I lead the USGS Global Marine Minerals project, which you can learn more about here. My work focuses on the geochemistry of marine minerals including all aspects of water-rock interactions such as precipitation, alteration, and the role of nanoparticles in mineral accumulation.
Science and Products
Global Marine Mineral Resources
Researching seafloor mineral resources that occur within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and areas beyond national jurisdictions.
Marine mineral geochemical data - Part One: Pacific Ocean USGS-affiliated historical data
This data release compiles element composition data for more than 600 deep-ocean mineral samples from more than 25 research cruises in the Pacific Ocean since 1979 that involved USGS researchers. Deep-ocean mineral sample types encompassed in this data release include ferromanganese crusts, manganese nodules, phosphorites, and hydrothermal minerals. This data release is comprised of both unpublish
Measurements of zinc, oxygen, and pH, from sphalerite and ZnS oxidation in seawater
This data release presents the concentration of zinc, oxygen, pH, temperature, and the time point at which measurements were taken for experimental oxidation work regarding zinc and copper sulfide minerals.
These data accompany the following publication: Gartman, A., Whisman, S.P., and Hein, J.R., 2020, Interactive oxidation of sphalerite and covellite in seawater: implications for seafloor
Filter Total Items: 16
Marine minerals in Alaska — A review of coastal and deep-ocean regions
Minerals occurring in marine environments span the globe and encompass a broad range of mineral categories, forming within varied geologic and oceanographic settings. They occur in coastal regions, either from the continuation or mechanical reworking of terrestrial mineralization, as well as in the deep ocean, from diagenetic, hydrogenetic, and hydrothermal processes. The oceans cover most of the
Authors
Amy Gartman, Kira Mizell, Douglas C. Kreiner
Estimates of metals contained in abyssal manganese nodules and ferromanganese crusts in the global ocean based on regional variations and genetic types of nodules
Deep-ocean ferromanganese crusts and manganese nodules are important marine repositories for global metals. Interest in these minerals as potential resources has led to detailed sampling in many regions of the global ocean, allowing for updated estimates of their global extent. Here, we present global estimates of total tonnage as well as contained metal concentrations and tonnages for ferromangan
Authors
Kira Mizell, James R. Hein, Manda Viola Au, Amy Gartman
Extent of impact of deep-sea nodule mining midwater plumes is influenced by sediment loading, turbulence and thresholds
Deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining research activity has substantially increased in recent years, but the expected level of environmental impact is still being established. One environmental concern is the discharge of a sediment plume into the midwater column. We performed a dedicated field study using sediment from the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone. The plume was monitored and tracked using
Authors
Carlos Munoz-Royo, Thomas Peacock, Matthew Alford, Jerome Smith, Arnaud Le Boyer, Chinmay Kulkarni, Pierre Lermusiaux, Patrick Haley, C Mirabito, Dayang Wang, Eric Adams, Raphael Ouillon, Alexander Breugem, Boudewijn Decrop, Thijs Lanckreit, Rohit Supekar, Andrew Rzeznik, Amy Gartman, Se-Jong Ju
Carbonate-hosted microbial communities are prolific and pervasive methane oxidizers at geologically diverse marine methane seep sites
At marine methane seeps, vast quantities of methane move through the shallow subseafloor, where it is largely consumed by microbial communities. This process plays an important role in global methane dynamics, but we have yet to identify all of the methane sinks in the deep sea. Here, we conducted a continental-scale survey of seven geologically diverse seafloor seeps and found that carbonate rock
Authors
Jeffrey J. Marlow, Daniel Hoer, Sean Jungbluth, Linda Reynard, Amy Gartman, Marko S. Chavez, Mohamed Y. El-Naggar, Noreen Tuross, Victoria Orphan, Peter R. Girguis
Sphalerite oxidation in seawater with covellite: Implications for seafloor massive sulfide deposits and mine waste
Metal sulfide minerals exist in several marine environments and are in thermodynamic disequilibrium with oxygenated seawater from the time of their formation. Oxidation is both ubiquitous and heterogeneous, as observational and experimental evidence demonstrates that sulfide minerals may oxidize completely on decadal timescales (hydrothermal plumes) or incompletely in billions of years (mineral de
Authors
Amy Gartman, Samantha P. Whisman, James R. Hein
Research is needed to inform environmental management of hydrothermally inactive and extinct polymetallic sulfide (PMS) deposits
Polymetallic sulfide (PMS) deposits produced at hydrothermal vents in the deep sea are of potential interest to miners. Hydrothermally active sulfide ecosystems are valued for the extraordinary chemosynthetic communities that they support. Many countries, including Canada, Portugal, and the United States, protect vent ecosystems in their Exclusive Economic Zones. When hydrothermal activity ceases
Authors
CL Van Dover, Ana Colaco, PC Collins, P Croot, Anna Metaxas, BJ Murton, A Swaddling, R Boschen-Rose, J Carlsson, L Cuyvers, Toshio Fukushima, Amy Gartman, R. Kennedy, C Kriete, NC Mestre, T Molodtsova, A Myhrvold, E Pelleter, SO Popoola, P-Y Qian, J Sarrazin, R Sharma, YJ Suh, JB Sylvan, Chunhui Tao, Michal Tomczak, J Vermilye
Impacts of hydrothermal plume processes on oceanic metal cycles and transport
Chemical, physical and biological processes in hydrothermal plumes control the flux of elements from hydrothermal vents to the global oceans. The timescales of these processes range from less than a second, as the hydrothermal fluid mixes with seawater at the seafloor, to decades, as the plume disperses over thousands of kilometers. Integrating hydrothermal geochemistry throughout the lifetime of
Authors
Amy Gartman, Alyssa J. Findlay
Defining active, inactive, and extinct seafloor massive sulfide deposits
Hydrothermal activity results in the formation of hydrothermal mineral deposits, including seafloor massive sulfide deposits, at oceanic spreading ridges, arcs, and back-arcs. As hydrothermal systems age, the mineral deposits eventually become severed from the heat source and fluid-flow pathways responsible for their formation and become extinct. The timescales and processes by which this cessatio
Authors
John W. Jamieson, Amy Gartman
Mapping metabolic activity at single cell resolution in intact volcanic fumarole soil
Interactions among microorganisms and their mineralogical substrates govern the structure, function, and emergent properties of microbial communities. These interactions are predicated on spatial relationships, which dictate metabolite exchange and access to key substrates. To quantitatively assess links between spatial relationships and metabolic activity, this study presents a novel approach to
Authors
Jeffrey J. Marlow, Isabella Colocci, Sean Jungbluth, Nils Moritz Weber, Amy Gartman, Jens Kallmeyer
The role of nanoparticles in mediating element deposition and transport at hydrothermal vents
Precipitation processes in hydrothermal fluids exert a primary control on the eventual distribution of elements, whether that sink is in the subseafloor, hydrothermal chimneys, near-field metalliferous sediments, or more distal in the ocean basin. Recent studies demonstrating abundant nanoparticles in hydrothermal fluids raise questions as to the importance of these nanoparticles relative to macro
Authors
Amy Gartman, Alyssa J. Findlay, Mark D. Hannington, Dieter Garbe-Schönberg, John W. Jamieson, Tom Kwasnitschka
Mineral phase-element associations based on sequential leaching of ferromanganese crusts, Amerasia Basin Arctic Ocean
Ferromanganese (FeMn) crusts from Mendeleev Ridge, Chukchi Borderland, and Alpha Ridge, in the Amerasia Basin, Arctic Ocean, are similar based on morphology and chemical composition. The crusts are characterized by a two- to four-layered stratigraphy. The chemical composition of the Arctic crusts differs significantly from hydrogenetic crusts from elsewhere of global ocean by high mean Fe/Mn ratio
Authors
Natalia Konstantinova, James R. Hein, Amy Gartman, Kira Mizell, Pedro Barrulas, Georgy Cherkashov, Pavel Mikhailik, Alexander Khanchuk
Science and Products
- Science
Global Marine Mineral Resources
Researching seafloor mineral resources that occur within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and areas beyond national jurisdictions. - Data
Marine mineral geochemical data - Part One: Pacific Ocean USGS-affiliated historical data
This data release compiles element composition data for more than 600 deep-ocean mineral samples from more than 25 research cruises in the Pacific Ocean since 1979 that involved USGS researchers. Deep-ocean mineral sample types encompassed in this data release include ferromanganese crusts, manganese nodules, phosphorites, and hydrothermal minerals. This data release is comprised of both unpublishMeasurements of zinc, oxygen, and pH, from sphalerite and ZnS oxidation in seawater
This data release presents the concentration of zinc, oxygen, pH, temperature, and the time point at which measurements were taken for experimental oxidation work regarding zinc and copper sulfide minerals. These data accompany the following publication: Gartman, A., Whisman, S.P., and Hein, J.R., 2020, Interactive oxidation of sphalerite and covellite in seawater: implications for seafloor - Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 16
Marine minerals in Alaska — A review of coastal and deep-ocean regions
Minerals occurring in marine environments span the globe and encompass a broad range of mineral categories, forming within varied geologic and oceanographic settings. They occur in coastal regions, either from the continuation or mechanical reworking of terrestrial mineralization, as well as in the deep ocean, from diagenetic, hydrogenetic, and hydrothermal processes. The oceans cover most of the
AuthorsAmy Gartman, Kira Mizell, Douglas C. KreinerEstimates of metals contained in abyssal manganese nodules and ferromanganese crusts in the global ocean based on regional variations and genetic types of nodules
Deep-ocean ferromanganese crusts and manganese nodules are important marine repositories for global metals. Interest in these minerals as potential resources has led to detailed sampling in many regions of the global ocean, allowing for updated estimates of their global extent. Here, we present global estimates of total tonnage as well as contained metal concentrations and tonnages for ferromanganAuthorsKira Mizell, James R. Hein, Manda Viola Au, Amy GartmanExtent of impact of deep-sea nodule mining midwater plumes is influenced by sediment loading, turbulence and thresholds
Deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining research activity has substantially increased in recent years, but the expected level of environmental impact is still being established. One environmental concern is the discharge of a sediment plume into the midwater column. We performed a dedicated field study using sediment from the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone. The plume was monitored and tracked usingAuthorsCarlos Munoz-Royo, Thomas Peacock, Matthew Alford, Jerome Smith, Arnaud Le Boyer, Chinmay Kulkarni, Pierre Lermusiaux, Patrick Haley, C Mirabito, Dayang Wang, Eric Adams, Raphael Ouillon, Alexander Breugem, Boudewijn Decrop, Thijs Lanckreit, Rohit Supekar, Andrew Rzeznik, Amy Gartman, Se-Jong JuCarbonate-hosted microbial communities are prolific and pervasive methane oxidizers at geologically diverse marine methane seep sites
At marine methane seeps, vast quantities of methane move through the shallow subseafloor, where it is largely consumed by microbial communities. This process plays an important role in global methane dynamics, but we have yet to identify all of the methane sinks in the deep sea. Here, we conducted a continental-scale survey of seven geologically diverse seafloor seeps and found that carbonate rockAuthorsJeffrey J. Marlow, Daniel Hoer, Sean Jungbluth, Linda Reynard, Amy Gartman, Marko S. Chavez, Mohamed Y. El-Naggar, Noreen Tuross, Victoria Orphan, Peter R. GirguisSphalerite oxidation in seawater with covellite: Implications for seafloor massive sulfide deposits and mine waste
Metal sulfide minerals exist in several marine environments and are in thermodynamic disequilibrium with oxygenated seawater from the time of their formation. Oxidation is both ubiquitous and heterogeneous, as observational and experimental evidence demonstrates that sulfide minerals may oxidize completely on decadal timescales (hydrothermal plumes) or incompletely in billions of years (mineral deAuthorsAmy Gartman, Samantha P. Whisman, James R. HeinResearch is needed to inform environmental management of hydrothermally inactive and extinct polymetallic sulfide (PMS) deposits
Polymetallic sulfide (PMS) deposits produced at hydrothermal vents in the deep sea are of potential interest to miners. Hydrothermally active sulfide ecosystems are valued for the extraordinary chemosynthetic communities that they support. Many countries, including Canada, Portugal, and the United States, protect vent ecosystems in their Exclusive Economic Zones. When hydrothermal activity ceasesAuthorsCL Van Dover, Ana Colaco, PC Collins, P Croot, Anna Metaxas, BJ Murton, A Swaddling, R Boschen-Rose, J Carlsson, L Cuyvers, Toshio Fukushima, Amy Gartman, R. Kennedy, C Kriete, NC Mestre, T Molodtsova, A Myhrvold, E Pelleter, SO Popoola, P-Y Qian, J Sarrazin, R Sharma, YJ Suh, JB Sylvan, Chunhui Tao, Michal Tomczak, J VermilyeImpacts of hydrothermal plume processes on oceanic metal cycles and transport
Chemical, physical and biological processes in hydrothermal plumes control the flux of elements from hydrothermal vents to the global oceans. The timescales of these processes range from less than a second, as the hydrothermal fluid mixes with seawater at the seafloor, to decades, as the plume disperses over thousands of kilometers. Integrating hydrothermal geochemistry throughout the lifetime ofAuthorsAmy Gartman, Alyssa J. FindlayDefining active, inactive, and extinct seafloor massive sulfide deposits
Hydrothermal activity results in the formation of hydrothermal mineral deposits, including seafloor massive sulfide deposits, at oceanic spreading ridges, arcs, and back-arcs. As hydrothermal systems age, the mineral deposits eventually become severed from the heat source and fluid-flow pathways responsible for their formation and become extinct. The timescales and processes by which this cessatioAuthorsJohn W. Jamieson, Amy GartmanMapping metabolic activity at single cell resolution in intact volcanic fumarole soil
Interactions among microorganisms and their mineralogical substrates govern the structure, function, and emergent properties of microbial communities. These interactions are predicated on spatial relationships, which dictate metabolite exchange and access to key substrates. To quantitatively assess links between spatial relationships and metabolic activity, this study presents a novel approach toAuthorsJeffrey J. Marlow, Isabella Colocci, Sean Jungbluth, Nils Moritz Weber, Amy Gartman, Jens KallmeyerThe role of nanoparticles in mediating element deposition and transport at hydrothermal vents
Precipitation processes in hydrothermal fluids exert a primary control on the eventual distribution of elements, whether that sink is in the subseafloor, hydrothermal chimneys, near-field metalliferous sediments, or more distal in the ocean basin. Recent studies demonstrating abundant nanoparticles in hydrothermal fluids raise questions as to the importance of these nanoparticles relative to macroAuthorsAmy Gartman, Alyssa J. Findlay, Mark D. Hannington, Dieter Garbe-Schönberg, John W. Jamieson, Tom KwasnitschkaMineral phase-element associations based on sequential leaching of ferromanganese crusts, Amerasia Basin Arctic Ocean
Ferromanganese (FeMn) crusts from Mendeleev Ridge, Chukchi Borderland, and Alpha Ridge, in the Amerasia Basin, Arctic Ocean, are similar based on morphology and chemical composition. The crusts are characterized by a two- to four-layered stratigraphy. The chemical composition of the Arctic crusts differs significantly from hydrogenetic crusts from elsewhere of global ocean by high mean Fe/Mn ratioAuthorsNatalia Konstantinova, James R. Hein, Amy Gartman, Kira Mizell, Pedro Barrulas, Georgy Cherkashov, Pavel Mikhailik, Alexander Khanchuk - News