Deep Sea Floor Mining Is Subject of International Colloquium at WHOI

Scientists, policymakers, environmentalists, and industry representatives will gather next week at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to discuss the issue of mining precious metals from the seafloor. A public colloquium, which will feature keynote addresses from leading voices on the subject and a panel discussion, will be held on Thursday, April 2, from 2 to 5 p.m. in WHOI’s Redfield Auditorium, Woods Hole, MA. The event, the 5th Elisabeth and Henry Morss Jr. Colloquium, is free and open to the public and will also be broadcast in real time on the Web.

Recent proposals for seafloor mining have centered on massive sulfide deposits—rich in copper, gold, silver, and zinc—that are found at deep-sea hydrothermal vent systems.

Vent systems are part of the planet’s plumbing system and form in places where there is volcanic activity, such as along Mid-Ocean Ridges. Water seeps into cracked seafloor and is heated by hot, and sometimes molten rock deep in the ocean crust. The hot fluid becomes buoyant, rises rapidly back to the seafloor, and gushes out of the vent openings at temperatures as high as 400°C. This hydrothermal fluid carries with it dissolved metals and other chemicals from deep beneath the ocean floor, but, at just below the seabed, these metals can precipitate to form seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposits.

“Scientists are still in the early stages of studying these SMS deposits, but the active vent sites that generate them can often also play host to species and ecosystems that were previously unknown to science,” said Maurice Tivey, a senior scientist at WHOI. “The new frontier of deep-sea exploration and mining raises questions about the sustainable use of these resources and potential environmental impacts. This colloquium represents an invaluable—and extremely timely—opportunity to discuss all of the various scientific, political, legal, and economic implications of mining with the people most knowledgeable about it.”

Working with the Census of Marine Life’s ChEss (Chemosynthetic Ecosystems) project, InterRidge, Ridge 2000, and the Deep Ocean Exploration Institute at WHOI, Tivey and colleagues have organized a scientific workshop that has attracted more than 100 participants from 20 countries to explore the subject. During the workshop, which will be held the day before the public event, scientists and students of all disciplines will exchange ideas and research results arising from investigations of hydrothermal vent systems and the seafloor deposits that form around them.

“The enthusiastic response of the international community to this meeting highlights sea floor mining as an issue of important global implications,” said Jian Lin, a WHOI geophysicist and InterRidge Chair.

The public colloquium will provide a summary of the previous day’s workshop.

Commercial sea floor mining is already being planned offshore Papua New Guinea, and in May, the International Seabed Authority, which implements the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, will finalize its rules opening up the high seas to these activities. The U.S. currently has not ratified the Law of the Sea convention.

Among the speakers at next week's colloquium is Nii Allotey Odunton, the Secretary-General for the International Seabed Authority, which will oversee the regulation of the world’s seafloor resources. Also speaking are Caitlyn Antrim, the executive director for the Rule of Law Committee for the Oceans, Rod Eggert, the division director for economics and business at the Colorado School of Mines, and Maurice Tivey, a geologist at WHOI who studies these unique deep sea environments. They will be joined by Samantha Smith, environmental manager of Nautilus Minerals Inc., Sabine Christiansen of the World Wildlife Fund, and Chris German, a WHOI geochemist who is co-chair of ChEss and InterRidge, for a panel discussion and Q&A with the audience.

“The issue of deep-sea mining of SMS is of global importance, connected to the global economy, society, and the conservation of unique marine life,” said German. “Before these unique environments are altered by industrial processes, we scientists hope to gain and exchange as much information as we can about the formation, preservation, and distribution of SMS deposits to determine the gaps in our scientific knowledge.”

The Morss Colloquium will broadcast in real time on the Web at http://www.whoi.edu/workshops/deepseamining.



The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the oceans’ role in the changing global environment.

Views: 75

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted a photo
15 hours ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Fingerprint

The Fingerprint On a dance with the unpredictability of the signals you sendA solemn pact with my…See More
19 hours ago
Sandy posted a video
20 hours ago
tjdavis posted a video
Thursday
Burbia replied to Burbia's discussion Trump Receives Marching Orders
Wednesday
Less Prone favorited Burbia's video
Wednesday
Less Prone replied to Burbia's discussion Trump Receives Marching Orders
"Bullets can be effective in reinforcing ownership."
Wednesday
Burbia posted a discussion

Trump Receives Marching Orders

Netanyahu has made 3 visits to the White house since Trump's second term as President of the United…See More
Wednesday
Burbia commented on Burbia's video
Thumbnail

Ben Shapiro Just LOST HIS MIND — There's No Coming Back From This

"Omg. The Ben Shapiro voice that Luke is imitating here couldn't be any more comedic to…"
Tuesday
Burbia posted a video

Ben Shapiro Just LOST HIS MIND — There's No Coming Back From This

Get the magnesium your body needs - https://wearechange.shop/product/magnesium-glycinate/Ben Shapiro Just LOST HIS MIND — There's No Coming Back From ThisHig...
Tuesday
cheeki kea posted photos
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Monday
Burbia posted a video

A few reasons I don’t like jews. It’s not complicated.

These are the reasons I became antisemitic. It’s not complicated. Sure, I could go on for days, weeks, months outlining everything, but I don’t need to. This...
Monday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Unusual Discoveries and Headlines
"Less Prone, Thanks Buddy! I'd like to volunteer as a historical reconstructionist! "
Sunday
Less Prone left a comment for t.me/TheIntelligenceLibrary
"Welcome to a revolutionary concept in public communication, the truth."
Sunday
pohonemas33 team is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Sunday
Less Prone favorited cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
Sunday
tjdavis's 2 blog posts were featured
Sunday
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
Sunday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post Unusual Discoveries and Headlines
"Some incredible pieces of history!"
Sunday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted