Environmental Impacts of Nodule, Crust and Sulphide Mining: An Overview

Weaver, P. P. E.; Billett, David

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-12696-4_3

Cited by 23 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 56 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Moreover, studies claim that deep-sea mining may, in fact, be more environmentally friendly than terrestrial mining (Paulinkas et al 2020;Batker and Schmidt 2015;Hein and Koschinsky 2014;Koschinsky et al 2018). This rather positive outlook on deep-sea mining is, however, increasingly challenged, as concerns about the potential large-scale and long-term environmental impacts and the potential implications for human and ecosystem well-being are raised (Weaver and Billet 2019). Furthermore, it has been questioned whether a comparison of terrestrial and deep-sea mining is even warranted, given that there is no indication that deep-sea mining will eventually replace terrestrial mining.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitioning to Sustainable Life below Water

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

From 2004 to 2017 he was a member and chair of the Committee of Directors. He is a fisheries biologist trained at Bochum, Hamburg and Kiel University and has worked in Antarctica, Argentina, and the Azores. Since 1991 his work has revolved around fish biology and ecology in tropical ecosystems and throughout the 1990s he was a coordinator for the bilateral co-operation in Marine Research between Brazil and Germany. His research interests lie in the wider field of "Adaptations of different life stages of fish to their environment and the consequences of climate change". This includes activities in growth and population dynamics; migration pattern of fish in coastal environments; ichthyoplankton; fisheries biology; ecology; and ecosystem responses to climate change. An important topic is his work is the ecosystem approach to fisheries management, by which he engaged for many years in the Large Marine Ecosystem community as well as the stimulation and enforcement of international cooperation and networking in marine science and governance. He is a member of the Group of Experts on Capacity Development of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitioning to Sustainable Life below Water

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although commercial mining of seafloor massive sulphides has not yet occurred, it will likely happen in the future, as the first pilot mining tests have successfully delivered large quantities of ore to the production vessel (Okamoto et al, 2018;Okamoto et al, 2019). These operations will remove the targeted substrate and associated organisms and will produce potentially toxic plumes from in situ seabed excavation and from the return water pumped back down close to the seafloor (Coffey Natural Systems, 2008;Boschen et al, 2013;Hauton et al, 2017;Weaver & Billett, 2019;Muñoz-Royo et al, 2021). These impacts will most likely affect local biodiversity, species abundance and ecosystem services, as well as the marine food webs and ecosystem functioning in both benthic and pelagic ecosystems (Boschen et al, 2016;Le et al, 2017;Van Dover et al, 2017;Drazen et al, 2020;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the Dispersion of Seafloor Massive Sulphide Mining Plumes in the Mid Atlantic Ridge Around the Azores

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is increasingly recognised that deep-sea mining of seafloor massive sulphides (SMS) could become an important source of mineral resources. These operations will remove the targeted substrate and produce potentially toxic plumes from in situ seabed excavation and from the return water pumped back down to the seafloor. However, the spatial extent of the impact of deep-sea mining is still uncertain because few field experiments and models of plume dispersion have been conducted. In this study, we used three-dimensional hydrodynamic models of the Azores region together with a theoretical commercial mining operation of polymetallic SMS to simulate the potential dispersal of plumes originating from different phases of mining operations, and to assess the magnitude of potential impacts. Although the model simulations presented here were subject to many caveats, they did reveal some important patterns. The model projected marked differences among sites making generalisations about plume-dispersal patterns in mid-ocean ridges difficult. Nevertheless, the models predicted large horizontal and vertical plume-dispersals above the thresholds adopted. Persistent plumes (temporal frequency >50%, i.e., 6 months out of 12 months) were projected to disperse an average linear distance of 10 to 20 km, cover an area of 17 to 150 km2, and extend more than 800 m in the water column. In fact, the model projected that plumes may disperse beyond the licensed mining areas, reach the flanks and summits of nearby topographic features, and extend into the bathypelagic, mesopelagic, and epipelagic environments. Modelled plume-dispersal overlaps with the predicted distribution of cold-water corals and with existing fishing activities. These potential impacts would be of particular concern in regions such as the Azores, where local populations are highly dependent on the sea for their livelihoods. The findings of this study are an important initial step towards understanding the nature and magnitude of deep-sea mining impacts in space and time.

show abstract

“…The current state-of-the-art in mining technology is still in a prototype stage, yet a disturbance of the sea oor sediments by the mining gear is expected 3 . This disturbance will create a plume of resuspended sediment that will rise to an unknown altitude up from the sea oor and will also migrate laterally with currents 4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated Image Analysis to Map the Extent of Deep-Sea Mining Plumes Reveals a Larger Impacted Area Compared to Manual Analysis

Schoening

Bodur

Köser

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Deep sea mining for poly-metallic nodules impacts the environment in many ways. A key potential hazard is the creation of a sediment plume from resuspending sediment during seabed mining. The resuspended matter disperses with currents but eventually resettles on the seabed. Resettling causes a blanketing of the seafloor environment, potentially causing harm to in-, epi- and hyperbenthic communities with possible cascading effects into food webs of deep sea habitats. Mapping the extent of such blanketing is thus an important factor in quantifying potential impacts of deep-sea mining.One technology that can assess seabed blanketing is optical imaging with cameras at square-kilometre scale. To efficiently analyse the resulting Terabytes of image data with minimized bias, automated image analysis is required. Moreover, effective quantitative monitoring of the blanketing requires ground truthing of the image data. Here, we present results from a camera-based monitoring of a deep-sea mining simulation combined with automated image analysis using the CoMoNoD method and low-cost seabed sediment traps for quantification of the blanketing thickness. We found that the impacted area was about 50 percent larger than previously determined by manual image annotation.

show abstract

Environmental Impacts of Nodule, Crust and Sulphide Mining: An Overview

Cited by 23 publications

References 56 publications

Transitioning to Sustainable Life below Water

Transitioning to Sustainable Life below Water

Modelling the Dispersion of Seafloor Massive Sulphide Mining Plumes in the Mid Atlantic Ridge Around the Azores

Automated Image Analysis to Map the Extent of Deep-Sea Mining Plumes Reveals a Larger Impacted Area Compared to Manual Analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About