They are primarily found in the Clarion Clipperton Zone, or CCZ, about 2 million square miles of ocean between Hawaii and Mexico.
On this research trip, DeepGreen scooped up over 100 helpings of the seafloor, each box reeled back on board heavy with the catch of the day: thousands of nodules. In 30 years as a geologist, Warwick Miller told us he'd never seen anything like it.
Warwick Miller: It's a great day to be a geologist.
Bill Whitaker: You said it was a great day to be a geologist, what'd you mean?
Warwick Miller: Ah! We were standing by the box core, I remember holding my hand up. I was covered in mud. Its nice that I get to touch them, you know it's better than looking at them behind in a glass case, for example
Bill Whitaker: They're in all sizes, all different sizes like this?
Warwick Miller: There's different types. The type you're holding there would be type three nodule, which is larger, and it's got a characteristic sort of cauliflower texture to it.