Manganese Pavements on the Blake Plateau

Abstract

Dredge samples and photographs from the Blake Plateau, off the southeast coast of the United States, indicate that a layer of manganese oxide forms pavement that may be continuous over an area af about 5000 square kilometers. The manganese pavement grades into round manganese nodules to the south and east and into phosphate nodules to the west. The Gulf Stream probably maintains a very unusual environment that prohibits deposition of clastic sediment and permits accretion of manganese pavements.