[S-GC56_30PM2] Solid Earth Geochemistry, Cosmochemistry

[SGC56-10] Geochemical features of rare-earth elements and yttrium-rich mud from north region of Minamitorishima EEZ

*Koichiro FUJINAGA¹, Yasuhiro KATO¹, Kentaro NAKAMURA², Katsuhiko SUZUKI³, Shiki MACHIDA⁴, Yutaro TAKAYA¹, Kazutaka YASUKAWA², Junichiro OTA², Satoru HARAGUCHI¹, Shuuhei ARAKI², Hanjie LIU², Ryo USAMI², Ryota MAKI², Koichi IIJIMA³, Yoshiro NISHIO³, Yoichi USUI³, Tatsuo NOZAKI³, MR13-E02 LEG2, Cruise members ³, KR14-02, Cruise members ³ (1.Frontier Research for Energy and Resources, University of Tokyo, 2.Department of Systems Innovation, University of Tokyo, 3.JAMSTEC, 4.Department of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Waseda University)

Keywords:rare earth elements (REEs), REY-rich mud, Minamitorishima, deep-sea mineral resource

Recently, deep-sea sediment enriched in rare-earth elements and yttrium (REY) (called REY-rich mud) has been reported from a central part of the Pacific Ocean (Kato et al., 2011). Due to its great potential as a completely new REY resource, the REY-rich mud attracts particular attention from a wide field of scientists and non-scientists. In 2013, we have discovered the deep-sea sediments that are extremely enriched in REY (~6,600 ppm) from the south region of the Minamitorishima within the Japanese exclusive economic zone (EEZ) (Kato et al., 2013; Fujinaga et al., 2013; Suzuki et al., 2013). In 2014, in order to investigate the detailed distribution of REY-rich mud in the EEZ of Minamitorishima, we further conducted research cruises (MR13-E02 Leg. 2 and KR14-02) in the north region of the Minamitorishima. Here, we report the distribution, mineral composition, and geochemical features of the REY-rich mud from the north region of the Minamitorishima EEZ.