The small-scale distributing characteristics of the polymetallic nodules in the West China Example Area

The small-scale distributing characteristics of the polymetallic nodules in the West China Example Area are revealed by the calculating results of the polymetallic nodules' coverage from deep-sea video recording profiles, associated with under-water position processing data and multi-beams recording data. The results show that the distribution of polymetallic nodules is related to the terrain, coverage of polymetallic nodules changes slowly on the gently terrain, but coverage of polymetallic nodules/crusts increases intensely on the steep terrain because of the growth of nubbly crusts. There is a high coverage of polymetallic nodules in the West China Example Area, the coverage of polymetallic nodules is stable fairly from east to west, but it increases from north to south. The distribution of polymetallic nodules is affected obviously by the terrain slope, the higher slope, the higher coverage of polymetallic nodules, in the slope range of 0° to 3.6°.