Yes, there is gold in the ocean.

Ocean waters do hold gold – nearly 20 million tons of it. However, if you were hoping make your fortune mining the sea, consider this: Gold in the ocean is so dilute that its concentration is on the order of parts per trillion. Each liter of seawater contains, on average, about 13 billionths of a gram of gold.

There is also (undissolved) gold in/on the seafloor. The ocean, however, is deep, meaning that gold deposits are a mile or two under water. And once you reach the ocean floor, you’ll find that gold deposits are also encased in rock that must be mined through. Not easy.

Currently, there really isn’t a cost-effective way to mine or extract gold from the ocean to make a profit. But, if we could extract all of that gold, there’s enough of it that each person on Earth could have nine pounds of the precious metal. Eureka!

For more information:
Why is the ocean salty? – U.S. Geological Survey
“Ocean Planet” Oceanographic Facts – NASA SeaWIFS

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Seamounts — undersea mountains formed by volcanic activity — were once thought to be little more than hazards to submarine navigation. Today, scientists recognize these structures as biological hotspots that support a dazzling array of marine life.

The biological richness of seamount habitats results from the shape of these undersea mountains. Thanks to the steep slopes of seamounts, nutrients are carried upwards from the depths of the oceans toward the sunlit surface, providing food for creatures ranging from corals to fish to crustaceans.

New estimates suggest that, taken together, seamounts encompass about 28.8 million square kilometers of the Earth's surface. That's larger than deserts, tundra, or any other single land-based global habitat on the planet.

For more information
Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
New Report Revises Estimate of Worldwide Seamount Distribution (NOS News, May 2010)
The Hidden World of Seamounts (Making Waves podcast, 5.13.10)
Seamount Fly-Through (YouTube video)

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Seamounts are formed by volcanic activity and can be taller than 3,000 meters (10,000 feet).  They can be isolated or part of large mountain chains. The New England Seamount contains more than 30 peaks that stretch 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) from the coast of New England.

Seamounts often have a high level of biological productivity because they provide habitats for many species of plants and animals. Over 200 species of sea creatures have been observed at a single guyot in the New England Seamount. Seamounts are great locations to discover new species because each seamount houses different types of animals, including many that can only be found in guyot habitats.

Seamounts are home to many commercial fish and are therefore very beneficial to our economy. Seamounts are also important to the field of medicine, as any number of undiscovered species may lead to new drugs or medical treatments.

For more information:
Mountains in the Sea Exploration: No Escape (pdf, 1.2Mb), NOAA Ocean Explorer
Davidson Seamount, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

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Underwater volcanoes at spreading ridges and convergent plate boundaries produce hot springs known as hydrothermal vents.

Scientists first discovered hydrothermal vents in 1977 while exploring an oceanic spreading ridge near the Galapagos Islands. To their amazement, the scientists also found that the hydrothermal vents were surrounded by large numbers of organisms that had never been seen before. These biological communities depend upon chemical processes that result from the interaction of seawater and hot magma associated with underwater volcanoes.

Hydrothermal vents are the result of seawater percolating down through fissures in the ocean crust in the vicinity of spreading centers or subduction zones (places on Earth where two tectonic plates move away or towards one another). The cold seawater is heated by hot magma and reemerges to form the vents. Seawater in hydrothermal vents may reach temperatures of over 340°C (700°F).

Hot seawater in hydrothermal vents does not boil because of the extreme pressure at the depths where the vents are formed.


For more information:
Loihi Submarine Volcano: A Unique, Natural Extremophile Laboratory, NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
Hydrothermal Vents Program, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

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Volcanic eruptions occur only in certain places and do not occur randomly. This is because the Earth’s crust is broken into a series of slabs known as tectonic plates. These plates are rigid, but they “float” on a hotter, softer layer in the Earth's interior. As the plates move, they spread apart, collide, or slide past each other.

Sixty percent of all active volcanoes occur at the boundaries between tectonic plates. Most volcanoes are found along a belt, called the “Ring of Fire” that encircles the Pacific Ocean. Some volcanoes, like those that form the Hawaiian Islands, occur in the interior of plates at areas called “hot spots.”

Although most of the active volcanoes we see on land occur where plates collide, the greatest number of the Earth's volcanoes are hidden from view, occurring on the ocean floor along spreading ridges.

For more information:
Teachers Guide to Stratovolcanoes of the World
New Zealand American Submarine Ring of Fire 2007, NOAA Ocean Explorer
Submarine Ring of Fire 2004, NOAA Ocean Explorer
'Kick'em Jenny' Volcano, NOAA Ocean Explorer

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The longest mountain range on Earth is called the mid-ocean ridge. Spanning 65,000 kilometers (40,389 miles) around the globe, it's truly a global landmark.

About 90 percent of the mid-ocean ridge system is under the ocean. This system of mountains and valleys criss-crosses the globe, resembling the stitches in a baseball. It's formed by the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates.

As the great plates push apart, mountains and valleys form along the sea floor as magma rises up to fill the gaps. As the Earth's crust spreads, new ocean floor is created. This process literally renews the surface of our planet.

If you look at a map of the world's volcanoes, you'll find that most of them form along the boundaries of this great system. In fact, the global mid-ocean ridge system forms the largest single volcanic feature on the Earth. The mid-ocean ridge consists of thousands of individual volcanoes or volcanic ridge segments which periodically erupt.

For more information:
Submarine Ring of Fire, NOAA's Ocean Exlporer
NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration
NOAA's Vents Program (undersea volcano and hydrothermal venting research)

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