LOW TEMPERATURE IRON DEPOSITS AS A PROSPECTING INDICA TOR OF POLIMETALLIC SULPHIDES OF HYDROTERMALVENT FIELDS OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
Mineral and elemental composition of the low temperature iron deposits that have been formed over the shell surfaces of the Bathymodiolus azoricus bivalve mollusks, which inhabit peripheric areas of the deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields Rainbow and Broken Spur at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, was studied. The major minerals of these deposits are ferrihydrite and getite, protoferrihydrite and hematite being found as minor minerals. These deposits are enriched in a number of economically valuable metals such as Ni, Zn, Cr, As, Cu, Co, Pb. Key words: low temperature iron deposits, ferrihydrite, getite, protoferrihydrite, bivalve mollusks shells Bathymodiolus sp.