The Role of Primary-Producer-Mediated Organic Complexation in Regional Variation in the Supply of Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Ni and Zn to Oceanic, Non-Hydrothermal Ferromanganese Crusts and Nodules

Oceanic, non-hydrothermal ferromanganese crusts and nodules are variably enriched in Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Ni and Zn. Comparison of the content of these elements in crusts and nodules with the level of primary productivity in the South Pacific Ocean suggests that primary-producer-mediated complexation of several of these elements by organic ligands in solution may contribute to explaining a pattern of distinctive associations observed between compositional variations for these elements in these deposits and variations in the level of primary productivity.