stablepbisotopesandrareearthelementsgeochemistryis（32页）.docVIP

The Condor Seamount at Mid Atlantic Ridge as a supplementary source of trace and rare earth elements to the sediments Miguel Caetano1*, Carlos Vale1, Bárbara Anes1, Joana Raimundo1, Teresa Drago1, Sabine Schimdt2, Marta Nogueira1, Anabela Oliveira3, and Ricardo Prego4 1 IPMA – Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere, Av. Brasília, 1449-006 Lisboa – Portugal 2 Bourdeaux University-CNRS, Avenue de Facultés, 33405 Talence, France 3 Instituto Hidrográfico, Rua das Trinas, 49, 1200 Lisbon, Portugal 4 Marine Research Institute (CSIC), Av. Eduardo Cabello, 36208 Vigo, Spain. * corresponding author, Email: mcaetano@ipimar.pt; Tlf: +351213027073; Fax: +351213015947 Abstract The Condor Seamount rises from seabed to 180 m water depth, being located 10 nautical miles southwest of the island of Faial, Azores Archipelago at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). The vertical distribution of major, minor, trace and rare earth elements (REE) and Pb isotopes was studied in four sediment cores: one from the top of the Condor Seamount (200m, MC9), two from the seamount base (1400m, MC2 and MC4), and one from a deep area (1900m, MC8). Sediments from the top of the Condor were composed by coarser particles being the fine fraction lower than 1%. Conversely the other sediments were constituted by 51-92 % of fine particles (63μm). Individual fragments of volcanic material ( 2 mm) were found at several depths of the cores sampled at the base of the seamount. The core collected in the top of the Condor showed higher carbonate content (76-86 %) compared with the other cores (41-64%). The chemical compositions of MC2 and MC4 point to an enhancement of V, Cr, Co, Ni and Fe concentrations. Lower concentrations in MC8 reinforce the hypothesis of Condor seamount constitutes a supplementary source of trace elements. The most plausible explanation for the enhancement found in sediments of the seamount base is the weathering of slopes with volcanic activities, which supply particles with higher