SEA-BED 

 ASSESSMENT PROGRAM 



The Seabed Assessment Program focuses on three major areas: 

 The continental margins, the deep ocean floor, and the oceanic rifts and 

 trenches. Broad justification for these choices is based on the significant 

 resources of petroleum, sulfur, and hard minerals already found in 

 some areas of the continental margins. The deep ocean floor appears to 

 be a favorable environment for accumulation of manganese nodules in 

 economic quantities. The mid-oceanic rifts and trenches, judging from 

 recent findings, are potential sources of heavy metals. Indeed, under- 

 standing the mechanism which forms the rifts could provide a valuable 

 exploration tool in the search for new mineral deposits on land. 



EASTERN ATLANTIC CONTINENTAL MARGIN 



At present, the greatest economic benefits from the sea are from com- 

 mercial catches of fish, but the production of oil and gas — a close second — 

 will probably dominate by 1980. All of the present marine production of 

 geological resources (oil, sulfur, sand and gravel, and heavy minerals), all 

 of the chemical resources (salt, magnesium, and bromine), and perhaps 

 90 percent of the living resources (fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and algae) 

 come from the continental shelves. The 1970 annual market value of all 

 of these resources was about $12 billion. 



Few continental margins are considered well known from the geo- 

 logical point of view. They are shown in Figure 24. The uneven distribu- 

 tion of existing sediment samples and geophysical data prevented, until 



49 



Figure 24. Continental margins of the world. 



□ POORLY KNOWN 



MODERATELY KNOWN 

 BEST KNOWN 



