Deep-sea mining discharge can disrupt midwater food webs.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41198719.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-65411-w and PMC identifier 12592452.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The Clarion-Clipperton Zone contains extensive beds of polymetallic nodules on the abyssal seafloor, with vast areas (~1.5 million km<sup>2</sup>) under license for deep-sea mining. Mining companies have proposed discharging excess waste generated during nodule extraction in the lower mesopelagic and upper bathypelagic zones, which are home to a unique faunal community including zooplankton and micronekton. Here, using compound-specific isotope analysis of amino acids, we find that natural background particles larger than 6 µm form the base of the food web, but will be diluted by the same sized, nutritionally deficient mining-associated particles. Given that 53% of zooplankton taxa are particle feeders and 60% of micronekton taxa are zooplanktivores at proposed discharge depths, there is significant potential for food-web disruption. Therefore, we show that a midwater mining plume could trigger bottom-up ecosystem impacts with potentially severe consequences for the faunal community, extending beyond zooplankton and micronekton to nekton, including large marine predators.
Medical subject headings
- Food Chain
- Mining