Abstract
Detailed bathymetric surveys from part of the Central Indian Ocean revealed several bathymetric features such as hills, slopes, valleys, and plains. Areas with a local relief of a few to hundreds of meters generally have a high abundance of polymetallic nodules with a patchy distribution. Areas with less relief have lesser abundance but a regular distribution. North-south topographic profiles have a smoother sea floor than the east-west ones. Near the minor faults, the abundance is high. Mn,Ni,Mn/Fe levels are higher in the plain areas, and rough terrains have high Fe,Co and low Mn/Fe levels.
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Kodagali, V. Influence of regional and local topography on the distribution of polymetallic nodules in Central Indian Ocean Basin. Geo-Marine Letters 8, 173–178 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02326094
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02326094