Lanthanides marine hydrothermal waters

This handbook article combines an up-to-date tabulation of the lanthanide composition of the ocean with a description of lanthanide distributions in the context of physical, chemical and biogeochemical processes controlling these distributions. The focus of this chapter is water column biogeochemistry. While pore waters and hydrothermal waters will be considered in this article, the extensive literature on the lanthanide geochemistry of minerals and marine sediments will not be discussed. 

Lanthanide cycling in anoxic marine basins, pore waters and hydrothermal waters... 

In summary, extensive research has been carried out on the lanthanide geochemistry of marine hydrothermal vent systems. Lanthanides are good indicators of water/rock reactions between hydrothermal fluids and basalt, and reactions between Fe oxide particles and seawater. While the lanthanides undergo an active geochemical cycle in and above venting fluids, this cycle is not quantitatively significant with respect to river water fluxes and oceanic cycles and inventory. 

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