The NOAA and MMS Marine Minerals Bibliography

From 1983 through 1992, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) compiled a comprehensive, computerized bibliography of offshore marine mineral deposits as a cooperative effort with the Ocean Minerals and Energy Division of the NOAA National Ocean Service, and the Office of International Activities and Marine Minerals (INTERMAR) of the Minerals Management Service (MMS). In October of 1992, the NOAA and MMS Marine Minerals Bibliography (MMBIB) was released as a compact disc.
The bibliography includes over 17,000 citations of references to sea floor deposits of ferromanganese (polymetallic) nodules and crusts, placers/heavy minerals, phosphorites, and polymetallic sulfides published from 1831 through 1990. References include key word categories indicating geographic area and type of study conducted. Subject key words are annotated with "general" or "technical" to indicate whether a subject was mentioned briefly, or was explored in detail. Key words also include the names of each mineral and each element mentioned in the article. Geographic keys include ocean or sea name, numeric designators for the ocean/sea, the name of any pertinent geographic feature, US exclusive economic zones (e.g. East Coast), and geologic setting.
The NOAA and MMS Marine Minerals CD-ROM Data Set, produced by NGDC and partially funded by INTERMAR, contains the entire NGDC Marine Minerals Bibliography and Geochemical Database and several data files compiled by other organizations. The bibliography is searchable on-line on NGDC's web server.
The NOAA and MMS Marine Minerals Bibliography and geochemical database was incorporated by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) into their online compilation, which uses the NGDC MMBIB identification system for references.