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Marine Mineral Resources

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Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences

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Synonyms

Seabed mineral resources

Definition

Marine mineral resources are accumulations of minerals that form at or below the seabed and from which metals, minerals, elements, or aggregate might be extracted as a resource. They are distinguished from energy resources such as oil, gas, or gas hydrates and living resources such as fish, although many of the metals potentially available are essential for green-energy applications.

Introduction

Earth provides natural resources including minerals and metals that are vital for human life. At present almost all of these resources are mined on land with large high-grade deposits becoming more and more difficult to find, driving industry to lower-grade sites where mining has greater environmental impacts or to greater depth. At the same time, the global demand for metals is suspected to rise further due to steady population growth, expected to reach 9 billion by the year 2050 (United Nations, 2014), and strong economic growth of countries such...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung GEOMAR, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148, Kiel, Germany

    Sven Petersen

Authors
  1. Sven Petersen
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Correspondence to Sven Petersen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland

    Jan Harff

  2. Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

    Martin Meschede

  3. Leibiniz Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Sven Petersen

  4. Academy of Sciences, Humanities, and Lit c/o Helmholtz-Center for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany

    Jörn Thiede

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Petersen, S. (2015). Marine Mineral Resources. In: Harff, J., Meschede, M., Petersen, S., Thiede, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_27-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_27-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6644-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Marine Mineral Resources
    Published:
    08 July 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_27-2

  2. Original

    Marine Mineral Resources
    Published:
    16 March 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_27-1

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