『Abstract
The authors have created terrestrial and marine geochemical maps
of the Hokuriku, Japan, and examined the background distribution
of elemental concentrations. The terrestrial geochemical maps
strongly reflect the surface geology and mineral occurrences.
An analysis of variance (ANOVA) reveals the relationships between
the distribution of surface geology and geochemical maps. Granite,
metamorphic and felsic volcanic rocks, and sedimentary rock in
accretionary complexes give rise to high concentrations of alkali
metal, Be, Y, Ba, REE(except Eu), Tl, Th and U. The distributions
of MgO, Al2O3, P2O5, CaO, 3d transition metals
(except Cu), Ga, Sr, and Eu are controlled by mafic volcanic and
ultramafic rocks. The watersheds with above threshold levels for
Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Mo, Sn, Sb, Hg, Pb and Bi strongly relate to the
mineral occurrences, but ANOVA demonstrated that they are partly
affected by surface geology.
The marine geochemical maps exhibit control by 3 factors: calcareous
sediments on the continental shelf, clay minerals on the continental
slope and ocean floor, and sediments supplied from rivers. Many
elemental concentrations are quite low in continental shelf sediment
because of dilution by calcareous materials. The continental slope
and deep valley sediments are rich in most elements except for
MgO, CaO and Sr. Coarse sediments supplied from large rivers contribute
to local enrichments of several elements such as K2O, Cr and Zn.
The spatial distribution patterns of Cr and Zn concentrations
show that gravity moves the river sediments over 60 km offshore
along a deep-valley.』
1. Introduction
2. Study area
2.1. Terrestrial area
2.2. Marine area
3. Analytical methods
4. Geochemical map preparation
5. Results
5.1. Spatial distribution patterns of elemental concentrations
in stream sediments
5.1.1. Sedimentary rock in accretionary complexes, granite,
felsic volcanic and metamorphic rocks
5.1.2. Mafic volcanic rock and ultramafic rock in accretionary
complexes
5.1.3. Mineral occurrences
5.2. Spatial distributions of elemental concentrations in marine
sediments
6. Discussion
6.1. Numerical analysis of the terrestrial geochemical map
6.1.1. The normality of the distribution of elemental concentrations
in stream sediments
6.1.2. Analysis of variance to test the effect of surface geology
6.1.3. Statistical test on the influence of metallic mineral
occurrences
6.2. Mass movement from terrestrial to marine environments
7. Summary
Acknowledgements
References