skip navigation link

image of ferromanganese nodule cross-section, courtesy Dr. Frank Manheim, USGS.

Marine Geology Data

NOAA & MMS Marine Minerals Bibliography

NGDC Data Set G00497

From 1983 through 1992, the National Geophysical Data Center compiled a comprehensive, computerized bibliography and geochemical database on offshore marine mineral deposits as a cooperative effort with the Ocean Minerals and Energy Division of the National Ocean Service of NOAA, and the Office of International Activities and Marine Minerals (INTERMAR) of the Minerals Management Service. In 1991, the completed database and bibliography were released on CD-ROM.

The NOAA & MMS Marine Minerals CD-ROM Data Set, produced by NGDC and partially funded by INTERMAR, contains the entire NGDC Marine Minerals Bibliography and Geochemical Database and several data files compiled by other organizations. The bibliography is searchable on-line on NGDC's web server. In 2000, the International Seabed Authority reworked the geochemical data from the CD-ROM, and the updated version of the database is now searchable on their Web site (see link at left).

The NGDC Marine Minerals Bibliography includes references to present-day marine deposits of ferromanganese nodules and crusts, placers/heavy minerals, phosphorites, and polymetallic sulfides. The final bibliography contains citations from 1831 through 1990. Information in the file includes author, title, publication/serial title, date of publication, language, etc., as well as several key word categories including geographic area and type of study conducted. Subject key words are annotated with "general" or "technical" to indicate whether a subject was mentioned briefly, or was explored in detail. Key words also include the names of each mineral and each element mentioned in the article. Geographic keys include ocean or sea name, numeric designators for the ocean/sea, the name of any pertinent geographic feature, US exclusive economic zones (e.g. East Coast), and geologic setting.


Visit the updated NOAA & MMS Marine Minerals Geochemical Database at the International Seabed Authority, where they have greatly expanded its scope. The MMBIB identifiers used by the International Seabed Authority marine minerals database can be interpreted using the NOAA and MMS bibliography search, with the exception of new references added after completion of the NOAA and MMS project.