Earth:Clipperton Fracture Zone

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Short description: Fracture zone of the Pacific Ocean seabed
Major Pacific trenches (1–10) and fracture zones (11–20). The Clipperton Fracture Zone is the nearly horizontal line No. 15 below the Clarion Fracture Zone (14), and the Middle America Trench is the deep-blue line No. 9.
Location of the Clarion Clipperton Zone

The Clipperton Fracture Zone, also known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone,[1] is a geological submarine fracture zone of the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the five major lineations of the northern Pacific floor, south of the Clarion Fracture Zone. It was discovered by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1950. The zone is administered by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). The area is under consideration for deep-sea mining due to the abundant presence of manganese nodules.

The zone stretches around 4,500 miles (7,240 km).[2] The fracture is an unusually mountainous topographical feature. The zone spans approximately 4,500,000 square kilometres (1,700,000 sq mi).[3] It begins east-northeast of the Line Islands and ends in the Middle America Trench off the coast of Central America.[2][4][5] It forms a rough line on the same latitude as Kiribati and Clipperton Island.

In 2016, investigation of the zone's seafloor was found to contain an abundance and diversity of life – more than half of the species collected were new to science.[6]

The zone is sometimes referred to as the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ),[7] with reference to Clarion Island at the northern edge of the zone.

Geography

The fracture can be divided into four parts:

  • The first, 127°–113° W, is a broad, low welt of some 900 miles (1,400 km), with a central trough 10 to 30 miles (16 to 48 km) wide;
  • The second, 113°-107° W, is a volcano enriched ridge, 60 miles (97 km) wide and 330 miles (530 km) long;
  • The third, 107°-101° W, is a low welt with a central trough 1,200–2,400 feet (370–730 m) deep which transects the Albatross Plateau; and
  • The fourth, 101°-96° W, contains the Tehuantepec Ridge which extends 400 miles (640 km) northeast to the continental margin.[5]

The Nova-Canton Trough is often seen as an extension of the fracture.[8]

The zone contains nodules made up of valuable rare-earth and other minerals. Some of these play an essential role for the energy transition to a low carbon economy.[9] These nodules form around bone fragments or shark teeth. Micronodules then further aggregate and accrete into the clumps targeted for harvesting.[10]

Deep sea mining

The zone has been divided into 16 mining claims spanning approximately 1,000,000 square kilometres (390,000 sq mi). A further nine areas, each covering 160,000 square kilometres (62,000 sq mi), have been set aside for conservation.[1] ISA estimates that the total amount of nodules in the Clarion Clipperton Zone exceeds 21 billion tons (Bt), containing about 5.95 Bt of manganese, 0.27 Bt of nickel, 0.23 Bt of copper and 0.05 Bt of cobalt.[11] The ISA has issued 19 licences for mining exploration within this area.[12] Exploratory full-scale extraction operations were set to begin in late 2021.[7] ISA aimed to publish the deep sea mining code in July 2023. Commercial license applications were to be accepted for review thereafter.[13]

The so-called two-year rule states that before regulations are passed, a member nation has the authority to notify ISA that it wants to mine. This starts a two-year clock during which the ISA can come up with rules. If it fails to do so, the mining is implicitly approved. Nauru gave notice in July of 2021, creating a deadline of July 9, 2023. ISA's next meeting, however, begins a day later, on July 10.[10]

Environmental concerns

Areas of the fracture zone that have been licensed for mining are home to a diversity of deep-sea xenophyophores. A 2017 study found 34 novel species in the area. Xenophyophores are highly sensitive to human disturbances, such that mining may adversely affect them. They play a keystone role in benthic ecosystems such that their removal could amplify ecological consequences.[14] The nodules are considered "critical for food web integrity".[15] The zone hosts corals, sea cucumbers, worms, dumbo octopuses and many other species.[10]

Massachusetts Institute of Technology and TU Delft use their ISA observer status to investigate the potential impact of collecting these minerals and compare it to the environmental and human impact of terrestrial mining.[16][17] In April 2021, scientists from JPI oceans project carried out in depth studies into mining technology and its possible effect on the seabed.[18]

Mining has the potential for large environmental impacts. The impact of the release of tailings from nodule processing into the water column on pelagic organisms or the detrimental effects they may have on the benthic communities below are unknown.[19]

NGOs and governments have called for a moratorium on until more is known about potential environmental impacts.[20]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "DeepCCZ: Deep-sea Mining Interests in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone" (in EN-US). https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/18ccz/background/mining/mining.html. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Clipperton Fracture Zone". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/121879/Clipperton-Fracture-Zone. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
  3. ↑ "The Clarion-Clipperton Zone". http://pew.org/2o4se1P. 
  4. ↑ Keating, Barbara H. (1987). Seamounts, islands, and atolls. American Geophysical Union. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-87590-068-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=wKCYe5haiCUC&pg=PA156. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 H. W. Menard and Robert L. Fisher (1958). "Clipperton Fracture in the Northeastern Equatorial Pacific". The Journal of Geology 66 (3): 239–253. doi:10.1086/626502. Bibcode: 1958JG.....66..239M. 
  6. ↑ "Abundant and diverse ecosystem found in area targeted for deep-sea mining". EurekAlert. 29 July 2016. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/uoha-aad072616.php. Retrieved 31 July 2016. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone | International Seabed Authority". https://www.isa.org.jm/clarion-clipperton-fracture-zone. 
  8. ↑ Contributions – Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Scripps Institution of Oceanography. 1972. p. 69. https://books.google.com/books?id=2JHzAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
  9. ↑ Church, Clare; Crawford, Alec (2020). "Minerals and the Metals for the Energy Transition: Exploring the Conflict Implications for Mineral-Rich, Fragile States" (in en). The Geopolitics of the Global Energy Transition. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 279–304. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-39066-2_12. ISBN 978-3-030-39066-2. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-39066-2_12. Retrieved 28 January 2021. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Imbler, Sabrina; Corum, Jonathan (2022-08-29). "Deep-Sea Riches: Mining a Remote Ecosystem" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/29/world/deep-sea-riches-mining-nodules.html. 
  11. ↑ International Seabed Authority (2010). A Geological Model of Polymetallic Nodule Deposits in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone and Prospector's Guide for Polymetallic Nodule Deposits in the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone. Technical Study: No. 6. ISBN 978-976-95268-2-2. 
  12. ↑ "Exploration Contracts | International Seabed Authority". https://www.isa.org.jm/exploration-contracts. 
  13. ↑ Reid, Helen (2021-10-29). "New deep-sea mining rules set to miss 2023 deadline, Latam and Caribbean countries say" (in en). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/un-deep-sea-mining-rules-unlikely-be-completed-by-2023-deadline-latam-countries-2021-10-28/. 
  14. ↑ Gooday, Andrew J.; Holzmann, Maria; Caulle, Clémence; Goineau, Aurélie; Kamenskaya, Olga; Weber, Alexandra A.-T.; Pawlowski, Jan (2017-03-01). "Giant protists (xenophyophores, Foraminifera) are exceptionally diverse in parts of the abyssal eastern Pacific licensed for polymetallic nodule exploration" (in en). Biological Conservation 207: 106–116. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2017.01.006. ISSN 0006-3207. 
  15. ↑ Stratmann, Tanja; Soetaert, Karline; Kersken, Daniel; van Oevelen, Dick (2021-06-10). "Polymetallic nodules are essential for food-web integrity of a prospective deep-seabed mining area in Pacific abyssal plains" (in en). Scientific Reports 11 (1): 12238. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-91703-4. ISSN 2045-2322. PMID 34112864. 
  16. ↑ Gallagher, Mary Beth. "Understanding the impact of deep-sea mining" (in en). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. https://news.mit.edu/2019/understanding-impact-deep-sea-mining-1206. 
  17. ↑ 9 European partners work together to help the maturation of a hydraulic nodule collector, while minimizing its environmental footprint, blueharvesting-project.eu
  18. ↑ "Assessing the Impacts of Nodule Mining on the Deep-Sea Environment" (in en). https://www.jpi-oceans.eu/news-events/news/assessing-impacts-nodule-mining-deep-sea-environment. 
  19. ↑ Schriever, G. (2009-05-04). "SS Ocean Mining: Development of Environmental Research related to future Deep Sea Mining - Are Concerns justified and what should be done?". All Days (OTC). doi:10.4043/19935-ms. http://dx.doi.org/10.4043/19935-ms. 
  20. ↑ "One step closer to a global moratorium on deep-sea mining" (in en-US). 2021-09-15. https://www.fauna-flora.org/news/one-step-closer-to-a-global-moratorium-on-deep-sea-mining/. 




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