All posts tagged: deepsea

Inexpensive seafloor-hopping submersibles could stoke deep-sea science—and mining

Inexpensive seafloor-hopping submersibles could stoke deep-sea science—and mining

Published by skeptic

But as with any sort of new type of technology, “there’s always growing pains,” recalls Orphan. Frigid temperatures and steep topography added unseen challenges, and it took the full three weeks for the sub to get high-resolution photographs of the seeps.  The setback didn’t dull Orphan’s excitement about the potential of these machines. “There’s a lot of real, unknown science right at that interface between the sediment and the ocean surface,” she says. “The Orpheus-type class of instrument, with the right kinds of sensors and samplers, could be a very enabling tool.” Russell envisions pairing the vehicles with specially designed payloads that can sense the heat of chemical seeps and detect plumes of sediment, DNA shed from ocean life-forms, or the magnetic tug of buried cables.  The vehicles are the “the best of both worlds,” says Andrew Sweetman, a deep-sea ecologist at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, who has not worked with Orpheus. While they can roam large areas like an AUV, they can also carry out precise sampling maneuvers like a remotely operated …

U.S. pushes ahead on deep-sea mining, apart from international rules : NPR

U.S. pushes ahead on deep-sea mining, apart from international rules : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Thousands of feet deep, parts of the seafloor are covered in polymetallic nodules. The potato-sized formations are being targeted by mining companies because of the metals they contain. NOAA Ocean Exploration hide caption toggle caption NOAA Ocean Exploration More than 10,000 feet deep in the ocean, the seafloor is covered with what look like dark, lumpy potatoes. These polymetallic nodules, as they’re known, take millions of years to form, slowly accumulating metals like nickel, cobalt and manganese. That’s made them a target for mining companies, looking to feed the world’s growing hunger for materials that go into advanced batteries and other technologies. On the seafloor, the nodules are vital habitat, part of a fragile ecosystem of marine species that are adapted to the dark, cold environment. With the majority of life in the deep sea still undiscovered by humans, many scientists say too little is known about damage that mining could cause. Interest in mining the deep sea is gaining momentum. This week, dozens of countries are meeting in Jamaica to develop rules that would …

Japan taps rare earth-rich mud from deep-sea floor to cut reliance on China

Japan taps rare earth-rich mud from deep-sea floor to cut reliance on China

Published by Sam Flores

Sediment containing rare earth was retrieved from ocean depths of 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) on a Japanese test mission, the government said Monday, as it seeks to curb dependence on China for the valuable minerals. Japan says the mission was the world’s first bid to tap deep sea rare earths at such a depth. “Details will be analysed, including exactly how much rare earth is contained” in the sample, government spokesman Kei Sato said, calling it “a meaningful achievement both in terms of economic security and comprehensive maritime development”. The sample was collected by a deep-sea scientific drilling boat called the Chikyu that set sail last month for the remote island of Minami Torishima in the Pacific, where surrounding waters are believed to contain a rich trove of valuable minerals. It comes as China – by far the world’s biggest supplier of rare earths – ramps up pressure on its neighbour after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Tokyo may react militarily to an attack on Taiwan, which Beijing has vowed to seize control of by …

Trump to Speed Permits for Deep-Sea Mining in International Waters

Trump to Speed Permits for Deep-Sea Mining in International Waters

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) – The Trump administration is pressing ‌ahead ​on Wednesday with an effort to ‌encourage U.S. exploration of the deep sea by accelerating permitting for companies hunting for ​critical minerals in international waters, a move that is likely to face environmental and legal concerns. The effort could help spark a ‍U.S.-led scramble for resources at the ​deep seabed before global standards covering the relatively new mining techniques are in place. A newly finalized rule from the ​National Oceanic and ⁠Atmospheric Administration follows the signing of an executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump that was aimed at bolstering the deep-sea mining industry as part of a push to counter China’s sweeping control of critical metals.  Under the rule, U.S. officials will consolidate the licensing and permitting process into a single and ostensibly shorter review, according to ‌a government press release that was seen by Reuters. Last year, Canadian miner The Metals Company started the ​process to ‌obtain such exploration licenses and ‍permits, advancing its ⁠bid to become the first company to gain …

Scientists investigate ‘dark oxygen’ in deep-sea mining zone

Scientists investigate ‘dark oxygen’ in deep-sea mining zone

Published by skeptic

An experiment on oxygen production by deep-sea nodules The Nippon Foundation Scientists will lower instruments to the seafloor to figure out how metallic nodules are generating oxygen in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, an unexpected phenomenon that has fuelled controversy over deep-sea mining. Researchers, to their surprise, found in 2024 that the potato-sized nodules in the darkness of the Pacific and Indian oceans, including the Pacific’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone, were a source of oxygen, even though it was thought that sunlight and photosynthesis were needed to produce this element on a large scale. This so-called dark oxygen could be supporting life in the darkness at depths of thousands of metres, including microbes, sea cucumbers and carnivorous anemones. Its discovery raised questions about proposals by deep-sea mining companies to vacuum up the nodules from the seafloor and smelt them for cobalt, nickel and manganese. The finding has been disputed by deep-sea mining companies, and other scientists have also called for more evidence. Now the researchers who discovered dark oxygen are going back to the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, …

Have we found a greener way to do deep-sea mining?

Have we found a greener way to do deep-sea mining?

Published by skeptic

Seafloor covered with manganese nodules Science History Images/Alamy A process to extract metals from their ore with hydrogen could make deep-sea mining for valuable materials more sustainable than mining on land, a new study claims. Swathes of the ocean floor are littered with nodules the size of tennis balls. These polymetallic nodules are comprised largely of manganese, with smaller amounts of nickel, copper and cobalt, as well as other elements. As the construction of solar power and electric vehicles booms, demand for these metals is increasing because they are vital components of batteries and wiring. But plans to mine for the polymetallic nodules are highly controversial because operations to collect them would potentially harm the deep-sea floor – one of the last pristine ecosystems on Earth. Even so, some researchers suspect that deep-sea extraction will eventually take place. “I think there is a good chance that someday people… will mine the nodules,” says Ubaid Manzoor at the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials in Germany. “So better to have a good process [for extracting metals] …