Geochemical anomalies spatial distribution of deep soil manganese in China and implications for potential prospects

Manganese, as the national mass shortage strategic mineral resources, is fairly useful in modern industry. In recent years, the strategic position of manganese resources has risen sharply, and manganese resource exploration has also received increasing attention.It is crucial to determine the concentrations and distribution of Mn in China to facilitate prospecting for new Mn deposits and relieving Mn shortage in China.This paper provides an insight into national-scale geochemical concentration abundances and anomalous distribution of manganese in deep soil based on data of a total of 3392 catchment sediment samples.It is concluded that average concentration values of Mn in deep samples are 610 mg/kg and geochemical background values of Mn in deep samples are 574 mg/kg. A total of 31 geochemical anomalies were delineated respectively based on the 85% cumulative percentage and 15 geochemical provinces that were selected.According to the spatial distribution of manganese anomalies, combined with geological background and manganese deposit distribution, eight anomalies are proposed as potential prospects for further exploration of manganese deposit.