Article Mineralogy of Cobalt-Rich Ferromanganese Crusts from the Perth Abyssal Plain (E Indian Ocean) Łukasz Maciąg 1,*, Dominik Zawadzki 1, Gabriela A. Kozub-Budzyń 2, Adam Piestrzyński 2, Ryszard A. Kotliński 1 and Rafał J. Wróbel 3 1 Faculty of Geosciences, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of Szczecin, Mickiewicza 16A, 70383 Szczecin, Poland;
[email protected] (Ł.M);
[email protected] (D.Z.);
[email protected] (R.A.K.) 2 Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, Department of Economic Geology, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30, 30059 Kraków, Poland;
[email protected] (G.A.K.-B.);
[email protected] (A.P.) 3 Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering, West Pomeranian University of Technology Szczecin, Pułaskiego 10, 70322 Szczecin, Poland;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +48-91-444-2371 Received: 26 December 2018; Accepted: 27 January 2019; Published: 29 January 2019 Abstract: Mineralogy of phosphatized and zeolitized hydrogenous cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts from Dirck Hartog Ridge (DHR), the Perth Abyssal Plain (PAP), formed on an altered basaltic substrate, is described. Detail studies of crusts were conducted using optical transmitted light microscopy, X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF), Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) and Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA). The major Fe-Mn mineral phases that form DHR crusts are low-crystalline vernadite, asbolane and a feroxyhyte-ferrihydrite mixture. Accessory minerals are Ca-hydroxyapatite, zeolites (Na-phillipsite, chabazite, heulandite-clinoptilolite), glauconite and several clay minerals (Fe-smectite, nontronite, celadonite) are identified in the basalt-crust border zone.