standardization of environmental data and information - International ...

have described methods for the study of marine benthos 4 , potential effects
of deep-ocean mining, sediment dispersion and other impacts of ocean
mining, estimation of discharge characteristics of commercial nodule
mining 5 , and problem areas and regulation of deep-sea mining. Other
authors have given a checklist of contents for an environmental statement
from a potential contractor for waste treatment and disposal 6 as well as a
detailed account of different stages of environmental impact assessment
from planning to preparation of a report 7 .
This paper attempts to evaluate some of the data-collection
protocols followed during various experiments and their results, and to
suggest the need and approach for the standardization of environmental
data and information.
3. Collection of environmental data
Consequent to the demarcation of potential polymetallic nodule
sites in the deep oceans around the world, these deposits are being looked
upon as alternate resources for strategic metals such as Cu, Ni, Co, Zn, Pb
and Cd in addition to Mn and Fe. Many countries and consortia have
surveyed and identified areas for future mining, an activity that is expected
to gain momentum in the present century.
The focus is now on collecting environment-related data for the
purpose of:
1. Understanding the environment,
2. Predicting the impact of ocean mining,
3. Designing a suitable mining system and
4. Preparing a plan to offset the environmental impacts to the
extent possible.
Deep-seabed mining, as an activity of the future, gains an
advantage from the time available for collecting adequate information in
advance, and experimenting with various methods and components for
mining the deposits. With this in view, results from pre-pilot-mining tests by
various consortia (in 1978-79), as well as simulated environmental impact
experiments by various groups (1989 onwards), form an important
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