Historical introduction

Abstract

Large quantities of nodules displaying a wide range of morphologies and internal structure were recovered from the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. The nodules were shown to consist of concentric bands of ferromanganese oxides around such diverse nuclei as pumice, coral, phosphorite nodules, volcanic ash, palagonite, sharks' teeth, and glacial erratics. A slow growth rate for the nodules was established and some of the nodules were shown to have broken in situ and subsequently accreted manganese around the broken surfaces. Great diversity in appearance in the nodules was noted but nodules from a single site were similar in appearance and differed in size, form, and internal appearance from those at another station; “so much so that now, after a detailed study of the collections, it is usually possible for us to state at sight from which challenger station any particular nodule had been produced”. © 1977, Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.