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8381447 
Journal Article 
Mineral forms of manganese and iron in the oceanic sediments 
Chukhrov, FV; Gorshkov, AI; Ermilova, LP; Berezovskaya, VV; Sivtsov, AV 
1981 
4 
5-21 
Russian 
Oxides of manganese and iron contained in ocean sediments could only be formed from the combination of Mn2+ and Fe2+. Deposits, practically devoid of organic matter, from deep-water parts of the ocean could not be the sources of these metals; the only acceptable notion about their formation concerns the convective entry of thermal solutions into the ocean floor. The component parts of these solutions are mainly extracted from rocks on the ocean floor, primarily from basalts. The precipitation of manganese from thermal solutions occurs mainly by means of an abrupt catalytic acceleration of the oxidation of Mn2+ by microorganisms. The oxidation of Fe2+ under these conditions is basically abiogenic. The mechanisms are discussed in detail. Some iron and manganese oxides in ocean sediments are the products of halmyrolysis; they do not differ in their formation reactions from minerals deposited from cooled hydrothermal solutions. -from P.Cooke