Seamount Characteristics and Mine-Site Model Applied to Exploration- and Mining-Lease-Block Selection for Cobalt-Rich Ferromanganese Crusts

Hein, James R.; Conrad, T. A.; Dunham, Rachel E.

doi:10.1080/10641190902852485

Cited by 93 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Spatial planning measures for conservation have been proposed by the ISA in relation to the mining of cobalt-rich crusts, based on Hein et al (2009) who developed a minesite model. This model is based on identifying multiple sub-blocks or 'mine sites' within a seamount, each mine site being 20 km 2 , and a total area of about 260 km 2 (or 13 mine sites) being needed for a 20-year commercial operation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The numerical analysis had two purposes: (1) to examine which environmental variables are potential drivers of spatial variation in the seamount fauna; this was performed with distance-based linear models (DISTLM), and (2) to test whether geographic variation in faunal assemblage structure broadly matches the cobalt-rich division of the study area (based on Hein et al, 2009); this comparison was made with permutational analysis of variance (PERMANOVA; McArdle and Anderson, 2001). Prior to DISTLM and PERMANOVA, we conducted diagnostics on the putative effects of sampling effort and depth; details of these diagnostics are provided in Appendix S1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whether a dive occurred in or outside a prime region for the development of thick, cobalt-rich crust was determined by reference to Hein et al (2009). Data for seafloor temperature (°C), salinity (&), and oxygen (ml l À1 ) were obtained from the CARS2009 dataset, which contains mean values, standard deviations and seasonal coefficients created by averaging/interpolating available global oceanographic cast data (including ARGO float data) for 79 depth layers at a resolution of 0.5°latitude⁄longitude (Ridgway et al, 2002) ) flux to the seafloor for each dive was estimated from equations fitted to sediment trap data derived by Lutz et al (2007), but using mean and standard deviation primary productivity generated from a Vertically Generalized Production Model algorithm (Behrenfeld & Falkowski, 1997) from 8-day SeaWiFS chlorophyll data for the years 2003-2010 (http://www.sci ence.oregonstate.edu/ocean.productivity/).…”

Section: Environmental Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mining is envisaged for cobalt-rich crusts in the central Pacific Ocean (Hein et al, 2009). Two applications for exploration have already been submitted to the International Seabed Authority (ISA).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seamount benthos in a cobalt‐rich crust region of the central Pacific: conservation challenges for future seabed mining

Schlacher

Baco

Rowden

et al. 2013

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim The benthic fauna of seamounts typically includes organisms that are slowgrowing, long-lived and sensitive to mechanical disturbance, making seamounts susceptible to anthropogenic impacts. Such impacts may arise from mining cobalt-rich crusts, envisaged for seamounts in the central North Pacific; this scenario requires that environmental guidelines for mining operations on seamounts be developed. Here, we provide the biological information essential for effective conservation planning of deep-sea features targeted for such mining.Location Central North Pacific, Hawaiian Seamount Chain.Methods Spatial analysis of seamount benthos using a large biological dataset (> 600 taxa) obtained from 144 submersible dives (depth range: 113-1985 m) on 27 seamounts covering a distance of over 2200 km of ocean.Results Benthic assemblages of invertebrates are structurally different between seamounts located inside and outside a region with cobalt-rich crusts. This spatial contrast results from variations in species composition and relative abundance of species, rather than differences in species richness, challenging historical notions of an impoverished cobalt-rich crust fauna in the region. Seamount assemblages also have high species turnover with depth and distance at the scale of individual seamounts, but geographic separation was a poor predictor of ecological separation for the region at large.Main conclusion Several implications for the design of spatial management and conservation tools with respect to mining emerge: (1) conservation of seamounts outside the cobalt-rich crust region is unlikely to capture the full range of ecological features found inside the region; (2) conservation areas need to encompass a broad bathymetric gradient; (3) ideally, mining blocks on individual seamounts should not exceed 2 km in length. Overall, the life history characteristics and morphological traits of the deep-water invertebrate fauna typical of seamounts in the region imply that any recovery from mechanical impacts is likely to be very slow.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Environmental Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Seamount benthos in a cobalt‐rich crust region of the central Pacific: conservation challenges for future seabed mining

Schlacher

Baco

Rowden

et al. 2013

Diversity and Distributions

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“…Most concretions are concentrated in the center of the Pacific Ocean between the latitudinal faults of Clarion and Clipperton along the equator for thousands of kilometers. In addition to the Clarion-Clipperton areas with high concentrations of ferromanganese formations are also found in the central Indian Ocean, in the seas of the Arctic Ocean, in the southern and southeastern parts of the Pacific Ocean [7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological and Economic Prerequisites for the Extraction of Solid Minerals from the Bottom of the Arctic Seas

Myaskov

Гончар

2017

E3S Web Conf.

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Abstract. The world ocean has huge reserves of minerals that are contained directly in the water, as well as on the surface of its bottom and in its subsoils. The deposits of solid minerals on the surface of the bottom of the World Ocean are considered the most promising for industrial extraction. The deposits of ferromanganese nodules, cobalt-manganese crusts and polymetallic sulphides are considered as an object of extracting more often than others. There are the largest deposits of ferromanganese nodules in the central and southern parts of the Pacific Ocean, in the central part of the Indian Ocean, and in the seas of the Arctic Ocean near Russia. The deposits of ferromanganese nodules are a serious alternative to deposits of manganese ore on land. However, there are many factors influencing the efficiency of the development of ferromanganese deposits, the most significant are: the content of the useful component in the ore, the depth of the bottom and the distance from the seaports. It is also necessary to take into account the possible environmental consequences of underwater mining.

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Cobalt

Roberts¹,

Gunn²

2013

Critical Metals Handbook

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Seamount Characteristics and Mine-Site Model Applied to Exploration- and Mining-Lease-Block Selection for Cobalt-Rich Ferromanganese Crusts

Cited by 93 publications

References 8 publications

Seamount benthos in a cobalt‐rich crust region of the central Pacific: conservation challenges for future seabed mining

Seamount benthos in a cobalt‐rich crust region of the central Pacific: conservation challenges for future seabed mining

Ecological and Economic Prerequisites for the Extraction of Solid Minerals from the Bottom of the Arctic Seas

Cobalt

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