Publication Date:
2019-02-01
Description:
Manganese nodules from the Kane Gap (a deep sea channel connecting the Sierra Leone and Gambia Basins off West Africa) were investigated chemically and dated by10Be along cross-sections. Comparing the nodule structure with the stratigraphy of the related sediments, the following conclusions are drawn concerning the sedimentation processes during the last 4 to 6×106 years: The growth of the nodules started about 4 to 4.5 Ma before present during or near to the end of a period of erosion on a fossil-free, probably Miocene sediment. During the first phase of only a few hundred thousandyears, the nodules grew very quickly (7 to 〉18 mm/Ma). Fe-rich hydrogenetic material formed the internal sections of the nodules during this time. Slowing down of the bottom currents, resulting in deposition of thin sediment covers for short intervals, caused the character of the nodules to change to a more diagenetic composition. The growth rates were reduced to about 1 to 2 mm/Ma. The time of slowing is roughly 3 to 4 Ma BP. Probable uncertainties of the dating and growth rates resulting from supposed changes of the10Be supply to the nodules due to variations of the near bottom environment are discussed.
Type:
Article
,
PeerReviewed
Format:
text
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