Research

Science Advances | An in situ study of abyssal turbidity-current sediment plumes generated by a deep seabed polymetallic nodule mining preprototype collector vehicle

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Carlos Muñoz-Royo, Raphael Ouillon, Souha El Mousadik, Matthew H. Alford, AND Thomas Peacock Abstract An in situ study to investigate the dynamics of sediment plumes near the release from a deep seabed polymetallic nodule mining preprototype collector vehicle was conducted in the Clarion Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean 4500-m deep. The experiments reveal that the excess density of the released sediment-laden water leads … Read more

Cook Islands National Heritage Trust | Will nodule mining destroy our deep sea ecosystem services?

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Gerald McCormack, Natural Heritage Trust Abstract In an article concerning the possibility of seabed nodule mining in the Cook Islands (Cook Islands News 27 March), Te Ipukarea Society wrote “We are confident that further research will show that the goods and services that the ocean provides humanity are actually worth many times more than what … Read more

World Bank | Minerals for Climate Action: the Mineral Intensity of the Clean Energy Transition

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CLIMATE-SMART MINING FACILITY: Kirsten Hund, Daniele La Porta, Thao P. Fabregas, Tim Laing, John Drexhage Key Points A low-carbon future will be very mineral intensive because clean energy technologies need more materials than fossil-fuel-based electricity generation technologies. Greater ambition on climate change goals (1.50C–20C or below), as outlined by the Paris Agreement,requires installing more of … Read more

Scars in the abyss: reconstructing sequence, location and temporal change of the 78 plough tracks of the 1989 DISCOL deep-sea disturbance experiment in the Peru Basin

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Florian Gausepohl, Anne Hennke, Timm Schoening, Kevin Köser, and Jens Greinert Abstract High-resolution optical and hydro-acoustic sea floor data acquired in 2015 enabled the reconstruction and exact localization of disturbance tracks of a past deep-sea recolonization experiment (DISCOL) that was conducted in 1989 in the Peru Basin during a German environmental impact study associated with manganese-nodule mining. Based on this … Read more

Plos One | Biological responses to disturbance from simulated deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining

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Daniel O. B. Jones , Stefanie Kaiser, Andrew K. Sweetman, Craig R. Smith, Lenaick Menot, Annemiek Vink, Dwight Trueblood, Jens Greinert, David S. M. Billett, Pedro Martinez Arbizu, Teresa Radziejewska, Ravail Singh, Baban Ingole, Tanja Stratmann, Erik Simon-Lledó, Jennifer M. Durden, Malcolm R. Clark Abstract Commercial-scale mining for polymetallic nodules could have a major impact on … Read more

Journal of Advanced Marine Science and Technology Society | Simulating the Behavior and the Environmental Effect of Sediment Plumes from Deepwater Mining

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Hao Xie, Poojitha D.Yapa Abstract A model for simulating the behavior of sediment plumes from deepwater mining and their re sulting environmental effect is presented. This paper contains the complete model formulation and scenario simulations. The sediment transport model includes both the near field (plume dy namics) and the far-field (passive advection-diffusion) phases. The model can … Read more