mining Archives - Astrobiology

Collection of a sea pig crawling across the nodule-covered seafloor in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone. Photo: ROV Isis/SMARTEX

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

New Deep-sea Species Discovered During Mining Test At 4,000 Meters

by Keith CowingDecember 16, 2025December 17, 2025

There is a high demand globally of critical metals, and many countries want to try extracting these sought-after metals from the seabed. An international study, which has discovered large numbers […]

Polymetallic nodule. CREDIT Franz Geiger/Northwestern University

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Deep-ocean Floor Produces Its Own Oxygen

by Keith CowingJuly 22, 2024July 22, 2024

An international team of researchers, including a Northwestern University chemist, has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen — 13,000 feet below the surface.

Sea-floor samples for the study were taken with this deep-sea submersible vehicle (Alvin) from inactive as well as active hydrothermal systems in several thousands of meters of water. Photo: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, National Deep Submergence Facility, National Science Foundation.

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Even Inactive Hydrothermal Smokers Are Densely Colonized By Microbial Communities

by Keith CowingMarch 16, 2024March 16, 2024

With its high pressure, darkness and nutrient deficiency, the deep sea is generally not a hospitable place. But in the presence of heat and a rich influx of energy-rich fluids, […]

Areas of Particular Environmental Interest (APEIs) and exploration mining contract areas, both active and reserved, are shown in outline. The type localities of all species described from the CCZ to date are also shown (185 in total). Background layer: the GEBCO Grid, 2022. -- Current Biology

Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Societal Issues, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Deep Sea Surveys Detect Over Five Thousand New Species In Future Mining Hotspot

by Keith CowingMay 28, 2023May 26, 2023

There is a massive, mineral-rich region in the Pacific Ocean—about twice the size of India—called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), which has already been divided up and assigned to companies for […]