Unique Authigenic Mineral Assemblages and Planktonic Foraminifera Reveal Dynamic Cold Seepage in the Southern South China Sea
Many cold seeps and gas hydrate areas have not been discovered beside the Beikan basin in the southern South China Sea (SCS), and their characteristics and histories also remain poorly known. Here we describe authigenic minerals and the carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic foraminife...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2075-163X/10/3/275/ 2023-08-20T04:09:18+02:00 Unique Authigenic Mineral Assemblages and Planktonic Foraminifera Reveal Dynamic Cold Seepage in the Southern South China Sea Yang Zhou Pengfei Di Niu Li Fang Chen Xin Su Jinpeng Zhang agris 2020-03-19 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/min10030275 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Mineral Deposits https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/min10030275 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Minerals; Volume 10; Issue 3; Pages: 275 authigenic gypsum authigenic pyrite cold seep planktonic foraminifera southern South China Sea Text 2020 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/min10030275 2023-07-31T23:15:37Z Many cold seeps and gas hydrate areas have not been discovered beside the Beikan basin in the southern South China Sea (SCS), and their characteristics and histories also remain poorly known. Here we describe authigenic minerals and the carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber from sediment core 2PC, recovered from the gas hydrate zone of the Nansha Trough, southern SCS, to elucidate its history of dynamic cold seepage. We infer that the occurrence of authigenic gypsum crystals and pyrite concretions, and anomalously negative δ13C values of Globigerinoides ruber, reflect paleo-methane seepage. Two major methane release events were identified, based on remarkable excursions in foraminifera δ13C at depths of 150–250 cm and 350–370 cm. Euhedral gypsum crystals and tubular pyrite concretions co-occur with extremely negative planktonic foraminifera δ13C values, indicating a shift in the sulfate methane transition zone and a change in the methane flux. Our data suggest that authigenic mineral assemblages and δ13C values of planktonic foraminifera provide a valuable tool in elucidating the characteristics of dynamic methane seepage in a marine environment. Text Planktonic foraminifera MDPI Open Access Publishing Minerals 10 3 275 |
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Open Polar |
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MDPI Open Access Publishing |
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ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
authigenic gypsum authigenic pyrite cold seep planktonic foraminifera southern South China Sea |
spellingShingle |
authigenic gypsum authigenic pyrite cold seep planktonic foraminifera southern South China Sea Yang Zhou Pengfei Di Niu Li Fang Chen Xin Su Jinpeng Zhang Unique Authigenic Mineral Assemblages and Planktonic Foraminifera Reveal Dynamic Cold Seepage in the Southern South China Sea |
topic_facet |
authigenic gypsum authigenic pyrite cold seep planktonic foraminifera southern South China Sea |
description |
Many cold seeps and gas hydrate areas have not been discovered beside the Beikan basin in the southern South China Sea (SCS), and their characteristics and histories also remain poorly known. Here we describe authigenic minerals and the carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber from sediment core 2PC, recovered from the gas hydrate zone of the Nansha Trough, southern SCS, to elucidate its history of dynamic cold seepage. We infer that the occurrence of authigenic gypsum crystals and pyrite concretions, and anomalously negative δ13C values of Globigerinoides ruber, reflect paleo-methane seepage. Two major methane release events were identified, based on remarkable excursions in foraminifera δ13C at depths of 150–250 cm and 350–370 cm. Euhedral gypsum crystals and tubular pyrite concretions co-occur with extremely negative planktonic foraminifera δ13C values, indicating a shift in the sulfate methane transition zone and a change in the methane flux. Our data suggest that authigenic mineral assemblages and δ13C values of planktonic foraminifera provide a valuable tool in elucidating the characteristics of dynamic methane seepage in a marine environment. |
format |
Text |
author |
Yang Zhou Pengfei Di Niu Li Fang Chen Xin Su Jinpeng Zhang |
author_facet |
Yang Zhou Pengfei Di Niu Li Fang Chen Xin Su Jinpeng Zhang |
author_sort |
Yang Zhou |
title |
Unique Authigenic Mineral Assemblages and Planktonic Foraminifera Reveal Dynamic Cold Seepage in the Southern South China Sea |
title_short |
Unique Authigenic Mineral Assemblages and Planktonic Foraminifera Reveal Dynamic Cold Seepage in the Southern South China Sea |
title_full |
Unique Authigenic Mineral Assemblages and Planktonic Foraminifera Reveal Dynamic Cold Seepage in the Southern South China Sea |
title_fullStr |
Unique Authigenic Mineral Assemblages and Planktonic Foraminifera Reveal Dynamic Cold Seepage in the Southern South China Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Unique Authigenic Mineral Assemblages and Planktonic Foraminifera Reveal Dynamic Cold Seepage in the Southern South China Sea |
title_sort |
unique authigenic mineral assemblages and planktonic foraminifera reveal dynamic cold seepage in the southern south china sea |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/min10030275 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
Planktonic foraminifera |
genre_facet |
Planktonic foraminifera |
op_source |
Minerals; Volume 10; Issue 3; Pages: 275 |
op_relation |
Mineral Deposits https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/min10030275 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/min10030275 |
container_title |
Minerals |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
275 |
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1774722164407140352 |