Nevertheless, as the United States issues its licenses, the landscape will only continue to change, and the literal and geopolitical environment will undoubtedly shift, potentially irreversibly. Debates continue over whether investing in the technologies necessary to compete with China for an energy transition is worth the investment, particularly as oil continues to be the United States’s primary focus. Yet, regardless of whether the United States will eventually invest in renewable energy as it had just before Trump’s presidency, President Trump has positioned the country to put a new emphasis on deep-sea mining and search for critical minerals.
Mushroom soft coral
Species potentially impacted by sulfide mining included chocolate skates, Portuguese dogfish (Centroscymnus coelolepis), great lantern sharks (Etmopterus princeps) and small-eyed rabbitfish. Cobalt-rich ferromanganese crust mining could impact 21 of the identified species, the study showed, including whale sharks, cookiecutter sharks (Isistius brasiliensis) and sicklefin devil rays (Mobula tarapacana). As the global energy transition accelerates, the ocean floor has emerged as the next frontier in critical mineral competition between the United States and China, as both countries seek geopolitical and energy dominance. Modern economies depend on a consistent and constant supply of energy, and the United States and China recognize the importance of rare earth elements (REEs) in continuing innovation and energy security.
Parts of a fish
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s mining code, known as the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980. This pathway could be possible because the U.S. has not ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), under which the ISA sits. Last year some of the Deep-Seafas team took part in a research survey to Ascension and St Helena as part of the Blue Belt Programme, Discovery Research Vessel Expedition last November (#DY159). The UK Overseas Territories are collectively responsible for Marine Protected Areas that span over 4.3 million sq.
Polyphonic in nature, this entry invites readers to explore the deep sea through multiple social science perspectives, collectively capturing its complexity and significance. The study indicates that sulfide and crust mining would likely pose the most significant and direct risks to sharks, rays and chimaeras, mainly because of the substantial overlap between these species and the mining areas. For instance, 26 of the 30 species identified in the study inhabit zones proposed for sulfide mining, and some of them lay their eggs around vent systems, where sulfide mineral deposits occur.
The ocean has absorbed over 90% of the excess heat generated by the burning of fossil fuels; much of this heat has been transported to the deep by ocean currents. For that purpose, we have crawlers – autonomous tracked vehicles that can be precisely deployed on the seafloor by free fall or in a cable-tethered frame. Once there, they use their tracks to travel to predetermined sites, where they measure e.g. the oxygen content at different sediment depths. In addition to measuring devices, they have a high-resolution onboard camera, used to capture their surroundings. The AWI crawler TRAMPER can operate at depths of up to 6,000 metres and remain submerged for up to a year.
- Instead they live within the females’ bodies as parasites—sometimes over a hundred live in one female host.
- Iconic works of science fiction as well as pioneering documentaries reflect a fascination with unveiling the unknown; this spirit of discovery, of bringing light into the depths, remains alive today and has arguably even intensified.
- The little nutrition that rains down from above in the form of marine snow is not nearly consistent enough nor substantive enough to fuel a large living creature (though there are billions of tiny ones).
- Mary is a staff writer for the HIR interested especially in the intersection between global politics, energy, and climate change.
- This was demonstrated in the experiment DISCOL (Disturbance and Recolonization), which the AWI and a host of other European research centres contributed to.
According to UN regulations (UNGA Res 61/105), deep-sea fisheries are meant to avoid what is known as ‘Significant Adverse Impacts’ upon vulnerable marine ecosystems. Even though these regulations were enacted in 2006, with the lack of data we have for the deep-sea, it remains a major challenge to get to grips with what the term ‘significant adverse impacts’ really means in different deep-sea environments. Seamounts affect ocean circulation and mixing, resulting in nutrient upwellings that stimulate phytoplankton growth, which in turn supports a wide array of marine life. The exposed rocks of seamounts swept clean of sediments by ocean currents are colonized by sessile organisms including cold-water corals and sponges, which globally host more than 1,000 different species including shrimps, crabs, worms and brittlestars. Above all, rising water temperatures are provoking rapid responses in the deep-sea ecosystem.
Crabs, corals, anemones, sea stars, and many other creatures make the walls of seamounts their home. About 80 commercial species live on seamounts, and many are only found near this habitat. Still, the deep-sea remains one of the least explored regions on planet Earth.47 Pressures even in the mesopelagic become too great for traditional exploration methods, demanding alternative approaches for deep-sea research. Baited camera stations, small crewed submersibles, and ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) are three methods utilized to explore the ocean’s depths. Because of the difficulty and cost of exploring this zone, current knowledge is limited. Pressure increases at approximately one atmosphere for every 10 meters meaning that some areas of the deep sea can reach pressures of above 1,000 atmospheres.
When it comes to polymetallic nodule mining, the form of deep-sea mining likely to begin soonest, the study found that 20 species overlap with potential mining zones. As a result, the offshore oil industry often remains hidden until a disaster makes its precariousness undeniable, drawing attention to the risks inherent in its operations and the ethical dilemmas that arise when the deep sea is treated as an invisible resource frontier. The chaos and ‘messiness’ of the deep sea are also key factors in ethnographies that analyse how companies, for example, legitimise deep-sea mining projects (Childs 2019; Han 2022). Hydrothermal vents, underwater volcanoes, and the irregular crusts of seamounts are characteristics of the deep sea that corporations emphasise to influence political decisions. This reframing serves to minimise the environmental impact of mining operations, which create sediment plume, as relatively invisible within the dynamic and chaotic deep-sea environment.
Nematodes make up 90 percent of the organisms living in the sediment; much more rarely, crabs and polychaetes can also be found. The seafloor is home to e.g. sponges, sea lilies, serpent and feather stars, sea urchins, starfish and sea cucumbers; the ecosystem’s mobile species include fish and squid. The biotic communities differ according to the water depth, and their occurrence chiefly depends on the available nutrients. According to a commonly used definition, it begins where the comparatively flat seafloor of the coastal regions segues into deeper and steeper areas. Depending on the respective region, this can be at very different water depths. In the Antarctic, for instance, the tremendous ice masses weigh down the continent considerably.
- Chondrichthyes, the class of cartilaginous fish that includes sharks, rays and chimaeras, are among the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, with more than 37% of species at risk of extinction due to overfishing and habitat loss, the study notes.
- Oceanographers, for example, remind us that benthic creatures (organisms that live on or near the bottom of marine ecosystems such as sponges, worms, sea stars, etc.) rely on phenomena like whale falls, in which whale carcasses sink to the deep-sea floor.
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s mining code, known as the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980.
- Studying these environments can reveal insights into resilience and adaptation, possibly helping us tackle challenges in medicine, technology, and sustainability.
- It covers more than 60% of Earth’s surface and is crucial in regulating the planet’s climate, supporting marine biodiversity, and even influencing human life.
- A layer of these plankton create a dense mine field for the tiny crustaceans to swim through on their path each day.
Exploring the Intersection of Fashion and Architecture
Framing the deep ocean as unknowable could reinforce the mistaken idea of it as ‘a separate realm where human harms dissolve into invisibility’ (Alaimo 2025, 11). It may be the last place you’d expect to find corals—up to 6,000 m (20,000 ft) below the ocean’s surface where the water is icy cold and completely dark. In fact, there are as many known species of deep-sea corals (also known as cold-water corals) as shallow-water species.
Scientists Explored Some Of The Deepest Parts Of The Ocean And Spotted Some Seriously Weird Deep-Sea Creatures
The central Arctic Ocean is largely covered with ice and – unlike the Antarctic’s Southern Ocean – surrounded by landmasses. Exchanges with the Atlantic and Pacific can only take place via two comparatively narrow passages. As a result, the Arctic Ocean is an extremely nutrient-poor one, where less algae grows than in the waters of the temperate latitudes – which also means that fewer of the green morsels drift down to the deep sea. Therefore, there is less life at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean than in other deep-sea regions.
To establish these thresholds for ecotoxicology (how toxic substances affect the reproduction and survival of organisms within an ecosystem) in deep-sea fauna, scientists assess the balance of entire ecosystems. While some species may be more resistant to stress than others, the goal is to integrate various data types to evaluate the overall impact. Crucially, the loss of a particular species is not necessarily a concern—what matters is whether its ecological function can be replaced. This involves determining whether another species can fulfil the role of a sensitive organism. The Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP) is a Smithsonian research program launched to explore marine life and monitor Deep Sea changes on deep reefs in the southern Caribbean.
Deep seapdf
An advanced follow-up model, NOMAD, is larger but – thanks to consistent lightweight design – not heavier than the 1.5-metre-long TRAMPER and can carry four times as much weight in instruments. In the future, an even larger crawler will be available; roughly the size of a minivan, it will not only be able to monitor and record, but also to gather samples. These findings shed more light on how the depth, regional setting, and seafloor disturbance via seismic activities and nutrient supply from land interact to structure marine ecosystems. Scientists believe deep sea ecosystems may be as diverse as the world’s richest tropical rainforests.
The Curasub is a 5-person manned submersible capable of descending to 1,000 feet. The state-of-the-art sub is equipped with hydraulic collecting arms that allow for the collection of marine life and the deployment of long-term monitoring devices on the deep reef. Diel vertical migrations aren’t the only type of movement between the shallows and deep.
