A Review of Some Environmental Issues Affecting Marine Mining

Abstract

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 site-specific, 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.     

浙江苍南无居民海岛岩相潮间带生物群落多样性研究

为了解浙江苍南海域无居民海岛岩相潮间带生物群落组成与结构,于2019年3月对该海域内11个无居民海岛进行了潮间带生物调查,对采集到的样品进行鉴定,并计算了栖息密度、生物量和生物多样性指数。11个无居民海岛共鉴定出58种潮间带生物,平均栖息密度和平均生物量分别为857±205 ind/m2和2 847.83±1 032.50 g/m2,各断面的Shannon-Wiener多样性指数H′、Pielou均匀度指数J和Margalef丰富度指数D范围分别为1.07~1.61, 0.66~0.83和0.54~1.30。与大陆沿岸潮间带相比,无居民海岛生态系统独特,拥有更多的生物资源,具有重要的生态价值,需要重视并加强保护。     

Meiofauna in closed coastal saline lagoons in the United Kingdom: Structure and biodiversity of the nematode assemblage

Coastal saline lagoons are rare in North West Europe and tend to be closed, brackish water systems. In the United Kingdom they are small and isolated, each exhibiting extremely variable habitat conditions, both spatially and temporally. This paper represents the first species-level study of lagoonal nematode assemblages in the UK. Samples were taken from seven ponds in a saline lagoon system on the south coast of England in order to describe the nematode assemblage in relation to habitat type and to assess the possibility of lagoonal specialisation. At each site samples were also taken, or data were already available, for salinity, sediment granulometry, sediment organic carbon content, photosynthetic pigments and lagoon topography.     

The relationship between soft-bottom macrobenthic communities and environmental variables off Ningjin, eastern Shandong Peninsula

Macrobenthic infauna and associated environmental factors influencing the benthic community in the eastern coastal region of Shandong Peninsula were analyzed in four seasonal surveys from January 2007 to October 2007 (30 stations in winter, 20 stations in other three seasons), in order to understand the community structure and the factors unfluencing the benthic distribution. PRIMER 6.0 and SPSS 15.0 software packages were adopted to analyze the environmental and macrobenthic data. The results show that there were 260 macrobenthic species in total collected from the research region. The composition of species is:Polychaeta (94 species), Crustacea (75), Mollusca (56) and Echinoderm (12), among which, only 23 species were common species in the cruises of every season. The dominant species varied from season to season; however, the polychaete species Paralacydonia paradoxa Fauvel and Echinoderm species Amphioplus japonicus (Matsumoto) were always present year-round. The abundance and biomass of the macrobenthos in the research region were variable from season to season. The results of CLUSTER and MDS analysis show that the similarities of macrobenthic structures between the stations were low; most of the similarities were at about 30% of similarity value, only two stations were up to 70%. In accordance with the similarity values of the macrobenthic structures, we divided the 20 stations into five groups by arbitrary similarity level of 30%. The ABC curve indicates that the marcofauna communities in the research region had not been disturbed massively, except two stations, SB1 and SB3. Ecologically, benthos were controlled by a combination of factors such as salinity, phytoplankton, zooplankton, SiO₃-Si and temperature, and no single factor could be considered as an ecological master factor.     

Short-Term Morphological and Shoreline Changes at Trinkat Island,Andaman and Nicobar,India, After the 2004 Tsunami

The tsunami waves generated during the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake of 26 December 2004 devastated the coastal area along Trinkat Island, causing sudden changes to the morphology of the landforms. This study uses a series of satellite images to record the short-term morphological response and shoreline changes as well as the recovery of coastal land after its destruction. Results indicate that the island experienced substantial erosion and a significant reduction in land area. Shoreline erosion is more prevalent than accretion at an average linear regression rate of ～?9 m per year between 2004 and 2013. The major morphological changes at Trinkat Island were observed in coastal inlets, beaches, and bay head-lands. Straight beaches had almost recovered eight years after the tsunami; however, erosion is continually observed in other areas. Our study will help understanding the response and recovery of shorelines in Indian Ocean regions after the 2004 tsunami.     

系统发育多样性和系统发育结构在岛屿植物群落保护中的意义：以福建沿海19个岛屿为例

为了探讨福建沿海岛屿植物多样性的形成与维持机制,本研究在福建近岸有居民岛屿前期调查资料的基础上,补充部分无居民岛屿植物多样性及环境和人口密度调查数据,从物种多样性和系统发育多样性两方面比较了19个岛屿植物多样性及其影响因素。结果表明,岛屿面积是影响植物物种丰富度(species richness, SR)和Faith系统发育多样性(phylogenetic diversity, PD)最重要的因素,纬度和年均降水量也有一定影响。19个岛屿系统发育结构倾向于聚集,植物群落的构建可能主要受到环境因素和人类活动干扰影响。地理距离对岛屿间植物群落系统发育β多样性的变化影响不显著。建议对PD较高的东山岛、粗芦岛、南日岛、湄洲岛、厦门岛、平潭岛、三都岛进行重点保护,并结合实际情况针对各岛屿功能定位制定保护和开发利用方案。本研究可以为多层次的多样性评价指标应用于岛屿植物多样性评估以及群落构建机制分析提供参考,也可以为岛屿生物多样性保护策略的制定提供理论依据。     

Ecosystem service values of sediment generation and entrapment by marginal coral reefs at Sodwana Bay,South Africa

Coral reefs provide a multitude of goods and services, some of which are difficult to value due to their intangible nature and the absence of markets to ascribe their relative worth. The coral reefs of Sodwana Bay on the northeast coast of South Africa provide several ecological goods and services, of which only two are considered here: namely, sediment generation and sediment entrapment. Both are deemed essential to the functioning of the Sodwana Bay economy. The replacement-cost method was used to estimate the annual financial cost of sediment provided to the study area if it were replaced by dredging. Sediment generation by the coral reefs was valued at R2.6–R4.8 million, and sediment entrapment valued at R71.8–R84.6 million, totalling between R74.4 million and R89.4 million (≈$5.6–$6.7 million, at R13.38/US$1) per year.     

Diversity and distribution of bacterial community in the coastal sediments of Bohai Bay, China

In order to understand the diversity and distribution of the bacterial community in the coastal sediment of the Bohai Bay,China,high-throughput barcoded pyrosequencing of the 16 S r RNA gene was used.Metagenomic DNA was extracted from the sediment samples,and was sequenced using a 454 GS FLX Titanium system.At 97%similarity,the sequences were assigned to 22 884 operational taxonomic units(OTUs) which belonged to 41 phyla,84 classes,268 genera and 789 species.At the different taxonomic levels,both the dominants and their distribution varied significantly among the six coastal sediments.Proteobacteria was the first dominant phylum across all the six coastal sediments,representing 57.52%,60.66%,45.10%,60.92%,56.63% and 56.59%,respectively.Bacteroidetes was the second dominant phylum at Stas S1,S2 and S4,while Chloroflexi was the second dominant phylum at Stas S3,S5 and S6.At class level,γ-Proteobacteria was the first dominant class at Stas S1,S2,S4 and S6,while δ-Proteobacteria became the first dominant class at Stas S3 and S5.In addition,a large proportion of unclassified representatives have distributed at the different taxonomic levels.Canonical correspondence analysis(CCA) results indicated that the sediment texture,water depth(D),dissolved oxygen(DO),total nitrogen(TN) and nine EPA priority control polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) including naphthalene,acenaphthylene,acenaphthene,fluorine,phenanthrene,fluoranthene,pyrene,benzo[a]anthracene and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene were the important factors in regulating the bacterial community composition.Those results are very important to further understand the roles of bacterial community in the coastal biogeochemical cycles.     

厦门同安湾鳄鱼屿海岸侵蚀与防护对策

在2009年3月对鳄鱼海岸线测量的基础上,利用ArcGIS软件分析比较了现有海岸线与厦门市集美区地形图（1988年版,图号：7-50-129甲-）中鳄鱼屿海岸线位置的变化.结果表明21a来,鳄鱼屿海岸最大侵蚀率为2.0 m/a,东南侧最大侵蚀宽度达42 m,侵蚀总面积达14 000 m2;其东北侧海岸侵蚀后退约35 m,侵蚀总面积达4 100 m2;其西北侧海岸最大侵蚀宽度达30 m,侵蚀面积达12 000 m2.文中就厦门市鳄鱼屿海岸侵蚀的成因进行了分析,提出了工程防护、人工补沙、红树林修复以及加强海岛及其周边海域资源综合管理等方面的防护对策.这可为我国其他无居民海岛的海岸侵蚀防护提供经验借鉴.     

非线性海床土对钢悬链式立管触地点动力响应和疲劳损伤影响分析

基于钢悬链式立管(SCR)动力分析程序CABLE3D,采用大挠度柔性梁理论建立SCR的运动方程,将线性海床模型扩展为考虑海床土吸力的非线性海床模型,采用非线性有限元方法对控制方程进行离散,时域内积分采用Newmark-β法,开发出新的计算程序。通过算例分析上部浮体垂荡运动幅值、海床土剪切强度、海床土剪切强度梯度对SCR触地点区域动力响应和疲劳损伤的影响。分析结果表明:SCR触地点区域动力响应和疲劳损伤对上部浮体垂荡运动幅值和海床土剪切强度的变化较为敏感,疲劳损伤在触地点区域最大,远大于悬垂段和流线段,在设计过程中应采取一定的加强措施。     

我国硬式护岸、渔港工程和人工岛等3类典型海岸工程对相邻海滩的影响研究

我国硬式护岸、渔港工程和人工岛等3类典型海岸工程对相邻海滩有显著影响.本研究以泉州青山湾护岸、泉州崇武中心渔港、海口南海明珠人工岛等建设前后海滩变化为例,开展对海滩岸线形态及部分典型剖面形态的对比分析.结果表明,临海硬式护岸岸前海滩发生明显下蚀,护岸下游海滩岸线侵蚀后退,发育侵蚀热点,剖面伴有下蚀;渔港工程拦沙堤附近岸线局部淤涨,下游海滩岸线大范围侵蚀后退,出现侵蚀热点,侵蚀热点处剖面明显下蚀;人工岛后波影区内海滩淤积,形成沙岬或连岛沙坝突出体,突出体两侧岸线均发生不同程度侵蚀后退.通过分析典型工程案例,探讨了3类海岸工程对相邻海滩的影响方式、影响尺度和原因,对比分析不同类型海岸工程对相邻海滩的负面影响,可为海岸工程建设管理和海滩保护提供参考.     

Geological characteristics and spatial distribution of paleo-inlet channels beneath the outer banks barrier islands,North Carolina,USA

Nearly 200 km of high-resolution ground penetrating radar (GPR) data were acquired along the Outer Banks barrier island system of North Carolina, USA. GPR data combined with lithofacies and biofacies data reveal multiple depositional facies including inlet channel, flood-tide delta, overwash, peat and inner shelf. Previously undocumented paleo-inlet channels constitute a significant portion of the shallow geologic framework between Oregon Inlet and Cape Hatteras. GPR data reveal the complex stratigraphy associated with multiple sequences of cut-and-fill within inlet channels. Two types of paleochannels (non-migrating and migrating) were classified based on geometry and fill-patterns. Sediments and foraminifera collected from vibracores were correlated to GPR data to define the regional shallow stratigraphic framework. Channel-fill facies are characterized by clinoform packages, sometimes bounded by erosional surfaces, indicating variable sediment transport directions from the ocean and sound sides. Channels are incised into older flood-tide delta deposits corresponding to older inlet activity when barriers existed further seaward. Flood-tide delta deposits are capped with marsh peat and overwash units. Migrating inlet facies occur under the widest portions of the island, whereas narrow portions of the island are underlain by the non-migrating inlet facies or flood-tide delta/overwash facies. This geologic/geomorphic relationship is attributed to the successional stage of island evolution during transgression, and sediment transport processes associated with the different inlet types. The radar facies, lithofacies, and biofacies provide a comprehensive dataset that will permit more precise identification of barrier island facies in the geologic record.     

中国黄海、东海和南海北部海底浅层沉积物声学物理性质之比较

黄海、东海和南海北部海底沉积物声学物理性质存在着差异,这与海区海底地质和沉积环境有关。取样所及的海底沉积物样品分析表明:黄海实验海区海底有6种沉积类型,东海实验海区海底有3种沉积类型,南海北部大陆架海区海底有6种沉积类型。三个海区的沉积物密度为1.48～2.03g·cm-3;沉积物含水量为10%～90%;沉积物孔隙度为65%～80%;沉积物纵波声速为1460～1916m·s-1;沉积物横波声速为115～611m·s-1。     

闽南沿海平原全新世孢粉组合及其意义

本文通过对闽南沿海平原地区３个钻孔的全新世沉积的孢粉研究，划分出６个孢粉带，反映了本区全新世时期植被演替和相应的气候波动，并结合１４Ｃ测年和硅藻分析等资料，确定Ⅰ和Ⅱ孢粉带为全新世早期，Ⅲ和Ⅳ孢粉带为全新世中期，Ⅴ和Ⅵ孢粉带为全新世晚期。     

Structural and facies architecture of a diapir-related carbonate minibasin (lower and middle Jurassic,High Atlas,Morocco)

We report the structural geometry and facies architecture of a small diapir-related carbonate-dominated basin from the Jurassic rift of the Moroccan High Atlas. The Azag minibasin is a lozenge-shaped depocenter completely enclosed by tectonic boundaries that we interpret as welds after former salt anticlines or salt walls. The exposed ca. 3000 m-thick infill of the Azag minibasin is asymmetric; layers are tilted to the W defining a rollover geometry. Areally-restricted sedimentary discontinuities and wedges of growth strata near the basin margins indicate sedimentation contemporaneous with diapiric rise of a Triassic ductile layer. Facies evolution through the basin reflects local accommodation by salt withdrawal and regional events in the High Atlas rift. The early basin infill in the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian shows thickness variations indicative of low-amplitude halokinetic movements, with reduced exposed thicknesses compared to surrounding areas. The exposed Toarcian and Aalenian deposits are also reduced in thickness compared to areas outside the basin. Subsidence increased dramatically in the Bajocian-early Bathonian (?), the main phase of downbuilding, when over 2600 m of carbonates and shales accumulated at a rate > 0.5 mm/a in the depocentral area of the minibasin governed by W-directed salt expulsion. The stratigraphic units distinguished often show maximum thicknesses and deeper facies in the depocentral area, and rapidly change to shallower facies at the basin margins. The Bajocian carbonate facies assemblage of the minibasin include: reservoir facies as microbialite-coral reefs in the basin margins (formed during periods of strong diapir inflation and bathymetric relief), basin-expansive oolite bars (formed during episodes of subdued relief), and organic-rich, dark lime mudstones and shales that show source-rock characteristics. The Azag basin is a good analog for the exploration of salt-related carbonate plays in rifts and continental margins where source-rock and reservoir can form in a same minibasin.     

The structure of the benthic macrofaunal assemblages and sediments characteristics of the Paraguaçu estuarine system, NE, Brazil

The structure of the benthic macrofaunal assemblages of the estuarine portion of Paraguaçu River, NE, Brazil, and its relationship with surface sediment characteristics (trace metals, PAHs, nutrients and grain size) and physical variables were investigated at ten stations on two contrasting occasions, summer (dry season) and winter (rainy season). A total of 1258 individuals (632 in winter and 626 in summer) and 62 taxa representing polychaetes, crustaceans, bivalves, echinoderms, bryozoans, sponges, cnidarians and cephalochordates were collected. Benthic assemblages in the upper estuary were unlike those in the lower estuary and a clear substitution of benthic taxa along the estuary was observed. Macrofaunal invertebrates in the low salinity region, composed of coarse sediments, were dominated by tellinids, venerids (bivalves), cirolanids (isopods), cyclopoids (copepods), and nereidids (polychaetes). While the high salinity region, composed of fine sediments, were dominated by nuculids (bivalves), cirratulids (polychaetes), and by amphiurids (ophiuroids). The Paraguaçu estuarine system is not severely affected by anthropogenic activities. In the great majority of the study sites, concentrations of trace metals and PAHs in the sediments were near background values. Nutrients values were also low. We formulated new models of taxon distribution and suggested detailed studies on the effects of salinity variation and studies using functional approaches to better understand the processes causing the spatial patterns in tropical estuarine benthic assemblages.     

Exergy,ecosystem functioning and efficiency in a coastal lagoon: The role of auxiliary energy

Exergy, as the sum of energy and information contained in a given system due to living organisms, can act as a quality indicator of ecosystems. Here, we investigated the exergy of Marsala Lagoon (Mediterranean Sea), along with microbial (prokaryotic and heterotrophic nanobenthos) biomass, prokaryotic heterotrophic production and extracellular enzymatic activities, and the biochemical composition of sediment organic matter. The aim of the study was to assess the role of auxiliary energy (e.g. hydrodynamic stress) in the ecosystem functioning and efficiency of a ‘detritus sink’ lagoon. Samples were collected at sites characterized by contrasting hydrodynamic and trophic conditions. Exergy transfer through the benthic microbial loop was influenced by two main factors: (1) organic matter bioavailability; and (2) hydrodynamic forcing. At both sites, the values of total exergy were higher in summer than in winter, and the specific exergy decreased from winter to autumn, along with increasing auxiliary energy. Our data indicate that in coastal ‘detritus sink’ systems, auxiliary energy sources can have a crucial role in exergy transfer and ecosystem functioning through modifying the efficiency of transfer to higher trophic levels of the refractory organic detritus, which is otherwise lost by burial in the sediment. As coastal lagoons are often intensively modified by human activities, we conclude that maintenance of the natural hydrodynamic regimes is a key factor in the preservation of the functioning of lagoon ecosystems and of their provision of goods and services to humans.