This report contains the field data obtained during the February to April 1960 oceanographic expedition of the USC&GS ship Explorer, together with such results from the analyses of these data as are completed to date. As additional studies are completed, the results will be published by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey or by the other Government agencies, private oceanographic institutions, or individual scientists who are primarily concerned. The USC&GSS Explorer is a 1,900-ton, 220-foot Ocean Survey Ship (OSS 28). During the winter of 1960, the ship was scheduled for a routine transfer from her original home port of Seattle, Wash., to be based in the future out of Norfolk, Va. With the current accelerated demand for oceanographic information, it was felt that this transfer offered a unique opportunity to obtain useful oceanographic information along the route from Seattle to Norfolk.

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1989 NOAA-NCEI compiled the NOAA-MMS Marine Minerals Geochemical Database from journal articles, technical reports and unpublished sources from other institutions.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.

Supplement to: Stewart, Harris B (1962): Oceanographic Cruise Report, USC & GS Ship Explorer - 1960, Seattle, Washington, to Norfolk, Virginia, 2 February-27 April. U.S. Department of Commerce, Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington D.C., USA, 28 pp