Ecological aspects of deep-sea mining

ACHTUNG! Der Vortrag wird in englischer Sprache gehalten!

The demand for mineral resources is steadily increasing in the industrialized world. Companies and states are searching for alternative mineral deposits and some of the potential future mining sites are in the deep ocean. We count three major economically interesting deposits, the massive sulfides at hydrothermal vents, the cobalt-rich crusts at seamounts and the polymetallic nodules in the abyss.

All these three habitats are sensitive to disturbance for different reasons. Mining of these deposits will irremediable cause some disturbance to the benthic communities. But how are the sources of disturbance and how is the magnitude of these impacts? How will biodiversity and community structure react to these impacts? How reliable communities will recover and how long will this take?

The talk will address these topics using recent results from cruises with RV "Sonne" in the framework of the European Project JPIO-Pilot Action "Ecological Aspects of Deep-Sea Mining", which focuses on the recovery of benthic communities after disturbance in polymetallic nodule fields. We visited several sites across the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone in the North-Eastern Pacific, an area managed by the International Seabed Authority, where the most important nodule deposits are located. But also we revisited the DISCOL are in the Peru-Basin, where Germany performed an experimental disturbance experiment in the late 80ies, in order to assess the recovery after 26 years.