Manganese nodule taken at 13°49'N, 129°55'W 

 in the North Pacific. This nodule had high copper 

 and nickel content. 



and legal problems are receiving the attention of industry and 

 international governmental bodies. 



The nodules apparently grew at a rate involving millions 

 of years whereas the sedimentary substrata on which they rest 

 grow at a rate involving thousands of years, yet the nodules 

 are not buried. What process causes this "floatation?" Why are 

 the nodules round? Why do they grow concentrically? What 

 process concentrates significant amounts of copper and nickel 

 in nodules resting on substrata devoid of these elements? Will 

 answers to these questions make it possible to predict favorable 

 areas for exploration? 



Phase I of the Manganese Nodule Study consisted of an 

 assessment of all available information, records, and samples 

 in geological archives, laboratories, and data banks. This com- 

 pilation indicated an area near Hawaii as being unusually rich 

 in copper and nickel nodules. 



Phase II of the study is now underway to collect well- 

 defined suites of samples (including substrata and bottom 



waters) and, through interrelated studies of varying approach, 

 to identify and investigate significant parameters. This phase, 

 known as the Inter-University Ferromanganese Program, will 

 focus on factors in the transition cycles of the elements from 

 their sources in the ocean to their ultimate deposition as sea- 

 floor nodules, including: the physical and chemical nature of 

 nodules; distribution of nodule-forming elements in seawater 

 and substrata, including pore water; role of biological agents 

 in nodule formation; and the influence of bottom currents, 

 temperature, topography, composition, and processes. Among 

 the investigated factors will be: 



• Concentration of source elements in dissolved and particulate 

 form in seawater columns associated with ferromanganese 

 oxide sediments — an investigation that will draw directly on, 

 and interact with, the GEOSECS program; including inter- 

 calibration studies in the Atlantic and Pacific. 

 Bender (University of Rhode Island) 

 Zeitlin (University of Hawaii) 



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