674 
waters only when net costs of exploration and production there will com- 
pete favorably with like costs for obtaining those minerals on land or 
beneath shallower waters, or with the costs of obtaining acceptable sub- 
stitutes. 
The hard minerals most frequently mentioned as deep sea resources 
are those found in so-called manganese nodules (i.e., manganese, copper, 
nickel, cobalt). The known onshore deposits of manganese superior to 
the average grade found in the nodules exceeds 100 years of supply of 
the world’s consumption at present rates. The known onshore deposits 
of the other components of the nodules is less, in terms of years of con- 
sumption, but is still measured in four to ten decades, and these metals 
are not immune to competition from substitutes—aluminum for copper, 
for example. This is without reference to the formidable technical prob- 
lems involved in mining beneath water depths nearly twice as great as 
that which crushed the submarine “Thresher”; delivering the ore in 
very large daily tonnages; receiving it on board a floating smelter or 
beneficiating plant which must operate in the open stormy sea in fixed 
positions (or lose contact with the submarine hoisting device); and 
processing it by metallurgical techniques not yet available, but which 
must be devised if these metals are to be separated from the highly 
refractory material containing them. 
With respect to oil and gas, the geologists believe that the major op- 
portunities lie in the sediments of the continental margin—the areas 
which are now subject to coastal jurisdiction—and not in the floor of 
the deep oceans, which is of quite different geologic origin. Aside from 
this, it is valid to expect that development of petroleum resources be- 
neath the oceans will first take place in the shallower areas, for eco- 
nomic reasons. Experience to date has shown that the outlay for moving 
out into deeper water has risen almost in geometric proportion, as re- 
lated to depth. Competition of non-conventional onshore substitutes, 
such as tar sands, oil shale, and hydrogenation of coal, as well as 
other energy sources, such as nuclear fission (and, potentially, nuclear 
fusion) will impose limitations on incentives for petroleum production 
from the deep océan floor. For example, it has been estimated by Chair- 
man Seaborg of the United States Atomic Energy Commission that: 
“|, . fusion of the atoms of heavy hydrogen available in the oceans 
of the world will open up an energy resource equivalent to 500 
Pacific oceans filled with high grade petroleum.’’* 
* Dr. Glen T. Seaborg, “The Proliferation of the Peaceful Atom,” before the 
American Public Power Association, May 11, 1967. 
