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Oceans cover 70 percent of Earth's surface, host a vast variety of geological processes
responsible for the formation and concentration of mineral resources, and are the ultimate
repository of many materials eroded or dissolved from the land surface. Hence, oceans contain
vast quantities of materials that presently serve as major resources for humans. Today, direct
extraction of resources is limited to salt; magnesium; placer gold, tin, titanium, and diamonds;
and fresh water.
Ancient ocean deposits of sediments and evaporites now located on land were originally
deposited under marine conditions. These deposits are being exploited on a very large scale
and in preference to modern marine resources because of the easieraccessibility and lower cost
of terrestrial resources. Yet the increasing population and the exhaustion of readily accessible
terrestrial deposits undoubtedly will lead to broader exploitation of ancient deposits and
increasing extraction directly from ocean water and ocean basins .
These mounds of sea salt were mined from deeply buried beds deposited when sea water evaporated in an ancient
environment. The beds were preserved by being covered and then uplifted in a modern terrestrial setting. Mining
accounts for most of the annual salt production, even though it also can be obtained by evaporating ocean water.
Salt.
Salt, or sodium chloride, occurs in sea water at a concentration of about 3 percent and hence
constitutes more than 80 percent of the dissolved chemical elements in sea water. The quantity
available in all the oceans is so enormous that it could supply all human needs for hundreds,
perhaps thousands, of years. Although salt is extracted directly from the oceans in many
countries by evaporating the water and leaving the residual salts, most of the nearly 200
million metric tons of salt produced annually is mined from large beds of salt. These beds, now
deeply buried, were left when waters from ancient oceans evaporated in shallow seas or
marginal basins, leaving residual thick beds of salt; the beds were subsequently covered and
protected from solution and destruction.
Potassium.
Like the sodium and chlorine of salt, potassium occurs in vast quantities in sea water, but its
average concentration of about 1,300 parts per million (or 0.13 percent) is generally too low to
permit direct economic extraction. Potassium salts, however, occur in many thick evaporite
sequences along with common salt and is mined from these beds at rates of tens of millions of
metric tons per year. The potassium salts were deposited when sea water had been evaporated
down to about one-twentieth of its original volume.
Magnesium.
Magnesium, dissolved in sea water at a concentration of about 1,000 parts per million, is the
only metal directly extracted from sea water. Presently, approximately 60 percent of the
magnesium metal and many of the magnesium salts produced in the United States are
extracted from sea water electrolytically. The remaining portion of the magnesium metal and
salts is extracted from ancient ocean deposits where the salts precipitated during evaporation
or formed during diagenesis . The principal minerals mined for this purpose are magnesite
(MgCO 3 ) and dolomite (CaMg[CO 3 ] 2 ).
Sand and Gravel.
The ocean basins constitute the ultimate depositional site of sediments eroded from the land,
and beaches represent the largest residual deposits of sand. Although beaches and near-shore
sediments are locally extracted for use in construction, they are generally considered too
valuable as recreational areas to permit removal for construction purposes. Nevertheless, older
beach sand deposits are abundant on the continents, especially the coastal plains, where they
are extensively mined for construction materials, glass manufacture, and preparation of silicon
metal. Gravel deposits generally are more heterogeneous but occur in the same manner, and
are processed extensively for building materials.