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The abyss of the Pacific Ocean presents a world of gradual processes, perpetual darkness, and profound tranquility. Bizarre organisms shimmer with bioluminescence, and oxygen emanates inexplicably from misshapen, metallic formations. This undisturbed realm is home to a unique collection of deep-ocean life. However, the prospect of deep-sea mining threatens this fragile ecosystem. This article explores the potential ramifications of seabed mining, the resources at stake, and the ecological concerns raised by scientists.
Unveiling the Deep: The Allure of Seabed Mining
“There’s unusual life down here,” explains Bethany Orcutt, a geomicrobiologist at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, highlighting the unique nature of deep-sea ecosystems.
Due to the severe conditions and high costs involved, research in the deep sea remains challenging and infrequent. Concerns are mounting as industrial activities set their sights on the ocean floor.
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Recently enacted executive orders are pushing toward the possibility of commencing the extraction of minerals from the seabed. However, scientists are voicing serious concerns. They suggest that deep-sea mining could inflict permanent damage on these delicate ecosystems before their true significance and functions are fully understood.
The Treasures of the Deep: What Resources Await?
Seafloor mining operations would primarily target three categories of metal-rich deposits: nodules, crusts, and massive sulfide deposits. Nodules are particularly appealing due to their metal composition, which is utilized in electronics manufacturing, sophisticated weapons systems, and electric car batteries, among other technologies essential for modern advancement. Additionally, nodules are the most accessible form of seafloor mineral deposit to extract.
These economically valuable nodules require millions of years to develop, resting on the ocean floor throughout their formation.
A nodule begins its existence when a persistent particle, such as a shark tooth, settles on the seabed. Subsequently, minerals like iron, manganese, and other metals gradually accumulate around it, akin to a snowball effect. The largest of these formations can reach the dimensions of a grapefruit.
Nodules also serve as habitats for various life forms. Microbial organisms, invertebrates, corals, and sponges thrive on these nodules, while sea stars, crustaceans, worms, and other creatures roam around them.
Lisa Levin, an oceanographer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, notes that approximately half of the known life forms inhabiting the vast, flat expanses of the seafloor, known as the abyssal plain, depend on these nodules. However, critical questions remain unanswered. “We don’t know how widespread species are, or whether if you mine one area, there would be individuals that could recolonize another place. That’s a big unknown.”
Methods of Extraction: Delving into the Deep-Sea Mining Process
Two primary methodologies for nodule extraction are currently undergoing development. One method involves employing a claw-like apparatus that scrapes along the seabed, gathering nodules in its path. The other approach resembles an industrial-scale vacuum cleaner designed for the ocean.
In both scenarios, the collected nodules would be transported to ships on the surface, situated miles above the ocean floor. Subsequently, the remaining water, rock fragments, and other detritus would be discarded back into the ocean.
Both dredging and vacuuming operations would significantly disrupt, if not eradicate, the seafloor habitat. Furthermore, the removal of nodules entails the destruction of what scientists consider to be the primary habitat for organisms inhabiting the abyssal plain.
Mining operations also generate light and noise pollution, impacting not only the seafloor but also the ocean surface where the ships are situated.
Environmental Concerns: Sediment Plumes and Potential Contamination
A key concern revolves around the sediment plumes generated by mining activities, both on the seafloor and at depths of around 1,000 meters, which boast “some of the clearest ocean waters,” according to Jeffrey Drazen, an oceanographer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. These sediment plumes, capable of traversing vast distances, could disrupt marine life in unpredictable ways.
Sediment has the potential to suffocate fish and smother filter-feeding organisms like shrimp and sponges. Additionally, it could impede the penetration of light into the ocean, hindering the ability of lanternfish to find mates and anglerfish to attract prey. Moreover, laden with discarded metals, there is a risk of contaminating seafood intended for human consumption.
“How likely is it that we would contaminate our food supply?” Dr. Drazen questioned. Before mining commences, “I really would like an answer to that question. And we don’t have one now.”
Industry Perspective: The Stance of Mining Companies
Mining corporations assert that they are actively developing sustainable and environmentally conscious deep-sea mining practices through continuous research and collaboration with the scientific community.
Their research endeavors encompass fundamental investigations into seafloor geology, biology, and chemistry, resulting in the documentation of thousands of species and the provision of valuable deep-sea photographs and videos. Dr. Drazen suggests that the interest in seafloor mining has spurred research that might have otherwise struggled to secure funding.
Initial evaluations of recovery equipment have shed light on the foreseeable impacts of their activities, such as sediment plumes. However, modeling can only provide limited insight into the repercussions once mining reaches a commercial scale.
Impossible Metals, a California-based seafloor mining company, is engineering an underwater robot the size of a shipping container. This robot utilizes artificial intelligence to selectively harvest nodules without disturbing larger organisms, an approach aimed at minimizing sediment plumes and biological disruption. The Metals Company, a Canadian deep-sea mining firm, successfully retrieved approximately 3,000 tons of nodules from the seafloor in 2022, simultaneously gathering data on plume behavior and other environmental effects.
In March, The Metals Company announced its intention to seek a permit for seafloor mining through NOAA, circumventing the International Seabed Authority, the United Nations-affiliated organization responsible for regulating seafloor mining.
Gerard Barron, chief executive of The Metals Company, stated in an interview that the executive order was “not a shortcut” past environmental assessments and that the company had “completed more than a decade of environmental research.”
Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, affirmed that the United States would adhere to existing American laws governing deep-sea exploration and commercial activities within U.S. waters and beyond. “Both of these laws require comprehensive environmental impact assessments and compliance with strong environmental protection standards,” she stated.
Long-Term Ecological Ramifications: Uncharted Waters
Many scientists remain dubious about whether adequate knowledge exists regarding the environmental consequences of seafloor mining to warrant proceeding. They can only speculate about the long-term repercussions.
Disrupting the base of the food chain could trigger cascading effects throughout the ocean ecosystem. As an extreme illustration, Dr. Drazen suggested the possibility of sediment diluting the food supply of plankton, potentially leading to starvation due to the inability to scavenge sufficient organic matter from a cloud of sea dust.
Microscopic plankton serve as a foundational food source, directly or indirectly, for nearly every creature in the ocean, including whales.
A challenge in comprehending potential impacts stems from the slow pace of life on the seafloor. Deep-sea fish can live for centuries, while corals can endure for millennia.
“It’s a different time scale of life,” Dr. Levin noted. “That underpins some of the unknowns about responses to disturbances.” Conducting 500-year-long experiments to ascertain whether, or when, these ecosystems can recover or adapt is impractical for humans.
Furthermore, there are no guarantees of restoring damaged habitats or alleviating harm on the seafloor. In contrast to land-based mining, “we don’t have those strategies for the deep sea,” Dr. Orcutt stated. “There’s not currently scientific evidence that we can restore the ecosystem after we’ve damaged it.”
Some scientists question the necessity of seafloor mining altogether, positing that land-based mines could satisfy the growing demand for metals.
Advocates of deep-sea mining have asserted that its environmental and carbon footprint would be less substantial compared to traditional mining for the same minerals.
“There has been no actual recovery of minerals to date,” Amy Gartman, an ocean researcher who leads the United States Geological Survey seabed minerals team, stated, referring to commercial-scale mining. “We’re comparing theoretical versus actual, land-based mining practices. If and when someone actually breaks ground on one of these projects, we’ll get a better idea.”