Pb isotope variations in hydrogenetic Fe–Mn crusts from the Izu–Bonin fore-arc

Fe–Mn crusts were recovered from the western escarpment of the Bonin Ridge in the Izu–Bonin fore-arc region (dive site #824: 28.612°N, 141.803°E) at water depths of c. 2900 m using the Shinkai 6500 submersible during cruise YK 04–05. Major and trace element data and XRD mineralogy indicate that the crusts are hydrogenetic in origin. We present profiles of variations in Pb isotope composition measured in-situ by laser ablation MC-ICP-MS across two of the crusts. The isotopic variations are systematic and can be matched up between the two crusts, indicating similar growth rates. The crust Pb isotope composition rules out any local source for Pb from within the Izu–Bonin–Mariana arc system, either from hydrothermal activity or through leaching of volcanic detritus. Input of a globally well-mixed volcanic Pb component, either from aerosols or as an absorbed component on aeolian dust, has been proposed as a mechanism to explain the Pb isotope composition of Central Pacific deep water. However, the Izu–Bonin crusts are displaced to lower 206Pb/204Pb and higher 208Pb/204Pb, which requires an additional Pb source. One possibility is that as water is advected from the south, outboard of the Luzon–Ryukyu–Honshu arc system, it is progressively polluted by Pb derived by weathering and erosion of these young island arc volcanic systems. Using a constant Co-flux model, growth rates are estimated at ∼ 7–13 mm/Ma, which would suggest that these crusts provide a record of changes in the composition of deep water in the Izu–Bonin fore-arc region of the western Pacific Ocean over the last 4–8 Ma. Over this interval, the main feature has been a progressive decrease in 207Pb/206Pb (0.843 to 0.839) and 208Pb/206Pb (2.088 to 2.080) with time. The interior parts have compositions similar to those of crusts from the Izu–Bonin fore-arc, while the rims have compositions similar to crusts from the central Western Pacific.