Depositional process for the Triassic-Jurassic stratiform manganese deposits in the Chichibu Belt, Southwest Japan.

Abstract:

The chert-hosted manganese deposits have been known to occur in the Triassic to Jurassic chert or chert-greenstone complex within a Jurassic accretionary complex in Japan. In order to reveal the origin of these manganese deposits, we investigated the stratigraphy, age and geochemistry of manganese deposits from the Triassic to Jurassic bedded chert succession of the Chichibu Belt, defined as a Jurassic subduction-generated accretionary complex in Southwest Japan. The Triassic to Jurassic bedded cherts in the Chichibu Belt are considered to be deep-sea sediments that accumulated in an open-ocean realm of the Panthalassa Ocean. Our biostratigraphic analysis of radiolarians reveals that the stratiform manganese deposits intercalated in the bedded cherts were deposited in the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. Upper Triassic manganese deposit occurs associated with the massive cherts which appear to have been formed by hydrothermal activity. The red bedded chert above the manganese deposit yields radiolarian fossils, including Trialatus longicornutus and Poulpus carcharus. These radiolarians indicate that age of manganese deposits can be correlated with the late Carnian age. Lower Jurassic manganese deposit occurs intercalated within the gray to dark gray bedded cherts. Detailed biostratigraphic analysis of radiolarians reveals that manganese deposit is embedded in the upper Pliensbachian to Toarcian (Trillus elkhornensis Zone). Chemical compositions of Upper Triassic deposits are characterized by enrichments in Mn and depletion of Co, Ni and Zn. These geochemical features are similar to those of modern submarine hydrothermal manganese deposits from hydrothermal activity. In contrast, lower Jurassic manganese deposits were triggered by an influx of warm, saline and oxic water into a stagnant deep ocean floor basin. It is likely that the deposits are considered to have formed by oceanic anoxic event.