Rapid growth of mineral deposits at artificial seafloor hydrothermal vents

Seafloor massive sulphide deposits are potential resources for base and precious metals (Cu-Pb-Zn ± Ag ± Au), but difficulties in estimating precise reserves and assessing environmental impacts hinder exploration and commercial mining. Here, we report petrological and geochemical properties of sulph...

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Main Authors:	Nozaki, Tatsuo, Ishibashi, Jun-Ichiro, Shimada, Kazuhiko, Nagase, Toshiro, Takaya, Yutaro, Kato, Yasuhiro, Kawagucci, Shinsuke, Watsuji, Tomoo, Shibuya, Takazo, Yamada, Ryoichi, Saruhashi, Tomokazu, Kyo, Masanori, Takai, Ken
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	Nature Publishing Group 2016
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4766430/

id	pubmed-4766430
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-47664302016-03-02 Rapid growth of mineral deposits at artificial seafloor hydrothermal vents Nozaki, Tatsuo Ishibashi, Jun-Ichiro Shimada, Kazuhiko Nagase, Toshiro Takaya, Yutaro Kato, Yasuhiro Kawagucci, Shinsuke Watsuji, Tomoo Shibuya, Takazo Yamada, Ryoichi Saruhashi, Tomokazu Kyo, Masanori Takai, Ken Article Seafloor massive sulphide deposits are potential resources for base and precious metals (Cu-Pb-Zn ± Ag ± Au), but difficulties in estimating precise reserves and assessing environmental impacts hinder exploration and commercial mining. Here, we report petrological and geochemical properties of sulphide chimneys less than 2 years old that formed where scientific boreholes vented hydrothermal fluids in the Iheya-North field, Okinawa Trough, in East China Sea. One of these infant chimneys, dominated by Cu-Pb-Zn-rich sulphide minerals, grew a height of 15 m within 25 months. Portions of infant chimneys are dominated by sulphate minerals. Some infant chimneys are sulphide-rich similar to high-grade Cu-Pb-Zn bodies on land, albeit with relatively low As and Sb concentrations. The high growth rate reaching the 15 m height within 25 months is attributed to the large hydrothermal vent more than 50 cm in diameter created by the borehole, which induced slow mixing with the ambient seawater and enhanced efficiency of sulphide deposition. These observations suggest the possibility of cultivating seafloor sulphide deposits and even controlling their growth and grades through manipulations of how to mix and quench hydrothermal fluids with the ambient seawater. Nature Publishing Group 2016-02-25 /pmc/articles/PMC4766430/ /pubmed/26911272 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep22163 Text en Copyright © 2016, Macmillan Publishers Limited http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Nozaki, Tatsuo Ishibashi, Jun-Ichiro Shimada, Kazuhiko Nagase, Toshiro Takaya, Yutaro Kato, Yasuhiro Kawagucci, Shinsuke Watsuji, Tomoo Shibuya, Takazo Yamada, Ryoichi Saruhashi, Tomokazu Kyo, Masanori Takai, Ken
spellingShingle	Nozaki, Tatsuo Ishibashi, Jun-Ichiro Shimada, Kazuhiko Nagase, Toshiro Takaya, Yutaro Kato, Yasuhiro Kawagucci, Shinsuke Watsuji, Tomoo Shibuya, Takazo Yamada, Ryoichi Saruhashi, Tomokazu Kyo, Masanori Takai, Ken Rapid growth of mineral deposits at artificial seafloor hydrothermal vents
author_facet	Nozaki, Tatsuo Ishibashi, Jun-Ichiro Shimada, Kazuhiko Nagase, Toshiro Takaya, Yutaro Kato, Yasuhiro Kawagucci, Shinsuke Watsuji, Tomoo Shibuya, Takazo Yamada, Ryoichi Saruhashi, Tomokazu Kyo, Masanori Takai, Ken
author_sort	Nozaki, Tatsuo
title	Rapid growth of mineral deposits at artificial seafloor hydrothermal vents
title_short	Rapid growth of mineral deposits at artificial seafloor hydrothermal vents
title_full	Rapid growth of mineral deposits at artificial seafloor hydrothermal vents
title_fullStr	Rapid growth of mineral deposits at artificial seafloor hydrothermal vents
title_full_unstemmed	Rapid growth of mineral deposits at artificial seafloor hydrothermal vents
title_sort	rapid growth of mineral deposits at artificial seafloor hydrothermal vents
description	Seafloor massive sulphide deposits are potential resources for base and precious metals (Cu-Pb-Zn ± Ag ± Au), but difficulties in estimating precise reserves and assessing environmental impacts hinder exploration and commercial mining. Here, we report petrological and geochemical properties of sulphide chimneys less than 2 years old that formed where scientific boreholes vented hydrothermal fluids in the Iheya-North field, Okinawa Trough, in East China Sea. One of these infant chimneys, dominated by Cu-Pb-Zn-rich sulphide minerals, grew a height of 15 m within 25 months. Portions of infant chimneys are dominated by sulphate minerals. Some infant chimneys are sulphide-rich similar to high-grade Cu-Pb-Zn bodies on land, albeit with relatively low As and Sb concentrations. The high growth rate reaching the 15 m height within 25 months is attributed to the large hydrothermal vent more than 50 cm in diameter created by the borehole, which induced slow mixing with the ambient seawater and enhanced efficiency of sulphide deposition. These observations suggest the possibility of cultivating seafloor sulphide deposits and even controlling their growth and grades through manipulations of how to mix and quench hydrothermal fluids with the ambient seawater.
publisher	Nature Publishing Group
publishDate	2016
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4766430/
_version_	1613543012936187904

Rapid growth of mineral deposits at artificial seafloor hydrothermal vents

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