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What is hidden in the depths of the ocean? Humankind has always tried to get to the bottom of this question. However, the sea offers countless surprises, like the manganese nodule belt: a large area full of lumps of raw material-bearing metal on the seabed between Hawaii and Mexico. These nodules hold a piece of Earth's history - but they are only sustainable to a rather limited extent: It takes them millions of years to grow a few millimeters. Historian Dr. Ole Sparenberg and Dr. Ulrich Schwarz-Schampera from the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources are taking a closer look at the content of these manganese nodules. After all, it is these nodules that caused the goverments' current mining plans.