American (U.S.) activities in marine mineral deposits

Abstract

Research efforts in marine mineral deposits in the United States (U.S.) are spread among different agencies, and focused on resource assessment, exploration and discovery, and understanding seafloor hydrothermal systems and related processes. Significant efforts have been made to explore and discover new sites of hydrothermal activity on slow and ultraslow spreading ridges, associated with volcanic arcs, and in back-arc basins, and to develop new platforms, vehicles, and tools for carrying out this exploration. The focus of these programs is on understanding the effects of hydrothermal venting on the global ocean, including deep-sea eco-systems, and on the search for and study of the chemical and microbiological systems at deep-sea vents. The most significant source of funding for research relevant to marine mineral deposits is the National Science Foundation (NSF), with an emphasis on understanding hydrothermal circulation and all of its ramifications, including to ocean crust composition, seawater composition, mineral deposit formation, and biological productivity in the deep-sea. Significant efforts have been made by the NSF Ridge 2000 Program to link heat and mass transfer from the mantle through the crust to the biosphere, through comprehensive study of three very different ridge systems. In addition, NSF has continued to fund investigations of hydrothermal systems and associated deposits and biological communities in a wide range of settings, including in back-arc basins, and on slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges.