Status of manganese nodule samples in the library of marine samples

Abstract

The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology has acquired detailed biological, chemico-physical, and geological data in the northeastern Pacific through a manganese nodule program since 1983. Plenty of manganese nodules were collected to estimate the amount of resources by free-fall grab and box corer. The collected manganese nodules have been archived systematically in the rock and mineral storage section of the Library of Marine Samples (LIMS) since 2012. The LIMS provides essencial information on the stored samples including sample name, nodule type, sampling location, depth, and equipment. Although a high quality database of the information system is under construction, the samples have tagged information for manganese nodules like chemical composition, morphology, weight, size, abundance, and photograph. In this study, we attempted to provide information on the well-organized and easily accessible archived manganese nodule samples for future studies and to introduce the usefulness of the LIMS. © 2014, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute. All rights reserved.