Manganese nodule occurrence in the Tasman Sea

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Abstract
Abundant large, discoidal manganese nodules have been recovered at two sites in the Tasman Sea south‐east of Sydney. The nodules have todorokite as the main manganese oxide phase, high Mn/Fe ratios (av. 2.5), and moderate concentrations of Ni (av. 0.83%) and Cu (av. 0.40%). They therefore have many of the characteristics of nodules with a diagenetic input of Mn from the underlying sediments. The nodules are formed in the Tasman abyssal hill province on brown clay sediments at depths > 4500 m. They occupy a narrow belt off the coast of Australia between the Tasman abyssal plain and the foothills of the Lord Howe Rise where sedimentation rates are low enough for nodules to form in abundance.