Seamount Mineral Deposits: A Source of Rare Metals for High-Technology Industries

Abstract

e a seamount Mineral Deposits a source of rare Metals for high-techNology iNDustries figure 1. (a,B) two seabed photos showing fe-Mn nodules and fe-Mn crust from horizon guyot.seamount nodules typically have a larger nucleus than abyssal nodules and are really encrusted pebbles and cobbles.(c,D) slabbed samples from the Marshall islands.(c) Thick fe-Mn crust from labibjet seamount.(D) fe-Mn nodule from lomilik seamount.e-g are from east Diamante caldera, Mariana islands.(e) active gray-smoker zinc-sulfide chimneys from 345-m water depth (hein et al., 2005).(f) inactive, oxidized hydrothermal sulfide spire from 375 m (JaMstec, 2009 Natsushima cruise Nt0908).(g) group of inactive zinc-sulfide chimneys from 348 m (JaMstec, 2009, Natsushima cruise Nt0908).Bathymetry from smith and sandwell (JaMstec, 1997), with Mariana islands at the western margin and hawai`i just off the eastern margin; this region is the most prospective for fe-Mn crusts (hein et al., 2009).