—Proper legal-political-fiscal environment to per- 
mit the industry to develop on its own much of 
the required recovery technology. 
—Reconnaissance scale bathymetric, geophysical 
and geological maps. 
—Technical services encompassing large-scale facili- 
ties, technology transfer, and environmental moni- 
toring and prediction. 
Identification of basic engineering problems 
associated with exploration and exploitation and 
development of tools and instrumentation re- 
quired for exploration should be undertaken 
jointly between the private sector and the Federal 
Government in a properly coordinated program. 
Specific technology needs identified for Gov- 
ernment support of the ocean mining industry are 
as follows: 
—Characterization of the geology of our Conti- 
nental Shelf as a guide to further and more specific 
delineation of mineral deposits in particular areas 
by industry. 
—Development of devices for rapid underwater 
exploration for minerals. Examples include equip- 
ment analogous to airborne magnetometer equip- 
ment employed for large-scale explorations on 
shore and devices for more rapid deposit sampling. 
—Information on soil properties of continental 
shelves and deep ocean bottoms in areas in which 
undersea mining operations may be undertaken or 
facilities constructed. This includes load-bearing 
capacity, stability, possibility of submarine land- 
slides, etc. 
—Provision of large facilities for simulating deep 
ocean environments to develop, test, and calibrate 
materials, instruments, and other devices. 
—Development of materials for cables having 
exceptional strength-to-weight ratios, high fatigue 
resistance, and the ability to retain strength in 
seawater. 
—Improvements in predicting, monitoring, and 
controlling major storms, earthquake waves, and 
other environmental hazards to vessels and struc- 
tures. 
VI-190 
—Provision of topographical and sub-bottom maps 
of our Continental Shelf overprinted with gravi- 
metric, magnetic, bottom type, and other geo- 
logical information. 
—Provision of topographical maps and characteri- 
zation of the deep ocean basins. 
—Establishment of a mechanism to accumulate 
and disseminate technical data applicable to off- 
shore mining problems, including Navy data, avail- 
able to industry with as little restriction as 
National security permits. 
—Establishment of improved systems for precise 
location at the sea surface, mid-depth, and on the 
bottom. 
V. CHEMICAL EXTRACTION 
A. Introduction 
1. Elements in the Ocean 
The total volume of the oceans is estimated to 
be 320 million cubic miles.!® Although salinity of 
the several seas varies somewhat, the average is 
approximately 35,000 ppm of dissolved salts, 
equivalent to 165 million short tons per cubic 
mile. The world oceans, therefore, represent a 
storehouse of about 50 million billion tons of 
dissolved materials. 
Figure 50 lists a few of the more important 
dissolved elements. Some 77 elements, including 
atmospheric gases, have been detected. It is quite 
likely that all naturally occurring elements exist in 
the ocean. The lack of detection of the trace 
components is due to analytical limitations. As can 
be seen from the table, the first eight elements 
account for over 99 per cent.'? (Oxygen and 
hydrogen elements are not included.) 
2. Extent of Present Extraction 
a. Overall Production The chemical industry 
extracts various chemicals from the sea water 
column in commercial operations. The processes 
18 Shigley, C.M., “Minerals from the Sea”, Journal of 
Metals, January 1951, p. 3. 
1° McIlhenny, W.F., “Chemicals from Sea Water,” 
Proceedings of the Inter-American Conference on Mate- 
rials Technology, May 1968, p. 120. 
