海底多金属硫化物开发动态与前景分析

介绍了澳大利亚鹦鹉螺矿业公司和海王星矿业公司在西南太平洋区域对海底块状多金属硫化物 ( SMS ) 的商业勘探活动和开采计划等活动的最新进展,并从海底多金属硫化物的金属品质、开发的技术可行性与经济性、深海采矿的环境保护与法律政策等方面对海底多金属硫化物开发的前景作了分析.     

世界大洋金属矿产资源勘查开发现状及问题

世界大洋底蕴藏着丰富的金属矿产资源,其所含的锰、钴、镍、稀土等矿产是陆地含量的数十倍乃至数百倍或更高,因此是未来矿产资源的接替区。本文介绍了世界大洋多金属结核、富钴结壳、多金属硫化物及深海稀土等资源现状、分布及潜力,分析总结了21世纪以来国际海底区金属矿产勘查合同现状,并介绍了俄罗斯、巴布亚新几内亚、日本、中国等国家在其专属经济区内进行多金属结核、多金属硫化物开采实验的情况。由于世界大洋金属矿产资源丰富,潜力巨大,其勘查开发日益受到世界各国的重视,国际海底勘探合同不断增加,商业开发提上日程,但国际海底区的金属矿产资源开发仍面临技术、规章、环境等方面的制约和挑战。     

国际海底矿产资源勘查与研究进展

随着调查和研究的深入,世界各国对国际海底区域分布的多金属结核、富钴结壳、多金属硫化物和深海稀土几种深海固体矿产资源的关注程度日益增高,越来越多的国家为占有国际海底资源,加快了资源调查和评价的步伐,国际海底区域矿产资源的竞争形势愈加紧迫。通过调研的方式收集了大量资料,对国际海底区域多金属结核、富钴结壳、多金属硫化物和深海稀土几种深海矿产资源的分布和勘察现状进行评述,从而对国际海底矿产资源的研究趋势有所了解和把握。     

国际深海矿产资源调查技术发展趋势和我们的策略

引言深海锰结核和锰结壳及热浪多金属硫化物是目前最引人注目的海底潜在的矿产资源。美、苏、日、英、法、加、西德等国早在六十年代初期开始争相开展了深海资源的调查,勘探和开发试验工作。为了有效地进行海底矿产资源的调查和开发,这些国家不断研制和更新各种调查和研究仪器和设备,进一步促进了调查事业的发展。当前,国际深海矿产调查技     

中国大洋事业的又一里程碑

2011年11月18日,中国大洋矿产资源研究开发协会与国际海底管理局签订了国际海底多金属硫化物矿区勘探合同。勘探合同的签订,使我国继2001年在东北太平洋国际海底区域获得7．5万平方公里多金属结核勘探合同区后,获得了第二块具有专属勘探权和商业开采优先权的国际海底合同矿区。这是对我国大洋事业具有重要意义的又一里程碑事件,为此,《海洋开发与管理》杂志特别专访了中国大洋矿产资源研究开发协会金建才秘书长。     

关于中国国际海底区域矿区采矿的思考

文章结合国际深海采矿的现状和中国现有国际海底区域矿区的情况,分析中国国际海底区域矿区采矿存在缺少法律依据、尚未完成矿区资源评价和"区域"放弃、深海采矿技术发展相对滞后、海洋环境影响评估尚有不足等问题;在此基础上提出未来发展建议,即开展与国际海底管理局的深度合作,在制定"区域"内矿产资源开发规章中有所作为;加快对中国国际海底区域的勘探工作,尽快完成矿区资源评价和"区域"放弃;跟踪国际深海采矿行业进展,加快推进中国深海采矿系统的建造并尽快试开采;继续加大深海采矿对海洋环境的影响研究,尽快形成深海采矿环境影响预测评价技术指南。     

深海多金属硫化物开采作业安全与环境影响分析及对策研究

随着各国对深海多金属硫化物勘探与开发的步伐逐渐加快，为确保并指导承包者在区域内开采多金属硫化物作业安全且符合保护环境规定，首先论述开采深海多金属硫化物的工艺技术，以此为基础结合加拿大鹦鹉螺和美国海王星矿业公司试采多金属硫化物案例，分析其作业过程所涉及的硫矿泄漏、结构失效、机械伤害、火灾爆炸等安全问题和破坏海底动植物群及其栖息地、排放采矿废水尾矿等环境影响，最后就作业安全与环境影响问题分别给出了针对性的对策与建议，可为工程实践提供参考。     

国际海底管理局和国际海洋法法庭筹备委员会会议

在国家管辖范围以外的深海大洋底,即国际海底,蕴藏着丰富的矿产资源。目前最有开采远景的为锰结核或称多金属结核。锰结核含有30多种有用金属,其中最有提取价值的是锰、铜、钻、镍等四种金属。《联合国海洋法公约》(下称《公约》)中明确规定,国际海底及其资源是人类共同继承财产,国际海底资源的开发应由国际海底管理局代表全人类进行管理。《公约》第十一部分和附件三、附件四,以及与《公约》同时通过的《关于多金属结核开辟活动的预备性投资》决议(即决议二)等,就国际海底资源勘探、开发的各项法律制度做了详尽的规定。     

海底热液硫化物——深海采矿前沿探索

结合深海采矿的现状,以海底热液硫化物这一潜在开采对象为基础,对国内外的相关研究与开发动态情况进行了介绍,分析了海底热液硫化开采远景,在剖析海底热液硫化物开采研究现实意义的基础上,提出海底热液硫化物是我国海洋采矿发展的新契机.并建议相关部门结合大洋战略逐步完善我国深海基础机电产品及工程装备研发体系.结合海底热液硫化物探测技术的发展,同步开展开采系统的前期研究工作,从而引导并推进我国深海采矿及海洋工程技术的发展.     

基于深海采矿过程的环境影响分析与管理对策建议

深海矿产开发所产生的环境影响是目前制约深海采矿的重要问题之一,了解开发全过程的环境影响和生态响应是商业化开采的前提。本文以多金属结核、富钴结壳和多金属硫化物三种具有代表性的深海固体矿产资源为例,分析了开发前赋存环境、开发过程中及开发后的环境影响。结果表明：①不同深海固体矿产资源的分布规律、深度以及生物特征等赋存环境存在较大差异,因采矿活动带来的赋存环境改变、对环境的影响以及采矿潜在影响区域、影响时长和恢复潜力也有所不同。②多金属结核开采的环境影响着重考虑了沉积物羽流的影响,结壳开采活动从沉积物扰动、外壳去除以及栖息地改变三个方面考虑环境影响,多金属硫化物开采的环境影响还要增加对有毒物质的释放以及栖息地移除两个方面的考虑。③深海采矿对底栖生物种群的数量和物种组成皆会造成不同程度的影响。最后,从持续跟进监测评估、充实数据、提升采矿技术与设备、顶层设计与决策管理、规则制定等方面提出了环境保护与可持续发展对策建议,为深海采矿的环境影响评价及规则制定提供参考。     

Assessing the Validity of Seismo-Acoustic Predictor Equations for Obtaining Seabed and Sub-Surface Sediment Physical Properties

The interdependence between the seismo-acoustic properties of a marine sediment and its geotechnical/physical parameters has been known for many years, and it has been postulated that this should allow the extraction of geotechnical information from seismic data. Though in the literature many correlations have been published for the surficial layer, there is a lack of information for greater sediment depths. In this article, a desktop study on a synthetic seafloor model illustrates how the application of published near-surface prediction equations to subsurface sediments (up to several tens of meters burial depth) can lead to spurious predictions. To test this further, acoustic and geotechnical properties were measured on a number of sediment core samples, some of which were subjected to loading in acoustically-equipped consolidation cells (oedometers) to simulate greater burial depth conditions. For low effective pressures (representing small burial depths extending to around 10 meters subsurface), the general applicability of established relationships was confirmed: the prediction of porosity, bulk density, and mean grain size from acoustic velocity and impedance appears generally possible for the investigated sedimentary environments. As effective pressure increases through, the observed relationships deviate more and more from the established ones for the near-surface area. For the samples tested in this study, in some instances increasing pressure even resulted in decreasing velocities. There are several possible explanations for this abnormal behavior, including the presence of gas, overconsolidation, or bimodal grain size distribution. The results indicate that an appropriate depth correction must be introduced into the published prediction equations in order to obtain reliable estimates of physical sediment properties for greater subsurface depths.     

A Review of Some Environmental Issues Affecting Marine Mining

This article reviews information recently available from existing marine and coastal mining for responses to environmental issues affecting marine mining at different depths. It is particularly but not exclusively concerned with those issues affecting seabed biodiversity impact and recovery. Much information has been gathered in the past 10 years from shallow mining operations for construction aggregate, diamonds, and gold, from coastal mines discharging tailings to shallow and deep water, and from experimental deep mining tests. The responses to issues identified are summarized in a series of eight tables intended to facilitate site-specific consideration. Since impacts can spread widely in the surface mixing layer SML, and can affect the biologically productive euphotic zone, the main issues considered arise from the depth of mining relative to the SML of the sea. Where mining is below the SML, the issue is whether it is environmentally better to bring the extraction products to the surface vessel for processing (and waste discharge), or to process the extraction products as much as possible on the seabed. Responses to the issues need to be sitespecific, and dependent on adequate preoperational environmental impact and recovery prediction. For deep tailings disposal from a surface vessel, there are four important environmental unknowns: (1) the possible growth of "marine snow" (bacterial flocs) utilizing the enormous quantities of fine tailings particles (hundreds or thousands of metric tons per day) as nuclei for growth, (2) the possibility that local keystone plankton and nekton species may migrate diurnally down to and beyond the depth of deep discharge and hence be subjected to tailings impact at depth, (3) the burrow-up capability of deep benthos and their ability to survive high rates of tailings deposition, and (4) the pattern and rate of dispersion of a tailings density current through the deep water column from discharge point to seabed. Actions to obtain relevant information in general and site-specifically are suggested.     

Increased Particle Fluxes at the INDEX Site Attributable to Simulated Benthic Disturbance

Particle fluxes were measured 7 m above the sea bottom during the predisturbance, disturbance, and postdisturbance periods by using time series sediment traps attached to seven deep-sea moorings deployed in the INDEX experiment site in the Central Indian Basin. The predisturbance particle fluxes varied between 22.3 to 55.1 mg m -2 day -1 . Increased and variable particle fluxes were recorded by the sediment traps during the disturbance period. The increase observed was 0.5 to 4 times more than the background predisturbance fluxes. The increases in particle fluxes (~4 times) recorded by the sediment trap located in the southwestern direction (DMS-1) were the greatest, which could be the result of preferential movement of resuspended particles generated during the deep-sea benthic disturbance along the general current direction prevailing in this area during the experimental period. Also, the traps located closer to the disturbance area recorded greater fluxes than did the traps far away, across the Deep Sea Sediment Resuspension System path. This variability in recorded particle fluxes by the traps around the disturbance area clearly indicates that physical characteristics such as grain size and density of the resuspended particles produced during the disturbance had an important effect on particle movement. The postdisturbance measurements during ~5 days showed a reduction in particle fluxes of ~50%, indicating rapid particle settlement.     

海上大直径钢管桩打桩过程中桩周土强度弱化研究

海上大直径钢管桩打桩过程中,桩周土体受到强烈扰动而发生强度弱化,掌握桩周土体强度弱化规律对于准确预测打桩过程、保证工程安全具有重要意义。为研究土体强度弱化规律,开展了环剪试验模拟打桩对桩周土体的扰动,测试土体强度随剪切速率的变化规律,建立了描述土体强度弱化规律的拟合公式,引入到打桩分析软件中。研究结果表明：土体的强度折减程度不仅与土体本身的性质有关还受到土体的埋深和剪切速率的影响,埋深越深土体强度折减程度越低,剪切速率越高土体强度折减越高,在打桩分析中可采用这里推荐的线性折减方法来模拟不同深度处土体强度的折减规律。     

Determination of In Situ Sediment Shear Strength from Advanced Piston Corer Pullout Forces

The advanced piston corer (APC) has been used by the Ocean Drilling Program since 1985 for recovering soft sediments from the ocean floor. The pullout force measured on extracting the core barrel from the sediment is shown to correlate with the average shear strength of the sediment core measured in the ship's laboratory. A simple rule of thumb is derived relating the shear strength of the sediment to the pullout force. Multiple APC holes at individual sites allow the consistency of the pullout measurements to be assessed. The effects of different operational procedures during APC coring are also explored. Although generally applicable, the correlation between pullout force and laboratory measurements of shear strength breaks down for some APC holes, possibly because of the disturbance of some sediment types during the APC coring process. A better understanding of the physical process of APC coring, and its effect on the properties of the sediment both inside and immediately outside the core barrel, would indicate what confidence can be put on the measurement of pullout force as a way of evaluating the in situ shear strength of deep sea sediments.     

Interannual Sea Level Variations and Annual Tides in the Northwestern Pacific

Specific properties of the interannual sea level variations and annual tides in the Northwestern Pacific were studied. Several tide stations were monitored. The monthly mean sea level for the year of 1995 was analyzed at each tide station. A seismic event in 1995, some tectonic activity around the subject area, and the Kuroshio (the oceanic western boundary current) may possibly contaminate results which would have occurred from the astronomical annual tide alone.     

Flow Cytometric Analysis of Coastal Lagoon Bacterioplankton and Picophytoplankton: Fixation and Storage Effects

The effect of different fixation and storage protocols on the flow cytometric (FCM) simultaneous analysis of bacterioplankton and phytoplankton in coastal seawater samples (Mediterranean coastal lagoons) was investigated. FCM measurements (cell number, fluorescence and scatter characteristics) were obtained through DAPI staining. Three fixatives [glutaraldehyde (GA), formaldehyde (FA) and paraformaldehyde (PFA)] and two storage (3 months duration) methods (5 °C and −196 °C) were tested. Two dominant populations were detected in studied samples: bacteria and eukaryotic picophytoplankton. Adding fixatives (2% final concentration) appears necessary to obtain FCM exhaustive counts of all the bacteria and phytoplanktonic cells. This was related to the permeation effect of fixatives which allowed a better DAPI staining of the cells. Maximum fluorescence, i.e. optimal staining of the cells was obtained with FA or PFA, and significant lower fluorescences with GA. Fixed samples stored at 5 °C induced rapid cell loss. Only storage in liquid nitrogen of samples fixed with FA or PFA, allows mid-term (≥4 months) preservation of bacteria or picophytoplankton cell numbers, and limited evolution of DAPI-induced fluorescence and scatter characteristics.     

《Acta Oceanologica Sinica》Vol. 33(2014) contents

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INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS

<正>Acta Oceanologica Sinica(AOS)is a comprehensive academic journal edited by the Editorial Committee of Acta Oceanologica Sinica and is designed to provide a forum for important research papers of the marine scientific community which reflect the information on a worldwide basis.The journal publishes scholarly papers on marine science and technology,including physics,chemistry,biology,