Metalliferous Sediments of the World Ocean

The monograph describes the distribution, composition and accumulation rates of recent and ancient metalliferous sediments and their components in the oceans and the Red Sea. The processes influencing the formation of composition of metal-bearing matter of the metalliferous sediments, from hydrothermal effluence to accumulation on the ocean floor, are considered, and known patterns in distribution of chemical element contents in the metalliferous sediments are explained. The influence of various natural factors on the formation of metalliferous strata is shown quantitatively. Metalliferous sediments allow the reconstruction of the intensity and position of past hydrothermal activity and associated mineral formation in the ocean. Furthermore, the most probable positions of buried hydrothermal accumulations are reconstructed.The book is aimed at geologists, ore geologists, marine geologists and geochemists, oceanographers including paleo-ceanographers, as well as at undergraduate and graduate students.