EGU2020-4653, updated on 19 Oct 2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4653
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Time series of near-bottom currents and particle fluxes from Ocean Bottom Moorings in the NE equatorial Pacific

Martina Hollstein1, Annemiek Vink1, Katja Schmidt1, Niko Lahajnar2, Andreas Lückge1, and Kaveh Purkiani3
Martina Hollstein et al.
  • 1Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover, Germany
  • 2Institute for Geology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
  • 3MARUM – Center for Marine environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

The globally increasing demand for metals and rare earth elements has raised the interest for potential mining of deep-sea mineral resources such as polymetallic nodules. One important field of polymetallic nodules is located within the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ) in the northeastern equatorial Pacific. To date, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has granted 25 licenses for the exploration of polymetallic nodules in the CCZ. However, the impact of potential future mining activities on the deep-sea environment is only insufficiently known. To assess the environmental impacts of potential future mining activities, a nodule pre-prototype collector test is scheduled to occur in the German license area within the CCZ in autumn 2020, and will be accompanied by an extensive environmental monitoring program (joint effort between BGR and the European research project JPI-Oceans “MiningImpact2”). However, to assess the environmental impact of mining activities, for example due to the development of an operational sediment plume on the seafloor, prior knowledge on the bottom current regime and variability of particle flux and composition within the CCZ under natural conditions is a prerequisite. In order to analyze the bottom current regime and background particle fluxes, BGR deployed Ocean Bottom Moorings (OBM) equipped with current and turbidity meters (4 years between 2013 and 2019), and a sediment trap (2018-2019). Here, we present preliminary results and analyses of these oceanographic and sedimentological time-series data, and compare the results with other available information deriving from the region.

How to cite: Hollstein, M., Vink, A., Schmidt, K., Lahajnar, N., Lückge, A., and Purkiani, K.: Time series of near-bottom currents and particle fluxes from Ocean Bottom Moorings in the NE equatorial Pacific, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-4653, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4653, 2020.