TRACE ELEMENT GEOCHEMISTRY OF A NORTH PACIFIC PELAGIC CLAY CORE

The distribution of MnO, Fe2O3, Cu, Pb, Co, Ni, Cr and V is studied in eighteen samples of a North Pacific pelagic core. Five of the samples were subjected to a chemical separation technique and the resulting partition patterns are examined. It is shown that the hydrogenous fraction of all the elements is partitioned between nodular (micro-nodules) and non-nodular (chiefly iron oxide) phases, and that the concentration between the two phases changed during the sedimentary history of the core. The trace element partition changes are related to variations in the particle size distribution of quartz, and probably occurred at the Tertiary-Quarternary boundary. © 1969.