The nodules grow at a rate of millimeters per million years. Mero may have been wrong about the latter notion, as more recent science suggests that areas that have been harvested for nodules show little sign of recovery even after 30 and 40 years. Sparenberg says Mero's book "drew the picture of an easy-to-harvest, vast, and virtually unlimited resource, which he even imagined as inexhaustible as the resource was allegedly growing faster than it could be exploited." Ole Sparenberg, a science historian at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Mero, brought manganese nodules to a "broader scientific readership" with his book "The Mineral Resources of the Sea." A manganese nodule - the size of a large potatoes, but far more valuable to industry Image: Image courtesy of the DeepCCZ expedition It wasn't until the 1960s, however, when an American mining engineer, John L. They are often also referred to as potatoes - between 3 and 10 centimeters (1 and 4 inches) in diameter, and black. Those peculiar objects are now known as polymetallic or manganese nodules. The ISA says the ship's dredge hauled up "several peculiar black oval bodies which were composed of almost pure manganese oxide." The International Seabed Authority (ISA) says it all began in 1873, and almost by chance, on an oceanography voyage conducted by a ship called HMS Challenger. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video There are polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts. Plus, there's more besides manganese nodules. Sticking with the oceans, though, some estimates suggest there are greater deposits of manganese, cobalt and nickel on the deep-seabed than on land. That's also why there's an interest in mining asteroids - they hold important metals and minerals, too. And we're running low of these resources on land. We need (or want) them for a range of things, including the production of rechargeable batteries and touchscreens. Why are we mining for these rare elements in the deep ocean? In fact, some deep-sea creatures live on those very nodules, which some people think are just waiting to be scooped up and turned into phones. That's mining for metals and minerals, such as nickel, cobalt, manganese and copper, which are found in polymetallic nodules on the same seabed that's home to those unknown creatures. Read more: Gemstones, precious metals hold all this useful beauty But because of this lack of knowledge it is also virtually impossible to know how species down there will react or survive once commercial mining begins. That makes for some very unusual creatures that scientists would like to study out of pure interest. That's conservation of the many known and unknown species living at depths of up to about 5,500 meters in the Abyssal zone, which is predominantly in darkness. Grown over millions of years: manganese nodules scattered on the deep seabed of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Image: ROV KIEL 6000, GEOMAR (CC BY 4.0) That's one reason why there's so much interest from both non-commercial scientists and those working in industry.Īnd when it comes to deep-sea research, there are two main areas of interest: conservation and mining. Our oceans remain some of the most under-researched parts of the planet. There's fresh water in the planet, in the ground or elsewhere on land in rivers and lakes - more than 70% of the planet is covered in water - and there's more all around us in the atmosphere. Oceans make up about 96.5% of all Earth's water. Here's a simple fact to start: The oceans are huge.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |