The ocean is a storehouse of minerals because-

1. The continental shelves contain the world’s largest reservoirs of natural oil and gas. 

2. The other deposits like diamonds, chromite, ilmenite, magnetite, platinum, gold and phosphorite are also found. 

3. Sand, gravel aggregates and industrial silica sand are the most important of hard minerals now extracted in the near offshore zone. 

4. The abyssal plains are often littered with nodules of manganese containing varying amounts of iron, nickel, cobalt, and copper. 

5. The most common resources obtained from oceans are sodium chloride, i.e., common salt. 

6. A large number of metallic and nonmetallic minerals are found on the ocean floor, e.g., potassium occurs in large quantities.

7. Gypsum forms during evaporation of sea water. The gypsum deposits are mined and converted into Plaster of Paris and used for construction. 

8. The most important minerals extracted from the sea floor are petroleum and natural gas.