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 easier accessibility and lower cost of terrestrial ..
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