Du Jianghui, Haley Brian A, McManus James, Blaser Patrick, Rickli Jörg, Vance Derek
Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution, MOE; School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Nature. 2025 Jun;642(8068):620-627. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09038-3. Epub 2025 Jun 11.
Trace elements and isotopes (TEIs) are important to marine life and are essential tools for studying ocean processes. Two different frameworks have arisen regarding marine TEI cycling: reversible scavenging favours water-column control on TEI distributions, and seafloor boundary exchange emphasizes sedimentary imprints on water-column biogeochemistry. These two views lead to disparate interpretations of TEI behaviours. Here we use rare earth elements and neodymium isotopes as exemplar tracers of particle scavenging and boundary exchange. We integrate these data with models of particle cycling and sediment diagenesis to propose a general framework for marine TEI cycling. We show that, for elements with greater affinity for manganese oxide than biogenic particles, scavenging is a net sink throughout the water column, contrary to a common assumption for reversible scavenging. In this case, a benthic flux supports increasing elemental concentrations with water depth. This sedimentary source consists of two components: one recycled from elements scavenged by water-column particles, and another newly introduced to the water column through marine silicate weathering inside sediment. Abyssal oxic diagenesis drives this benthic source, and exerts a strong influence on water-column biogeochemistry through seafloor geometry and bottom-intensified turbulent mixing. Our findings affirm the role of authigenic minerals, often overshadowed by biogenic particles, in water-column cycling, and suggest that the abyssal seafloor, often regarded as inactive, is a focus of biogeochemical transformation.
微量元素和同位素(TEIs)对海洋生物很重要,是研究海洋过程的重要工具。关于海洋TEI循环出现了两种不同的框架:可逆清除有利于水柱对TEI分布的控制,而海底边界交换则强调沉积物对水柱生物地球化学的影响。这两种观点导致对TEI行为的不同解释。在这里,我们使用稀土元素和钕同位素作为颗粒清除和边界交换的示例示踪剂。我们将这些数据与颗粒循环和沉积物成岩作用模型相结合,提出了一个海洋TEI循环的通用框架。我们表明,对于对氧化锰的亲和力大于生物源颗粒的元素,清除是整个水柱中的净汇,这与可逆清除的常见假设相反。在这种情况下,底栖通量支持元素浓度随水深增加。这种沉积源由两个部分组成:一部分是从水柱颗粒清除的元素中再循环的,另一部分是通过沉积物内部的海洋硅酸盐风化新引入水柱的。深海氧化成岩作用驱动这种底栖源,并通过海底几何形状和底部强化的湍流混合对水柱生物地球化学产生强烈影响。我们的研究结果肯定了自生矿物在水柱循环中通常被生物源颗粒掩盖的作用,并表明通常被视为不活跃的深海海底是生物地球化学转化的焦点。