The uptake of Ni and Co in the hydrous Mn oxide or the amorphous Fe-oxide phases of ferromanganese deposits in the oceans was studied by electron-microprobe analyses of 17 natural manganese nodules and by experiments on desorption-dissolution of these metals from synthetic Fe oxide or Mn oxides and natural nodule material. Ni was found to occur nearly always in the Mn-oxide phases of natural nodules, while Co occurs both in the Mn-oxide and Fe-oxide phases, with a slight preference for the latter. The solubility of Ni and Co (from coprecipitates of these metals with Fe hydroxides after aging) in seawater was found to depend strongly on the crystallinity of the host phase. The adsorption of Co by the synthetic Mn oxides from seawater was higher than that of Ni. The experimentally determined solubility of Ni and Co in seawater from natural nodule material is extremely low and matches the concentration range of these metals in ocean water.

From 1983 until 1989 NOAA-NCEI compiled the NOAA-MMS Marine Minerals Geochemical Database from journal articles, technical reports and unpublished sources from other institutions. At the time it was the most extended data compilation on ferromanganese deposits world wide. Initially published in a proprietary format incompatible with present day standards it was jointly decided by AWI and NOAA to transcribe this legacy data into PANGAEA. This transfer is augmented by a careful checking of the original sources when available and the encoding of ancillary information (sample description, method of analysis...) not present in the NOAA-MMS database.

Supplement to: van der Weijden, Cornelis H (1976): Some geochemical controls on Ni and Co concentrations in marine ferromanganese deposits. Chemical Geology, 18(1), 65-80