The Marine Minerals Database contains geochemical analyses and auxiliary information on present-day marine deposits of primarily ferromanganese nodules and crusts. Some data for heavy minerals are also included. Sources of ferromanganese analyses include the historic Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) manganese nodule analysis file compiled under the direction of Jane Frazer and Mary Fisk.

From 1983 until 1989 NOAA-NCEI compiled the NOAA-MMS Marine Minerals Geochemical Database from journal articles, technical reports and unpublished sources from other institutions. At the time it was the most extended data compilation on ferromanganese deposits world wide. Initially published in a proprietary format incompatible with present day standards it was jointly decided by AWI and NOAA to transcribe this legacy data into PANGAEA. This transfer is augmented by a careful checking of the original sources when available and the encoding of ancillary information (sample description, method of analysis...) not present in the NOAA-MMS database.