Description: Deep-seabed polymetallic nodule mining can have multiple adverse effects on benthic communities, such as permanent loss of habitat by removal of nodules and habitat modification of sediments. One tool to manage biodiversity risks is the mitigation hierarchy, including avoidance, minimization of impacts, rehabilitation and/or restoration, and offset. We initiated long-term restoration experiments at sites in polymetallic nodule exploration contract areas in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone that were (i) cleared of nodules by a preprototype mining vehicle, (ii) disturbed by dredge or sledge, (iii) undisturbed, and (iv) naturally devoid of nodules. To accommodate for habitat loss, we deployed 〉2000 artificial ceramic nodules to study the possible effect of substrate provision on the recovery of biota and its impact on sediment biogeochemistry. Seventy-five nodules were recovered after eight weeks and had not been colonized by any sessile epifauna. All other nodules will remain on the seafloor for several years before recovery. Furthermore, to account for habitat modification of the top sediment layer, sediment in an epibenthic sledge track was loosened by a metal rake to test the feasibility of sediment decompaction to facilitate soft-sediment recovery. Analyses of granulometry and nutrients one month after sediment decompaction revealed that sand fractions are proportionally lower within the decompacted samples, whereas total organic carbon values are higher. Considering the slow natural recovery rates of deep-sea communities, these experiments represent the beginning of a ~30-year study during which we expect to gain insights into the nature and timing of the development of hard-substrate communities and the influence of nodules on the recovery of disturbed sediment communities. Results will help us understand adverse long-term effects of nodule removal, providing an evidence base for setting criteria for the definition of “serious harm” to the environment. Furthermore, accompanying research is needed to define a robust ecosystem baseline in order to effectively identify restoration success.

Description: In large areas of the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone (northeast Pacific), exploration of deep-sea polymetallic nodules as a potential source of high-technology metals is ongoing. Deep-sea mining may have a severe impact on the benthic communities. Here, we investigated meiofauna communities in the abyss at the scale of a prospective mining operation area. Random forest regressions were computed to spatially predict continuous layers of environmental variables as well as the distribution of meiofauna abundance across the area. Significant models could be computed for 26 sediment and polymetallic nodule parameters. Meiofauna abundance, taxon richness and diversity were also modelled, as well as abundance of the taxon Nematoda. Spatial correlation is high if the predictions of meiofauna are either based on bathymetry and backscatter or include sediment and nodule variables; Pearson’s correlation coefficient varies between 0.42 and 0.91. Comparison of differences in meiofauna abundance between different years shows that spatial patterns do change, with an elevated abundance of meiofauna in the eastern part of the study area in 2013. On the spatial scale of a potential mining operation, distribution models prove to be a useful tool to gain insight into both temporal variability and the influence of potential environmental drivers on meiofauna distribution.

Description: The Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ) in the northeast Pacific is a heterogeneous deep-sea environment, featuring abyssal plains as well as multiple seamounts and abyssal hills (bathymetric elevations) that harbour a highly diverse megabenthic fauna. Based on the analysis of seafloor photographic transects that were taken from elevated areas downslope into the abyssal plains in the eastern CCZ, a similar distribution of habitats was observed on five different bathymetric elevations including abyssal hills as well as the foothills of two seamounts. Rock outcrops occur at the summits, surrounded by an area with varying coverage and size of polymetallic nodules, which were divided into two different habitats characterized by large and small nodules, respectively, and followed by nodule-free sediments. Megafauna composition, density and diversity varies across these habitats. While density is the highest in areas with rock outcrops (1.4 individuals per m 2 ), the biodiversity is the highest when regarding all of the habitats combined. Regarded individually, nodule-covered areas are the most diverse, whereas sediment areas without hard substratum, i.e. nodule free sediments, show the lowest biodiversity and the lowest density (0.2 individuals per m 2 ). The multinomial species classification method (CLAM) shows that most of the observed megafauna morphotypes have to be regarded as rare. The large differences between the megafaunal communities at bathymetric elevations and the abyssal plain reported from previous studies might partly be explained by the multiplicity of habitats. This high heterogeneity can lead to a more diversified community at elevations, although most habitats can also be observed in the abyssal plain.

Description: Predictability of the dispersion of sediment plumes induced by potential deep-sea mining activities is still very limited due to operational limitations on in-situ observations required for a thorough validation and calibration of numerical models. Here we report on a plume dispersion experiment carried out in the German license area for the exploration of polymetallic nodules in the northeastern tropical Pacific Ocean in 4,200 m water depth. The dispersion of a sediment plume induced by a small-scale dredge experiment in April 2019 was investigated numerically by employing a sediment transport module coupled to a high-resolution hydrodynamic regional ocean model. Various aspects including sediment characteristics and ocean hydrodynamics were examined to obtain the best statistical agreement between sensor-based observations and model results. Results show that the model is capable of reproducing suspended sediment concentration and redeposition patterns observed during the dredge experiment. Due to a strong southward current during the dredging, the model predicts no sediment deposition and plume dispersion north of the dredging tracks. The sediment redeposition thickness reaches up to 9 mm directly next to the dredging tracks and 0.07 mm in about 320 m away from the dredging center. The model results suggest that seabed topography and variable sediment release heights above the seafloor cause significant changes especially for the low sedimentation pattern in the far-field area. Near-bottom mixing is expected to strongly influence vertical transport of suspended sediment.

Description: The Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ) is an abyssal region in the north-east Pacific that is currently being explored for metal-rich polymetallic nodules, but also harbors a highly diverse megabenthic community. This community is influenced by multiple environmental gradients including bathymetric structures as well as differences in habitat and food availability. This study focuses on the benthic megafauna investigated in an exploration area positioned in the very east of the CCZ, which exhibits the lowest water depths (mean: 4200 m) and the highest flux of particulate organic carbon (POC) of the CCZ. Case studies using seafloor images for the detection of megafauna have revealed differences between seamounts and abyssal hills compared to nodule fields, as well as differences in the community composition between areas with and without nodule coverage and rock outcrop. Extrapolations suggest a richness of more than 300 morphotypes in the study area, including multiple invertebrate groups such as corals, sponges, echinoderms, and crustaceans as well as fish. Focusing on sampled specimens, diversities of Ophiuroidea, Porifera, and Bryozoa are high and more species are likely to be discovered in the study area. This also applies for the taxon Ophiuroidea, which is among the taxa investigated in the greatest detail so far. In the context of deep-sea mining, megafauna has been in the focus of a variety of environmental studies including baseline analyses, disturbance experiments, and/or testing of mining components or systems. These studies identify and address key factors responsible for the observed natural and impacted distribution patterns and thereby help to constrain expected anthropogenic impacts to the deep-sea environment in the context of deep-sea mining. Specifically in the area of focus of this study, 10 years of megafauna analyses have shown that the biodiversity in the selected preservation reference zone (PRZ) is not as similar to that of the impact reference zone (IRZ) as originally hypothesized based mainly on geological parameters. We suggest that recent area-wide habitat classifications and faunal mapping exercises (e.g., Uhlenkott et al. 2020, 2022) are used to designate a new PRZ that is more similar to the IRZ to meet its purpose, but that the current PRZ is maintained for scientific and conservation purposes.

Description: The abyssal seafloor in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the NE Pacific hosts the largest abundance of polymetallic nodules in the deep sea and is being targeted as an area for potential deep-sea mining. During nodule mining, seafloor sediment will be brought into suspension by mining equipment, resulting in the formation of sediment plumes, which will affect benthic and pelagic life not naturally adapted to any major sediment transport and deposition events. To improve our understanding of sediment plume dispersion and to support the development of plume dispersion models in this specific deep-sea area, we conducted a small-scale, 12-hour disturbance experiment in the German exploration contract area in the CCZ using a chain dredge. Sediment plume dispersion and deposition was monitored using an array of optical and acoustic turbidity sensors and current meters placed on platforms on the seafloor, and by visual inspection of the seafloor before and after dredge deployment. We found that seafloor imagery could be used to qualitatively visualise the redeposited sediment up to a distance of 100 m from the source, and that sensors recording optical and acoustic backscatter are sensitive and adequate tools to monitor the horizontal and vertical dispersion of the generated sediment plume. Optical backscatter signals could be converted into absolute mass concentration of suspended sediment to provide quantitative data on sediment dispersion. Vertical profiles of acoustic backscatter recorded by current profilers provided qualitative insight into the vertical extent of the sediment plume. Our monitoring setup proved to be very useful for the monitoring of this small-scale experiment and can be seen as an exemplary strategy for monitoring studies of future, upscaled mining trials. We recommend that such larger trials include the use of AUVs for repeated seafloor imaging and water column plume mapping (optical and acoustical), as well as the use of in-situ particle size sensors and/or particle cameras to better constrain the effect of suspended particle aggregation on optical and acoustic backscatter signals.

Description: Using observational data, satellite altimeters, and reanalysis model products, we have investigated eddy-induced seawater anomalies and heat and salt transport in the northeastern tropical Pacific Ocean. An eddy detection algorithm (EDA) was used to identify eddy formation at the Mexican Tehuantepec Gulf (TT) in July 2018 during an unusually strong summer wind event. The eddy separated from the coast with a mean translation velocity of 11 cm s−1 and a mean radius of 115 km and traveled 2050–2400 km westwards off the Central American coast, where it was followed at approx 114∘ W and 11∘ N for oceanographic observation between April and May 2019. The in situ observations show that the major eddy impacts are restricted to the upper 300 m of the water column and are traceable down to 1500 m water depth. In the eddy core at 92 m water depth an extreme positive temperature anomaly of 8.2 ∘C, a negative salinity anomaly of −0.78 psu, a positive fluorescence anomaly of +0.8 mg m−3, and a positive dissolved oxygen concentration anomaly of 137 µmol kg−1 are observed. Compared with annual climatological averages in 2018, the water trapped within the eddy is estimated to transport an average positive westward zonal heat anomaly of 85×1012 W and an average westward negative salt anomaly of  kg s−1. The heat transport is the equivalent of 1 % of the total annual zonal eddy-induced heat transport at this latitude in the Pacific Ocean. Understanding the dynamics of long-lived mesoscale eddies that may reach the seafloor in this region of the Pacific Ocean is especially important in light of potential deep-sea mining activities that are being targeted on this area.

Description: The eastern Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ) is a heterogeneous abyssal environment harbouring relatively low abundances of highly diverse megafauna communities. Potential future mining of polymetallic nodules threatens these benthic communities and calls for detailed spatial investigation of megafauna. Based on the predicted probability of occurrence of 68 megafauna morphotypes, a seabed area extending over 62,000 km 2 was divided into three assemblages covering an eastern plain area, a deeper western plain area and an area covering both seamount and abyssal hill sites. Richness, estimated as the sum of morphotypes with a predicted probability of occurrence larger than 0.5, amounts to 15.4 of 68 morphotypes. Highest richness was predicted at seamount sites, and lowest richness in the western part of the study area. Combining the predicted probability of megafauna occurrences with bathymetric variables, two seamount habitats and two plain habitats could be defined. One of these megafauna plain habitats corresponds with contiguous nodule fields of high abundance that may be targeted for future mining, showing that prospective nodule fields have a clearly differentiated megafauna assemblage. Monitoring and management schemes, including the delineation of preservation and protection areas within contract areas, need to incorporate this geological and biological heterogeneity.

Description: Due to the increasing challenge of meeting human demands for metals from land-based resources, interest in extracting mineral ores from the deep sea has gained momentum in recent years. Targeted mining of deep-seabed minerals could have adverse effects on the associated ecosystems, but knowledge on the biological communities found there, their structure and functions is still limited. The focus of this study is to provide an overview on isopod crustaceans from the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ), an area well-known for its abundance of high-grade polymetallic nodules. Isopods generally comprise an important part of the macrofaunal communities of soft deep-sea sediments and indeed are one of the most dominant macrobenthic groups in the CCFZ. In this review, we have compiled all available data and information on isopod diversity and distribution in the CCFZ in a hybrid manner, which includes published data from the literature as well as the analysis of previously unpublished sources and newly collected data. Although isopods are one of the more prevalent and better-known groups of the CCFZ fauna, this study shows that it is still remarkably difficult to obtain a clear perception of isopod diversity and distribution, as well as the factors that could be responsible for the observed patterns. In many places, knowledge remains incomplete, which is largely due to the low sampling and taxonomic effort, non-standardised sample protocols and the limited taxonomic inter-calibration between studies. The latter is pivotal due to the high proportion of undescribed and presumably new species that typically occur there. An important starting point would therefore be to increase sampling effort and its spatial and temporal coverage in a standardised way, to intensify (integrative) taxonomic work as well as to facilitate sample and data exchange between scientists and contractors. These are fundamental requirements to improve our understanding of the biodiversity of isopods, but also of other faunal groups, in the CCFZ, before mining operations begin.

Description: The seventh edition of the »World Ocean Review« focuses on the effects of climate change on the physics of the ocean and on its biotic communities; the consequences of fishing, shipping, resource extraction, energy production, and marine pollution; and the questions of how active substances from the ocean can be used and how the ocean can be managed in the future in such a way that both its protection and the participation of as many people as possible in its services and goods are ensured.