tries have encouraged development of these ores by surveying their 
continental shelves. The Union of South Africa, New Zealand, and 
Australia, among others, have conducted or supported mineral sur- 
veys of the shelf. The United States is in the initial stages of such 
surveying, and we recommend that this program be accelerated. This 
is in line with our general recommendation that the Federal Govern- 
ment provide the same service in support of industry on the conti- 
nental shelves as it does on land (see sec. 10.2). Development of new 
capabilities in undersea technology recommended in this report should 
greatly enhance the economic potential of mineral deposits discovered 
by Government surveys. 
Geologically, rocks under the Continental Shelf differ in no sig- 
nificant manner from those of the adjacent continent. Hence, they 
probably contain the same mineral deposits. This has been confirmed 
by widespread exploitation of oil and gas. Ina few places, moreover, 
mines have been extended from land under the sea. However, the 
economic potential of solid-mineral deposits within the submerged 
rock of the shelf appears minimal. The Geological Survey is deter- 
mining the general structure of this submerged continental margin, 
and we recommend that this work be accelerated in order to bring it 
to the same level as geological mapping on land. 
The deep-sea floor (under 2 or 3 miles of water) is paved in many 
places with nodules containing manganese, iron, cobalt, copper, and 
nickel in concentrations which approach the mineable levels on land. 
The potential resource is enormous, but the economic or mineable 
potential is certainly much less. The distribution, nature, and origin 
of the nodules are the subject of research presently supported by the 
Federal Government. In addition several mining companies have 
conducted special surveys of apparently promising deposits of nodules 
discovered in the course of oceanographic research. We consider this 
to be an appropriate division of Government and private effort and 
see no requirement for accelerated research on potential mineral re- 
sources of the deep-sea floor. 
