Platinum Group Element Geochemistry in Ferromanganese Crust of the Detroit Guyot, Pacific Ocean

Abstract—Hydrogenetic Fe–Mn crusts in the ocean are enriched in platinum but do not accumulate palladium. The mechanism of platinum input into the crusts remains debatable. There is even less data on ruthenium and iridium. In this article, the distribution of platinum group elements (Pd, Ru, Ir, Pt) in ferromanganese crusts of the Detroit guyot (Northwest Pacific) is studied. Based on correlation analyses of major and trace elements, it was shown that accumulation of PGE (Ru, Ir, Pt) occurs from hydrogenetic particulate Fe–Mn oxyhydroxides on all layers with exception of the bottom layer. High platinum contents in the bottom layer are also associated with its input from seawater. However, the most probable additional source of platinum was halmirolysis of underlying basalts.