Synonyms
Fe-Mn nodules; Ferromanganese nodules; Iron-manganese nodules; Polymetallic nodules
Definition
Manganese and iron oxide mineral deposits formed on or just below the sediment-covered surface of the deep-ocean seabed by accretion (precipitation) of oxide layers around a nucleus, thereby forming nodules of various shapes and sizes and which contain minor but significant amounts of nickel, copper, cobalt, lithium, molybdenum, zirconium, and rare earth elements.
Introduction
The existence of manganese (Mn) nodules (Figure 1) has been known since the late 1800s when they were collected during the Challenger expedition of 1873–1876. However, it was not until after WWII that nodules were further studied in detail for their ability to adsorb metals from seawater. Many of the early studies did not distinguish Mn nodules from Mn crusts. Economic interest in Mn nodules began in the late 1950s and early 1960s when John Mero finished his Ph.D. thesis on this subject, which was published in...
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Bibliography
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Hein, J.R. (2016). Manganese Nodules. In: Harff, J., Meschede, M., Petersen, S., Thiede, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6238-1_26
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