The effects of Deep-Sea Mining sediment plumes on the marine ecosystem

Messora, Alessandro (2023) The effects of Deep-Sea Mining sediment plumes on the marine ecosystem. Master's Thesis / Essay, Marine Biology.

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Abstract

From the onset, deep-sea mining has raised concerns surrounding its environmental impacts on fragile and poorly studied marine ecosystems such as hydrothermal vents, seamounts, and polymetallic nodule fields. Most research on the topic centres around the effects of habitat degradation on benthic communities inside the mining perimeter, but ore extraction and processing are also expected to generate extensive plumes of resuspended sediments. Benthic communities inhabiting a wide radius around the mining site as well as midwater fauna in the overlaying water column could be affected by an increase in suspended sediment concentration as well as the upheaval of toxic metals from the ocean’s crust, resulting in much more widespread environmental damage than previously imagined. In this review we will discuss the effects of sediment plumes on the marine ecosystem: their origin, composition, spatial extent, as well as the environments and species that will be most affected by them. We will conclude with an overview of the strategies that have been proposed to minimize such effects and the knowledge gaps surrounding the deep sea that prevent us from obtaining a comprehensive picture of the true environmental impact of deep-sea mining.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master's Thesis / Essay)
Supervisor name:	Poll, W.H. van de
Degree programme:	Marine Biology
Thesis type:	Master's Thesis / Essay
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	03 May 2023 09:53
Last Modified:	08 May 2023 09:33
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/29503

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