They do look strange and alien, those millions and millions of spherical manganese nodules scattered over the floor of the Pacific Ocean.

They're alien because scientists can't seem to agree on the process that formed these potato-sized lumps of rock, also called polymetallic nodules. Scientists, however, agreed the "alien" metal balls seem to be native to the Pacific, that is, until a research ship searching for marine life recently discovered tons of them in the Barbados.

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One theory says the nodules were formed by chemical reactions in seawater and was assisted by microbes. Another theory said the balls they were formed by precipitation of metals from seawater, especially from volcanic thermal vents.

These manganese metal balls spread out across the Pacific Ocean shave been puzzling scientists since they were discovered in 1873. Research into these balls has led to their being classified as\ manganese nodules containing iron and other metals such as copper or zinc.

In 2013, however, German scientists discovered these balls on the seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean off Barbados. German scientists were astonished by the discovery. Colin Devey, chief scientist for the expedition at the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research told LiveScience he was surprised "because this is generally not the place you think of for manganese nodules".

The discovery of these manganese balls in the Atlantic might resurrect the concept of mining these manganese balls as a source of raw materials. And contrary to its name, nickel was the most important element derived from these manganese balls.

The last great effort to mine or dredge manganese balls in quantity took place in the 1970s when an international joint venture scooped-up massive quantities of manganese nodules from the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean at a depth of 18,000 feet.

Large amounts of nickel plus copper and cobalt were extracted from balls using both pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical methods. The project was subsequently abandoned for market reasons and only Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining continues to maintain a small mining organization.

Scientists also have an interest in a more detailed analysis of the nodules since this might reveal the secrets of the Earth's changing climate. Some of the nodules could be 10 million years old, and seem to have grown between one to five millimeters in a million years.