The REE species and their distribution in ferromanganese crusts in the Sea of Japan

Abstract Polished sections of ferromanganese crusts on underwater rises in the Sea of Japan were studied with a JXA8100 microprobe analyser. Mineral phases of REE have been detected. They have Ln 2 O 3 chemical composition, where Ln is La–Ce–Pr–Nd, La–Ce–Nd, or, much more rarely, La–Ce and La–Ce–Pr. With regard to the same chemical composition of REE grains in the ore crusts and basalts from Medvedev Volcano, it has been concluded that these REE were supplied during postvolcanic gas–hydrothermal processes.