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Very little is known about deep sea ecosystems or the potential impacts of deep-sea mining. Polymetallic nodule fields are hotspots of abundance and diversity for a highly vulnerable abyssal fauna, much of which lives attached to nodules or in the sediment immediately beneath it.
Polymetallic nodules on the deep seabed in the CCZ Example of manganese nodule that can be found on the sea floor. Polymetallic nodules are found at depths of 4–6 km (2.5–3.7 mi) in all major oceans, but also in shallow waters like the Baltic Sea and in freshwater lakes. [23] [24] They are the most readily minable type of deep sea ore. [25]
Except the promise of deep sea mining may carry an environmental price. Proponents say that harvesting these nodules for use in renewables will help the world transition from fossil fuels.
The increasing tests in the region have led to the discovery of many new species, suggesting both a high species richness and high species rarity within the CCZ. It seems that polymetallic nodules in the region, the target of much deep-sea mining, are crucial for fostering a high level of biodiversity on the sea floor. Even so, there are many ...
The production of oxygen at the seafloor by polymetallic nodules is a new ecosystem function that needs to be considered when assessing the impact of deep-sea mining.
A part of the Pacific Ocean earmarked for deep-sea mining is ... The US Geological Survey estimates that 21.1 billion dry tons of polymetallic nodules exist in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone ...
India was the first country in the world, to have sponsored the exploration of deep sea mineral viz polymetallic nodules, in the central Indian Ocean basin in 1987. In 2002, India signed a contract with the ISA and after complete resource analysis of the seabed 50% was surrendered and the country retained an area of 75,000 km 2.
The quiet CCZ, as wide as the continental U.S., is home to polymetallic nodules or trillions of potato-size lumps of matter formed over millions of years that contain nickel, manganese, copper, zinc and cobalt, as well as deep water coral, sponges and unusual species ("ghost octopus", crustaceans, worms and sea cucumbers) that in a near light ...