standardization of environmental data and information - International ...

esistance and resilience of seafloor communities to nodule-mining
disturbances, with attention also given to the geographical ranges and
community structures of the animals most likely to be impacted. In addition
to special scientific projects on these topics, he suggested that researchers
take opportunities to go along on exploration cruises planned by
contractors, which would give them a platform for collecting biological and
oceanographic data along the entire water column, from surface to seabed.
He also listed a number of data-collection activities to accompany mining
tests, but suggested that it would be premature to develop standards for
such research now, as testing was still several years off and technologies
were likely to change in the meantime.
In his oral presentation, Dr. Morgan reiterated his point that much of
the contemplated environmental baseline research would be premature at
this stage. Besides the fact that the precise mining location was unknown,
engineers had not decided how a mining system would operate as it
ploughed through the seabed sediments to pick up nodules. This made it
impossible to predict the kind of sediment plume it would leave behind, and
thus how and over what area the suspended particles would be redeposited
– a prime culprit among expected impacts on the benthic ecosystem.
Rather than trying to simulate mining and its impacts, he suggested that
researchers concentrate on basic data about deep-sea life, concerning
which knowledge was especially lacking.
Dr. Michael Wiedicke-Homback, a marine geologist with
Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (German Federal
Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources), described some of the
findings gleaned from German researchers in the Peru Basin of the
southern Central Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America. Much
of the data were gathered during the DISCOL (Disturbance and
Recolonization) project over the past 10 to 12 years.
Concentrating on geological aspects, his paper described the three
areas covered by the studies: (1) large-scale investigations such as
bathymetry, topography and examination of sediment distribution, (2)
sediment-specific studies of factors such as surface characteristics,
composition and bioturbation, and (3) modelling and laboratory tests to
predict sediment-plume behaviour during and after mining.
The paper outlined a survey and sampling strategy for a baseline
study. Its four phases cover (1) surveying with acoustic methods to produce
detailed maps; (2) a definition of seabed structural types, including
INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 89