The comparative measurements of helium isotope compositions between marine polymetallic nodules and their surrounding sediments, their magnetic fractions and bulk from C-C Zone of the East Pacific Basin are reported. The 4He content and 3He/4He ratio of polymetallic nodules and their surrounding sediments are extremely high; the 3He, 4He concentrations and most 3He/4He ratios of magnetic fractions in nodules and sediments are apparently higher than those in bulk. The helium isotope data points of nodules and sediments are all distributed along or closely to the mixing curve of the interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and the terrigenous sediments in the chart of 3He-3He/4He. In the same sampling site, the 3He/4He ratios of nodules and their surrounding sediments are very similar, and the changes of both ratios are synchronous. It shows that the high 3He/4He ratios in nodules and sediments may all result from IDPs. So, if the flux of extraterrestrial 3He into the nodules and sediments is constant, the growth rate of polymetallic nodules and the sedimentation rate of sediments can be independently calculated according to the concentration of extraterrestrial 3He in nodules and sediments.
Tellurium is a sort of scattered rare element on the earth. Its concentration is very low in earth’s crust, only 1.0 ng/g. However, it has extremely high abundance in Co-rich crusts, marine polymetallic nodules, deep-sea sediments and aerolites. To find out the origin of tellurium enrichment in deep-sea sediments, we analyzed and compared tellurium concentrations and helium isotope compositions in the magnetic parts and those in the bulk parts of deep-sea sediments. The result indicates that the helium content, 3He/4He ratio and tellurium concentration are obviously higher in the magnetic parts than those in the bulk parts. The 3He abundance varies synchronously with the tellurium concentration. 3He and Te have a distinct positive correlation with each other. It is the first time that the paper brings forward that the extreme enrichment of tellurium in deep-sea sediments, like helium isotope anomalies, probably results from the input of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). Similarly, the extreme enrichment of tellurium in marine polymetallic nodules and Co-rich crusts is possibly related to IDPs.
