The Manihiki Plateau is an elevated area of shallow oceanic crust in the South Pacific; it was formed during Early Cretaceous time by profuse outpourings of basalt. DSDP Holes 317, 317A, and 317B, on which this account is based, are situated in a basinal area on the so called High Plateau, the shallowest part of the volcanic edifice, where depths range between 2000 and 3000 meters. The oldest sediments cored are Lower Cretaceous greenish-black volcaniclastics traversed by reddish-purple clay seams; these deposits commonly show evidence of redeposition, but the only possible shallow-water remains found are very rare bryozoan and echinoderm fragments.

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1989 NOAA-NCEI compiled the NOAA-MMS Marine Minerals Geochemical Database from journal articles, technical reports and unpublished sources from other institutions.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: Jenkyns, Hugh C (1976): Sediments and Sedimentary History, Manihiki Plateau, South Pacific Ocean. In: Schlanger, S.O.; Jackson, E.D.; et al., Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, U.S. Government Printing Office, XXXIII, 873-890