Examination of Correction Factor for Manganese Nodule Abundance Using the Free Fall Grab and Box Corer

Manganese nodule abundance estimated based on operation of a Free Fall Grab(FFG) needs to be corrected to make up for its incomplete recovery of nodule, because FFGs can not recover all the nodules distributed on seabed. The correction factor for nodule abundance was proposed as 1.29 and 1.13 in 1994 and 2002, respectively, mainly based on the analyses of seabed images. In this study we collected manganese nodules using both FFG and Box Corer(BC) at same stations to examine the accuracy of the previous correction factors. It was found that the nodule recovery of the BC was 1.4 times greater than that of the FFG at the same sampling station, suggesting the necessity of re-evaluation of the previously proposed correction factor for FFG. More extensive sampling and improvement of image analysis method are required to improve the precision of nodule abundance correction factor for FFG.