Invisible clouds of sediment created by underwater mining spread for miles, putting ocean floor ecosystems at risk.

A recent article in Nature Communications described a polymetallic nodule collector trial at 4500 m depth. A gravity current ...

Mining of polymetallic nodules from the seabed might lead to significant and long-lasting ecological changes -- both in the mined area, where surface sediments and the fauna living in and on it are ...

On the abyssal plains, at depths between 3,000 and 6,000 meters, polymetallic nodules are scattered across millions of square ...

Scientists have discovered that deep-sea mining plumes can strip vital nutrition from the ocean’s twilight zone, replacing natural food with nutrient-poor sediment. The resulting “junk food” effect ...

An underwater gold rush may be on the horizon — or rather, a rush to mine the seafloor for manganese, nickel, cobalt and other minerals used in electric vehicles, solar panels and more. Meanwhile, ...

The oceans need more care than they ever have before—and few people are taking on that job with more commitment than Diva Amon. A marine biologist at the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at the ...

A new study indicates that deep-sea mining could threaten at least 30 species of sharks, rays and chimaeras, many of which are already at risk of extinction. The authors found that seabed sediment ...

Marine researchers exploring extreme depths say they have discovered an astonishing deep-sea ecosystem of chemosynthetic life that’s fueled by gases escaping from fractures in the ocean bed. The ...

The world’s oceans are on the brink of a major disaster if controversial plans to start deep sea mining in international waters go ahead as early as next year, an expert has warned. Dr. Sandor Mulsow, ...