Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Similar to iron ore deposits and oil, particular conditions in the ocean and environment are thought to have contributed to these deposits within the geological past. Phosphate deposits are also formed from alkaline igneous rocks such as nepheline syenites , carbonatites , and associated rock types.
Iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) deposits are considered to be metasomatic expressions of large crustal-scale alteration events driven by intrusive activity. The deposit type was first recognised by discovery and study of the supergiant Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium deposit (Olympic Dam mine), and South American examples.
Most gold is mined as native metal and can be found as nuggets, veins or wires of gold in a rock matrix, or fine grains of gold, mixed in with sediments or bound within rock. The iconic image of gold mining for many is gold panning , which is a method of separating flakes and nuggets of pure gold from river sediments due to their great density .
The high natural abundance of nickel, copper, cobalt, zinc, iron, and manganese in ferromanganese nodules has promoted research into their use as a rare metal resource. The Clarion–Clipperton zone in the northeastern Pacific Ocean has been observed as an area containing the highest concentration of resource-grade nodules. [4]
Telluric iron in Greenland is unique, in that it can be found in nearly all phases of iron-carbon alloys, and with drastically varying crystalline structures. In some rock it is found mixed with basalt as very small grains with sharp corners and irregular shapes, whereas in others the small, grain-sized droplets in the molten magma were able to ...
Iron is stored in many organisms in the form of ferritin, which is a ferrous oxide encased in a solubilizing protein sheath. [ 10 ] Species of bacteria , including Shewanella oneidensis , Geobacter sulfurreducens and Geobacter metallireducens , use iron oxides as terminal electron acceptors .
The iron oxides were denser than water and fell to the ocean floor forming banded iron formations (BIF). [19] Over time, rising oxygen levels removed increasing amounts of iron from the ocean. BIFs have been a key source of iron ore in modern times. [20] [21]
Polymetallic nodules on the deep seabed in the CCZ Example of manganese nodule that can be found on the sea floor. Polymetallic nodules are found at depths of 4–6 km (2.5–3.7 mi) in all major oceans, but also in shallow waters like the Baltic Sea and in freshwater lakes. [23] [24] They are the most readily minable type of deep sea ore. [25]