Paleoceanography and heavy metal enrichment of mudstones in the Green Tuff region, Northeastern Japan

Abstract

A series of mudstones corresponding to N.8 to N.17 of Blow from the Uyashinai Mudstone Member, the Onnagawa Formation and the Funakawa Formation in the Taiheizan area of the central Green Tuff region, northeast Japan, was examined by chemical analysis. According to conventional chemical systematics, the mudstones are analyzed in terms of detrital, biogenic-A (siliceous), biogenic-B (calcareous) and hydrogenous components. The relative contribution of the biogenic-A (siliceous) component increases in upward succession in the Uyashinai and Onnagawa mudstones, whereas the contribution of the biogenic-B (calcareous) component is restricted to the lower Uyashinai mudstones. The contribution of hydrogenous components Zn, Pb, Cu and Ba tends to increase during the Nishikurosawa stage, and decreases near the Nishikurosawa/Onnagawa boundary (Pb and Ba) or in the Onnagawa stage (Zn and Cu). The observed enrichment of heavy metals in the Uyashinai mudstones is attributed to the onset of vigorous upwelling of deep water with higher nutrient and metal content associated with a contemporaneous change in global deep-water circulation.