Manganese Nodules On Ocean Floor

Manganese nodules are usually located at depths below 4000m and are composed primarily of manganese and iron and elements of economic interest including cobalt copper and nickel and make up a total of around 3 by weight margolis and burns 1976.

Manganese nodules on ocean floor.

As nodules can be found in vast quantities and contain valuable metals deposits have been identified as having economic interest. Proponents of mining stress that manganese nodules and cobalt crusts are present as thin layers lying directly on the sea floor or on the flanks of seamounts. In contrast to ore deposits on land they are thus a two dimensional resource that can theoretically be extracted with relatively little effort. It is located in the central indian ocean.

Manganese nodules are polymetallic rock concretions on the sea bottom formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese oxi hydroxides. The rare earth metal. Ocean mining sites are usually around large areas of polymetallic nodules or active and extinct hydrothermal vents at 1 400 to 3 700 metres 4 600 to 12 100 ft below the ocean s surface. The vents create globular or massive sulfide deposits which contain valuable metals such as silver gold copper manganese cobalt and zinc.

This recently discovered batch located several hundred miles east of barbados is the largest yet discovered in the atlantic ocean. Large areas in the cook islands coastal waters have concentrations of over 25 kilograms of manganese nodules per square metre of sea floor. So far only a single large area of manganese nodules has been discovered here with an area comparable to that of the penrhyn basin. Though generally composed of manganese hence the name they can also be made of iron nickel copper and other metals.

Polymetallic nodules also called manganese nodules are rock concretions on the sea bottom formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides around a core. Polymetallic nodules like this one made of layers of iron and manganese sit on the deep seabed. Deep sea mining companies are hunting for these nodules to use in the technology industry but. Manganese nodules are found scattered on the ocean floor.

These nodules occur in most oceans even in some lakes and.