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The International Seabed Authority is working to set regulations for deep-sea mining as companies engaged in the clean energy transition clamor for more minerals. The seafloor, especially in parts ...
Deep sea mining is the extraction of minerals from the seabed of the deep sea. The main ores of commercial interest are polymetallic nodules , which are found at depths of 4–6 km (2.5–3.7 mi) primarily on the abyssal plain .
Seabed mining, also known as Seafloor mining [1] is the recovery of minerals from the seabed by techniques of underwater mining. The concept includes mining at shallow depths on the continental shelf and deep-sea mining at greater depths associated with tectonic activity, hydrothermal vents and the abyssal plains .
Some people think mining different parts of the deep sea—all the way down to 21,000 feet below—holds a solution and profits. Hydrothermal vents spew out magma-heated water, leaving mineral ...
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.
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.
The two major resources mined at sea include oil and minerals. Over the last 30 years, deep-sea mining has generated between $9 -$11 billion USD in the United States of America. [43] [44] Although this sector seems profitable, it is a high risk, high reward industry with many harmful environmental impacts. [45]
A U.N. agency tasked with regulating the deep sea is debating whether to open the Earth’s watery depths to countries and companies that as of Monday were allowed to start applying for ...