30.09 μgg-l dry sediment, and ∑TFA was weakly correlated with bitumen content （R2=0.69）. The ∑TFA of samples around hydrothermal areas were significantly higher than that of samples away from hydrothermal areas, indicating intense primary production and large biomass in the hydro- thermal areas, and suggesting a close relationship between hydrothermal activity and ∑TFA of samples. The characteristics of the TFA composition in the present study are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and lacking in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and the ra- tios between the concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acids and ∑TFAs in samples close to the hydrothermal areas, are about 0.8, but for samples far from the hydrothermal areas, they are only about 0.5. Several fatty acids （e.g., a/iC15：0 and C16：1co7）, which are signature biomarkers for sulfur-metabolizing bacteria, show the same distribution trend as ∑TFA of samples, further highlighting the close relationship between fatty acid content and hydrothermal activity and/or hydrothermal communities. The metabolic activities of hydrothermal communities, especially those of microorganisms, are likely the main source of fatty acids in samples.
Fe-Si-Mn-oxyhydroxide encrustations at the East Pacific Rise （EPR） near 13°N were analyzed using the scanning electron microscope （SEM） with an energy dispersive spectrometer （EDS）. These encrustations are mainly composed of amorphous Fe- Si-Mn-oxyhydroxides forming laminated, spherical, porous aggregates with some biodetritus, anhydrite, nontronite, and feldspar particles. Anhydrite particles and nontronite crystals in the Fe-Si-Mn-oxyhydroxide encrustations imply that the Fe-Si-Mn-oxyhy- droxide may have formed under relatively low- to high-temperature hydrothermal conditions. The Fe-Si-Mn-oxyhydroxide encrusta- tions on pillow basalts are 1-2mm thick. The growth rate of ferromanganese crusts in the survey area suggests that these encrusta- tions are an unlikely result of hydrogenic deposition alone having a hydrothermal and （Fe/Mn ratio up to 7.7 and Fe/（Fe＋Mn＋A1） ratio exceeding 0.78） hydrogenic origin （0.22 Fe/Mn ratio close to the mean value of 0.7 for open-ocean seamount crusts）. The varying Fe/Mn ratios indicate that the Fe-Si-Mn-oxyhydroxide encrustations have formed through several stages of seafloor hydrother- malism. It is suggested that, at the initial formation stage, dense Fe-Si-oxyhydroxides with low Mn content deposit from a relatively reducing hydrothermal fluid, and then the loose Fe-Si-Mn-oxyhydroxides deposit on the Fe-Si-oxyhydroxides. As the oxidation degree of hydrothermal fluid increases and Si-oxide is inhibited, Mn-oxide will precipitate with Fe-oxyhydroxides.
WANG XiaoyuanZENG ZhigangQI HaiyanCHEN ShuaiYIN XueboYANG Baoju
The mineralogical and micromorphological characteristics of Si-Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides from the dacite-hosted PACMANUS hydrothermal field were analyzed.The samples are poorly crystallized Si-Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides with minor birnessite, todorokite, nontronite, goethite, and opal-A.There are some microtextures which are rather like fossil microbes such as the filamentous silica and the hollow pipes.Flakes of nontronite crystals are found either forming a honeycomb texture or distrib- uted on the surface of the hollow pipes.Nontronite is the product precipitated from low-temperature hydrothermal fluids, and microbes may play a role in its formation.Si-Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides have two kinds of nuclei: Si-Mn nuclei and Si nuclei, both enveloped by the similar Si-Fe outer layer, existing in the rod-shaped oxyhydroxide and spheroidal oxyhydroxide, respectively.In the Si-Mn nuclei, the concentration of SiO2 is between 39.32 wt% and 86.31 wt%, and MnO concentration is between 4.97 wt% and 27.01 wt%, but Fe2O3 concentration is very low (0.54 wt%-3.43 wt%).In the Si nucleus the concentration of SiO2 is 90.17 wt%, but concentration of MnO and Fe2O3 are low, with 0.06 wt% and 3.47 wt%, respectively.The formation of the Si-Mn nucleus is closely related to microbes, whereas the Si nucleus is of inorganic origin.
This paper reports silicon and oxygen isotopes of 20 kinds of igneous rocks and their major elements from the eastern Manus Basin. Combining silicon and oxygen isotopic data from other studies, we suppose that both δ30Si and δ18O values increase with the increasing of SiO2 content. It means that the fractionation of silicon and oxygen isotopes are affected by the silica content. The positive correlation between CaO/Al2O3 ratios and MgO and that between Si/Al and SiO2 content indicate that clinopyroxene is the predominant mineral phase in our samples. We suppose that the fractionation of silicon and oxygen isotopes are influenced by mineral fractional crystallization. Probably, it is due to their different silicon and oxygen bridges. In this study, the δ30Simean value=-0.17‰±0.17‰ and δ18Omean value= +6.07‰±0.57‰ are higher than normal δ30Si and δ18O values of mantle, and we propose that these igneous rocks in the eastern Manus Basin are affected by hydrothermal alteration.
