Volume 6 of Reviews in Mineralogy was originated from notes prepared for a short course on Marine Minerals held in La Jolla, California, November 2-3, 1979. Chapters in this volume are devoted to marine manganese oxide, iron oxide, silica polymorphs, zeolite, clay, phosphorite, barite, evaporite, and placer minerals. Carbonates are not included; coverage of this important mineral group warrants a separate monograph. The extremely interesting sulfide and hydrothermal mineral assemblages recently discovered at oceanic spreading centers are also not discussed here.

Marine Minerals was first published in 1979 as Volume 6 of the series entitled Short course. In 1980 the Mineralogical Society of America changed the name of the series to Reviews in Mineralogy, and for that reason this, the second printing of Marine Minerals has been reissued under the new banner. Only minor corrections have been made.