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In a study published in Scientific Reports, scientists discovered impressive abundance and diversity among the creatures living on the seafloor in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ)—an area in the equatorial Pacific Ocean being targeted for deep-sea mining. The study, lead authored by Diva Amon, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), found that more than half of the species they collected were new to science, reiterating how little is known about life on the seafloor in this region.
"We found that this exploration claim area harbors one of the most diverse communities of megafauna [animals over 2 cm in size] to be recorded at abyssal depths in the deep sea," said Amon.
The deep sea is where the next frontier of mining will take place. A combination of biological, chemical and geological processes has led to the formation of high concentrations of polymetallic "manganese" nodules on the deep seafloor in the CCZ—an area nearly the size of the contiguous United States. These nodules are potentially valuable sources of copper, nickel, cobalt and manganese, among other metals, which has led to an interest in mining this region. All of the potential polymetallic-nodule exploration contracts that have been granted in the Pacific are in this region, according to the International Seabed Authority.
[...] The preliminary data from these surveys showed that more animals live on the seafloor in areas with higher nodule abundance. Further, the majority of the megafaunal diversity also appears to be dependent on the polymetallic nodules themselves, and thus are likely to be negatively affected by mining impacts.
"The biggest surprises of this study were the high diversity, the large numbers of new species and the fact that more than half of the species seen rely on the nodules—the very part of the habitat that will be removed during the mining process," said Amon.
Exploitation plans are pushing ahead even though knowledge of the seafloor ecosystem in this region is still limited.
(Score: 3, Flamebait) by Dunbal on Friday July 29 2016, @10:31PM
Think of that especially rare and delicate ecosystem on the bottom of the ocean floor that I never heard of until yesterday, says the guy with 7 kids. Food for thought. The REASON we are stripping all the resources in sight is because we need them. You want to fix the problem put the baby machine away or at least turn it to "LO".
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday July 29 2016, @10:48PM
A post-doc with 7 kids? Yeah fucking right.
What nation governs this part of the sea and can regulate the exploitation of these natural resources?
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(Score: 3, Touché) by Dunbal on Friday July 29 2016, @10:54PM
I guess if you missed the point so widely then it's my fault for not getting my message across.
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Friday July 29 2016, @10:58PM
I guess if you missed the joke so widely then it's my fault for not including a laugh track.
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(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Saturday July 30 2016, @12:01AM
Match point sir, well done :)
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Friday July 29 2016, @11:03PM
The Britannica says the Line Islands are nearby. That suggests that Kiribati and the United States might claim parts of it. If China builds islands there, that could complicate matters.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Clipperton-Fracture-Zone [britannica.com]
I came across a page saying that a gallium nitride mineral was found in the area. Gallium is more scarce than manganese, I'm fairly sure.
http://www.mindat.org/loc-209539.html [mindat.org]
(Score: 1) by butthurt on Saturday July 30 2016, @02:13AM
Later I saw that the Clarion Fracture Zone reaches "the base of the continental slope off Puerto Vallarta, Mex."
https://www.britannica.com/place/Clarion-Fracture-Zone [britannica.com]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Gravis on Saturday July 30 2016, @01:29AM
Which elements exactly are completely unobtainable at a reasonable price? "The REASON we are stripping all the resources in sight" is because they are easy to profit from. The truth is we don't need to go to the sea floor to get elements, we have plenty of them already in places we know. The reason they are extracting them is because of existing environmental regulations greatly reduces the profitability of extracting them. In short, this is an end run around regulations that exist to protect us from people who would otherwise destroy the environment to make a buck.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 30 2016, @01:41AM
I think you nailed it, Gravis.
Why are businesses moving to China and/or third world countries? Partly because labor is so cheap, but also because there are few if any environmental regulations in those countries.
I submitted an article about China paying chemical industries to relocate away from Beijing - looks like that one will hit the front page later tonight.
Corporations don't care about pollution. If they can just keep it out of sight of the public, that's all that matters.