Environment and Deep-Sea Mining: A Perspective

Abstract

As the quest for deep-sea mineral resources is gaining momentum, environment and ocean mining have become important aspects of study. Because many of these deposits occur in international waters, the concern for environmental conservation in view of the effects of deep-sea mining is resulting in these effects being studied in different oceans, and efforts to develop regulations governing this exploitation are also underway at national and international levels. The impact assessment of deep-sea mining needs to encompass a variety of subjects, including environmental, socioeconomic, technological, and legal aspects. At the same time, effects of in situ environmental conditions on mining activities also need to be considered for effecient performance by the mining system. Differences in the degree of impact have been noticed during the mining simulation experiments by different investigating agencies. Therefore, interparameter comparisons, standardization of methods, and improvement in mining design are important considerations for proper utilization of resources, conservation of environment, and cost efficiency of the mining operations.     

Environment and Deep-Sea Mining: A Perspective

As the quest for deep-sea mineral resources is gaining momentum, environment and ocean mining have become important aspects of study. Because many of these deposits occur in international waters, the concern for environmental conservation in view of the effects of deep-sea mining is resulting in these effects being studied in different oceans, and efforts to develop regulations governing this exploitation are also underway at national and international levels. The impact assessment of deep-sea mining needs to encompass a variety of subjects, including environmental, socioeconomic, technological, and legal aspects. At the same time, effects of in situ environmental conditions on mining activities also need to be considered for effecient performance by the mining system. Differences in the degree of impact have been noticed during the mining simulation experiments by different investigating agencies. Therefore, interparameter comparisons, standardization of methods, and improvement in mining design are important considerations for proper utilization of resources, conservation of environment, and cost efficiency of the mining operations.     

Deep-sea Polymetallic Nodule Mining: Challenges Ahead for Technologists and Environmentalists

Although, offshore mining for mineral wealth is not required at present, it may be the only alternative in the future due to the continuous growing demand for certain metals that have no or limited land deposits. Risk involved in deep-sea mining is not less than that in space missions. Limited groups of mining engineers and environmental scientists are conducting studies that influence the development of mining systems and subsystems for collection, screening, lifting, and transportation of deep-sea minerals. Accepting this challenge more than 20 years ago, the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, started surveys and exploration for polymetallic nodules in the Indian Ocean and was the first to receive "Pioneer Status" recognition from the United Nations. Experiments have also been conducted to study the potential impacts of deep-seabed mining.     

The response of abyssal organisms to low pH conditions during a series of CO2-release experiments simulating deep-sea carbon sequestration

The effects of low-pH, high-pCO₂ conditions on deep-sea organisms were examined during four deep-sea CO₂ release experiments simulating deep-ocean C sequestration by the direct injection of CO₂ into the deep sea. We examined the survival of common deep-sea, benthic organisms (microbes; macrofauna, dominated by Polychaeta, Nematoda, Crustacea, Mollusca; megafauna, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Pisces) exposed to low-pH waters emanating as a dissolution plume from pools of liquid carbon dioxide released on the seabed during four abyssal CO₂-release experiments. Microbial abundance in deep-sea sediments was unchanged in one experiment, but increased under environmental hypercapnia during another, where the microbial assemblage may have benefited indirectly from the negative impact of low-pH conditions on other taxa. Lower abyssal metazoans exhibited low survival rates near CO₂ pools. No urchins or holothurians survived during 30–42 days of exposure to episodic, but severe environmental hypercapnia during one experiment (E1; pH reduced by as much as ca. 1.4 units). These large pH reductions also caused 75% mortality for the deep-sea amphipod, Haploops lodo, near CO₂ pools. Survival under smaller pH reductions (ΔpH<0.4 units) in other experiments (E2, E3, E5) was higher for all taxa, including echinoderms. Gastropods, cephalopods, and fish were more tolerant than most other taxa. The gastropod Retimohnia sp. and octopus Benthoctopus sp. survived exposure to pH reductions that episodically reached −0.3 pH units. Ninety percent of abyssal zoarcids (Pachycara bulbiceps) survived exposure to pH changes reaching ca. −0.3 pH units during 30–42 day-long experiments.     

深海采矿潜在环境影响因素及监测技术体系研究

目前深海采矿潜在的生态环境影响引起来了广泛关注,文章针对工业化深海金属矿产资源开采潜在的环境影响监测评估需要,系统地总结了深海铁锰多金属结核、铁锰富钴结壳以多金属硫化物等主要深海资源的基本产状,分析了“物质迁移-羽流产生-声光电磁噪声-耗氧-有毒物质释放”等主流采矿工艺潜在的环境影响因素,基于深海采矿生态环境影响评估调查研究的技术需求,从实施深海采矿环境监测实验工程、建立深海重大装备系统、发展原位监测传感器等方面提出了深海采矿环境监测技术体系建设构架,以期为我国深海采矿生态环境监测保护技术发展提供借鉴。     

Precautionary management of deep-sea mining

Interest in deep-sea mining developed in the early 1970s, with a focus on manganese nodules in international waters. Mining may actually occur first, however, on rich polymetallic sulfide deposits associated with hydrothermal vents within exclusive economic zones. Even though mining for polymetallic sulfides may not take place for several years, precautionary performance standards, environmental regulations, and the establishment of Marine Protected Areas may help guide the marine mining industry toward a goal of minimizing environmental impacts. Once substantial investments in prospecting and exploring a potential mining site are made, implementation of environmental regulations may prove to be much more difficult.     

Impact of depositional and biogeochemical processes on small scale variations in nodule abundance in the Clarion‐Clipperton Fracture Zone

Manganese nodules of the Clarion–Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ) in the NE Pacific Ocean are highly enriched in Ni, Cu, Co, Mo and rare-earth elements, and thus may be the subject of future mining operations. Elucidating the depositional and biogeochemical processes that contribute to nodule formation, as well as the respective redox environment, in both water column and sediment, supports our ability to locate future nodule deposits and to evaluate the potential ecological and environmental effects of future deep-sea mining. For these purposes we studied the local hydrodynamics and pore-water geochemistry with respect to the nodule coverage at four sites in the eastern CCFZ. Furthermore, we carried out selective leaching experiments at these sites in order to assess the potential mobility of Mn in the solid phase, and compared them with the spatial variations in sedimentation rates. We found that the oxygen penetration depth is 180–300 cm at all four sites, while reduction of Mn and NO₃⁻ is only significant below the oxygen penetration depth at sites with small or no nodules on the sediment surface. At the site without nodules, potential microbial respiration rates, determined by incubation experiments using ¹⁴C-labeled acetate, are slightly higher than at sites with nodules. Leaching experiments showed that surface sediments covered with big or medium-sized nodules are enriched in mobilizable Mn. Our deep oxygen measurements and pore-water data suggest that hydrogenetic and oxic-diagenetic processes control the present-day nodule growth at these sites, since free manganese from deeper sediments is unable to reach the sediment surface. We propose that the observed strong lateral contrasts in nodule size and abundance are sensitive to sedimentation rates, which in turn, are controlled by small-scale variations in seafloor topography and bottom-water current intensity.     

Fine-scale Microbial Communities Associated with Manganese Nodules in Deep-sea Sediment of the Korea Deep Ocean Study Area in the Northeast Equatorial Pacific

Despite its potential significance for industrial utilization, any activities associated with the mining of manganese (Mn) nodules might have substantial impacts on benthic ecosystems. Because microorganisms respond quickly to changing environmental conditions, a study of microbial communities provides a relevant proxy to assess possible changes in benthic ecosystems associated with mining activities. We investigated fine-scale microbial community composition and diversity inside and on the surface of Mn nodules and in nearby deep-sea sediments in the Korea Deep Ocean Study (KODOS) area located in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ) of the northeast equatorial Pacific. Although microbial cell density was lower within nodules (3.21 × 10⁶ cells g^-1) than in sediment (2.14 × 10⁸ cells g^-1), nodules provided a unique habitat for microorganisms. Manganese-oxidizing bacteria including Hyphomicrobium and Aurantimonas in Alphaproteobacteria and Marinobacter in Gammaproteobacteria were abundant in nodules, which implied that these bacteria play a significant role in nodule formation. In contrast, Idiomarina in Gammaproteobacteria and Erythrobacter and Sulfitobacter in Alphaproteobacteria were abundant in sediments. Meanwhile, Thaumarchaeota, a phylum that consists of ammonia-oxidizing chemolithoautotrophs, were the predominant archaeal group both in nodules and sediment. Overall, microbial communities in Mn nodules were unique compared to those observed in sediments. Furthermore, the phylogenetic composition of microorganisms in the KODOS area was distinguishable from that in the nodule provinces claimed by China and Germany in the CCFZ and nodule fields in the central South Pacific Gyre, respectively.     

A procedural framework for robust environmental management of deep-sea mining projects using a conceptual model

Robust environmental management of deep-sea mining projects must be integrated into the planning and execution of mining operations, and developed concurrently. It should follow a framework indicating the environmental management-related activities necessary at each project phase, and their interrelationships. An environmental management framework with this purpose is presented in this paper; it facilitates the development of environmental information and decision-making throughout the phases of a mining project. It is based environmental management frameworks used in allied industries, but adjusted for unique characteristics of deep-sea mining. It defines the gathering and synthesis of information and its use in decision-making, and employs a conceptual model as a growing repository of claim-specific information. The environmental management activities at each phase have been designed to enable the implementation of the precautionary approach in decision making, while facilitating review of adaptive management measures to improve environmental management as the quantity and quality of data increases and technologies are honed. This framework will ensure fairness and uniformity in the application of environmental standards, assist the regulator in its requirements to protect the environment, and benefit contractors and financiers by reducing uncertainty in the process.     

Patterns of Gene Expression Variation across Body Parts of the Hydrothermal Vent Shrimp Nautilocaris saintlaurentae

Ocean Science Journal - Since deep-sea hydrothermal vents have been targeted for mining mineral resources, concerns about the potential impacts of mining on vent ecosystems have gradually...     

News from the seabed – Geological characteristics and resource potential of deep-sea mineral resources

Marine minerals such as manganese nodules, Co-rich ferromanganese crusts, and seafloor massive sulfides are commonly seen as possible future resources that could potentially add to the global raw materials supply. At present, a proper assessment of these resources is not possible due to a severe lack of information regarding their size, distribution, and composition. It is clear, however, that manganese nodules and Co-rich ferromanganese crusts are a vast resource and mining them could have a profound impact on global metal markets, whereas the global resource potential of seafloor massive sulfides appears to be small. These deep-sea mineral commodities are formed by very different geological processes resulting in deposits with distinctly different characteristics. The geological boundary conditions also determine the size of any future mining operations and the area that will be affected by mining. Similarly, the sizes of the most favorable areas that need to be explored for a global resource assessment are also dependent on the geological environment. Size reaches 38 million km² for manganese nodules, while those for Co-rich crusts (1.7 million km²) and massive sulfides (3.2 million km²) are much smaller. Moreover, different commodities are more abundant in some jurisdictions than in others. While only 19% of the favorable area for manganese nodules lies within the Exclusive Economic Zone of coastal states or is covered by proposals for the extension of the continental shelf, 42% of the favorable areas for massive sulfides and 54% for Co-rich crusts are located in EEZs.     

深海采矿细颗粒羽状流数值模拟研究

深海采矿尾矿排放产生的细颗粒羽状流会对海底生态环境造成影响,预测尾矿排放羽状流行为及其对环境影响具有工程意义。基于欧拉多相流方法,采用欧拉双流体模型对深海采矿细颗粒羽状流开展数值模拟研究,分析近海底排放的羽状流演化和发展过程,探究羽状流初始排放质量浓度、排放速度对羽状流扩散过程的影响。结果表明：初始排放条件对羽状流演化性质有重要影响。主射流区被稀释的程度随着初始入射速度的增大而减小,随着入射质量浓度的增大而增大;初始羽状流入射速度和质量浓度越大,撞击海底后的水平方向流动速度越快,影响区域越广;水平速度的峰值随着初始入射速度的增大呈对数增长;当初始质量浓度和速度高于50 g/L和 0.5 m/s 时可能会导致颗粒在海底撞击点附近堆积成坡状,影响底流的后续发展。研究结果可以为深海采矿尾矿排放参数选择提供参考。     

Distribution and Variability of the Meiobenthic Assemblages near the Korean Polymetallic Nodule Claim Area of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (Subequatorial NE Pacific)

This study was carried out as part of a baseline long-term environmental project in the proposed mining areas for an environmental impact assessment of future mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ). The community structure and distributional pattern of meiobenthos were investigated in the deep-sea bottom of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone of the northeastern Pacific in July 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and August 2004, 2005. Twenty one meiobenthic groups were found at the stations in the study area. The most abundant meiobenthos comprised nematodes followed by benthic foraminiferans and harpacticoid copepods. The maximum density of meiobenthos was 306 ind/10 cm² at the station located at 11°N (water depth, 4833 m), and the minimum density was 6 ind/10 cm² at the station located at 14°N (water depth, 5037 m). Oligotrophic conditions in the CCFZ seem to directly reflect the lower standing stocks of meiobenthos in the CCFZ compared to other deep-sea plains of similar depth. The latitudinal distribution pattern of meiobenthos in the study area seemed to be related with surface water primary productivity, which was connected to the water circulation pattern of the Pacific Ocean near the Equator, diverging at 8ºN latitude and converging at 5°N. The horizontal distribution of meiobenthic organisms in the study area showed high densities at the stations within 135–136°W. The densities of meiobenthic organismas within the CCFZ were high at stations with few manganese nodules on the sediment surface at low-latitude sites. In 1998, the observed relative high values of meiobenthic abundance were at stations from 5° to 6°N. Other stations from 7° to 10°N showed no significant fluctuations during the interannual sampling periods. It is considered that the inter-annual fluctuation of meiobenthos abundance is intimately related with a regime shift that may have occurred in the north Pacific between 1998 and 1999, the El Niño period. Vertical distribution of meiobenthic organisms showed the highest individual numbers in the surface sediment layers of 0～2 cm depth and a steep decreasing trend as sediment becomes deeper at the stations of high latitude located in 16～17°N. Size distribution analyses showed that organisms that fit into the sieve mesh size of 0.063 mm were abundant.     

Research on rotating speed’s influence on performance of Deep-Sea lifting motor pump based on DEM-CFD

Abstract

Metal minerals in deep sea are considered to be the most important mineral resources in the 21st century. With the development of science and technology, deep-sea mining has gained more and more attention, and the pipeline lifting method is the most promising for mining. It is particularly important to use the pump as a key component in the pipeline upgrading. In this paper, the DEM–CFD method is used to study the solid–liquid two-phase fluid flow in the Deep-Sea lifting motor pump. Data about the distribution of pressure on the suction surface and pressure surface as well as the distribution of particles in the pump under different rotation speed can be obtained. Tests verify the efficiency and head of the pump by numerical simulation. It provides a theoretical method for the study of solid–liquid two-phase fluid flow in deep-sea mining.     

Public acceptance of the oceanic carbon sequestration

CO₂ ocean sequestration may be an effective option for mitigating global warming. There are risks associated with this process, particularly the local impact on deep-sea environments. Public acceptance is required for the implementation of this technology, even though the impacts have been proven to be trivial. In this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted to find the correlation between public acceptance of CO₂ sequestration and influential factors by covariance structure analysis. In addition, risk communication via the Internet was carried out. These analyses revealed that careful investigation of the target oceanic site and field experiments are important in gaining public acceptance of CO₂ sequestration.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In-situ</Emphasis> measured primary productivity of ice algae in Arctic sea ice floes using a new incubation method

Recent changes in climate and environmental conditions have had great negative effects such as decreasing sea ice thickness and the extent of Arctic sea ice floes that support ice-related organisms. However, limited field observations hinder the understanding of the impacts of the current changes in the previously ice-covered regions on sea ice algae and other ice-related ecosystems. Our main objective in this study was to measure recent primary production of ice algae and their relative contribution to total primary production (ice plus pelagic primary production). In-situ primary productivity experiments with a new incubation system for ice algae were conducted in 3 sea ice cores at 2 different ice camps in the northern Chukchi Sea, 2014, using a ¹³C and ¹⁵N isotope tracer technique. A new incubation system was tested for conducting primary productivity experiments on ice algae that has several advantages over previous incubation methods, enabling stable carbon and nitrogen uptake experiments on ice algae under more natural environmental conditions. The vertical C-shaped distributions of the ice algal chl-a, with elevated concentrations at the top and bottom of the sea ice were observed in all cores, which is unusual for Arctic sea ice. The mean chl-a concentration (0.05 ± 0.03 mg chl-a m^?3) and the daily carbon uptake rates (ranging from 0.55 to 2.23 mg C m^?2 d^?1) for the ice algae were much lower in this study than in previous studies in the Arctic Ocean. This is likely because of the late sampling periods and thus the substantial melting occurring. Ice algae contributed 1.5–5.7% of the total particulate organic carbon (POC) contents of the combined euphotic water columns and sea ice floes. In comparison, ice algae contributed 4.8–8.6% to the total primary production which is greater than previously reported in the Arctic Ocean. If all of the ice-associated productions were included, the contributions of the sea ice floes to the total primary production would be greater in the Arctic Ocean and their importance would be greater in the arctic marine ecosystems.     

Boldness in a deep sea hermit crab to simulated tactile predator attacks is unaffected by ocean acidification

Despite rapidly growing interest in the effects of ocean acidification on marine animals, the ability of deep-sea animals to acclimate or adapt to reduced pH conditions has received little attention. Deep-sea species are generally thought to be less tolerant of environmental variation than shallow-living species because they inhabit relatively stable conditions for nearly all environmental parameters. To explore whether deep-sea hermit crabs (Pagurus tanneri) can acclimate to ocean acidification over several weeks, we compared behavioral “boldness,” measured as time taken to re-emerge from shells after a simulated predatory attack by a toy octopus, under ambient (pH ～7.6) and expected future (pH ～7.1) conditions. The boldness measure for crab behavioral responses did not differ between different pH treatments, suggesting that future deep-sea acidification would not influence anti-predatory behavior. However, we did not examine the effects of olfactory cues released by predators that may affect hermit crab behavior and could be influenced by changes in the ocean carbonate system driven by increasing CO₂ levels.     

Impact Compressive Creep Characteristics of Simulative Soil for Deep-Sea Sediment

The impact load (equivalent impact height) applied to deep-sea sediment by a walking mining machine was first deduced by the energy conservation principle, and the simulative soil was prepared based on the deep-sea sediment collected from the Pacific C-C mining area. The self-designed impact compressive creep tests of the simulative soil were conducted under different ground stresses and impact heights, in order to determine impact compressive creep parameters using a K-H rheological model. Test results show that the impact compressive creep curves have three similar creep stages (transient creep, unstable creep, and stable creep) to static compressive creep curves, where the transient creep deformation and total deformation at the unstable creep stage decrease with the impact load. Among the three impact compressive creep parameters (K₁, K₂, β) of the simulative soil, K₁ is first increased with impact height and finally fluctuated to a certain stable value, while K₂ and β are approximately linearly increased with impact height. The maximum subsidence of the mining machine under a specific designed ground stress and walking velocity predicted by the impact compressive creep constitutive equation can be used for safety assessment of the mining machine.     

Sustainability of deep-sea fisheries

As coastal fisheries around the world have collapsed, industrial fishing has spread seaward and deeper in pursuit of the last economically attractive concentrations of fishable biomass. For a seafood-hungry world depending on the oceans' ecosystem services, it is crucial to know whether deep-sea fisheries can be sustainable.The deep sea is by far the largest but least productive part of the oceans, although in very limited places fish biomass can be very high. Most deep-sea fishes have life histories giving them far less population resilience/productivity than shallow-water fishes, and could be fished sustainably only at very low catch rates if population resilience were the sole consideration. But like old-growth trees and great whales, their biomass makes them tempting targets while their low productivity creates strong economic incentive to liquidate their populations rather than exploiting them sustainably (Clark's Law). Many deep-sea fisheries use bottom trawls, which often have high impacts on nontarget fishes (e.g., sharks) and invertebrates (e.g., corals), and can often proceed only because they receive massive government subsidies. The combination of very low target population productivity, nonselective fishing gear, economics that favor population liquidation and a very weak regulatory regime makes deep-sea fisheries unsustainable with very few exceptions. Rather, deep-sea fisheries more closely resemble mining operations that serially eliminate fishable populations and move on.Instead of mining fish from the least-suitable places on Earth, an ecologically and economically preferable strategy would be rebuilding and sustainably fishing resilient populations in the most suitable places, namely shallower and more productive marine ecosystems that are closer to markets.     

Arsenic in sediments of the North Atlantic Ocean and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Chemical extraction techniques show that the majority of the arsenic in North Atlantic deep-sea sediments is associated with an iron phase compositionally similar to that found in deep-sea ferromanganese nodules (As/Fe ～ 11 · 10^?4) and is probably of seawater origin. Some sediments also contain As associated with Fe oxides produced by continental weathering. A minority (～8%) of the arsenic is of detrital origin but is not associated with Fe or Mn oxides; it has a content (1.7 ppm) similar to the average crustal abundance. In the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, near-shore sediments contain As associated with land-derived Fe oxides (As/Fe ～ 2 · 10^?4), but As/Fe ratios increase to ～ 13 · 10^?4 in deep-sea sediments as the contribution of seawater derived arsenic becomes dominant. Arsenic is enriched in metalliferous sediments (As/Fe ～ 20?50 · 10^?4) but As/P ratios of metalliferous sediments, deep-sea ferromanganese nodules and deep-ocean water are all similar. Although a hydrothermal contribution cannot be discounted, it is likely that the arsenic is also of seawater origin, suggesting that hydrothermal iron oxyhydroxides remove As more efficiently from seawater than do iron phases (goethite) in deep-sea sediments and nodules. Arsenic accumulates in deep-sea sediments (～ 6 μg cm^?2 10^?3 yr^?1) at sediments (～ 120 μg cm^?2 10^?3 yr^?1) at rate sufficient to balance river input input (～3 · 10¹⁰ g yr^?1). These estimates give an oceanic residence time for arsenic of 1–2 · 10⁵ yr.