◆Research findings by Professor Minoru Ikehara and colleagues at the International Marine Core Research Institute have been published in the journal *Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology*
Release Date:
Research team from Chiba Institute of Technology, the University of Tokyo, and Kochi University uncovers the diversity of “oxygen-depleted oceans” throughout Earth’s history
Using a New Data-Driven Approach
—New Developments in the Exploration of Rare Metal Resources in the Ocean—
A research team led by Professor Minoru Ikehara of the International Research Institute for Marine Core Research analyzed the chemical composition of sedimentary rocks (black shales) formed in oxygen-depleted oceans and identified factors contributing to the enrichment of rare metals. This finding enables the reconstruction of oxygen-depleted marine environments and has been shown to be useful for the exploration of rare metal resources.Furthermore, by analyzing sediments from the Permian–Triassic boundary, the Cretaceous oceanic anoxic event, and the present day, the team identified distinct patterns of element enrichment. While previous studies on the chemical composition of sediments formed in oxygen-depleted or anoxic oceans have focused on individual time periods or specific elements, this study is the first to reveal both the universality and specificity of the chemical composition of black shales across different time periods and oceanic regions.
These findings provide important insights that contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying element enrichment in black shales formed during an oxygen-deficient era, as well as the environmental changes on Earth that led to this phenomenon.
The research findings were published on April 7, 2025, in *Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology*, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
[Paper Information]
Journal Title: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology (Publication Date: April 7, 2025)
Title of Thesis: Geochemical variations in sedimentary records of oxygen-depleted marine environments during representative geological periods: New perspectives from an independent component analysis
Authors: Moei Yano, Kazutaka Yasukawa, Kentaro Nakamura, Junichiro Kuroda, Minoru Ikehara, Hikaru Iwamori, Yasuhiro Kato