Clarion-Clipperton Zone

The Clarion-Clipperton Zone[1] (CCZ) or Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone[2] is an environmental management area of the Pacific Ocean, administered by the International Seabed Authority (ISA).[3] It includes the Clarion Fracture Zone and the Clipperton Fracture Zone, geological submarine fracture zones. Clarion and Clipperton are two of the five major lineations of the northern Pacific floor, and were discovered by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1954. The CCZ is regularly considered for deep-sea mining due to the abundant presence of manganese nodules.

Major Pacific trenches (1–10) and fracture zones (11–20). The Clipperton Fracture Zone (15) is the nearly horizontal line below the Clarion Fracture Zone (14), and the Middle America Trench is the deep-blue line No. 9.
Location of the Clarion Clipperton Zone

The CCZ extendes around 4,500 miles (7,240 km) East to West[4] and spans approximately 4,500,000 square kilometres (1,700,000 sq mi).[5] The fractures themselves are unusually mountainous topographical features.

In 2016, investigation of the seafloor in the zone was found to contain an abundance and diversity of life – more than half of the species collected were new to science.

Geography

The fracture can be divided into four parts:

  • The first, 127°–113° W, is a broad, low welt of some 900 miles (1,400 km), with a central trough 10 to 30 miles (16 to 48 km) wide;
  • The second, 113°-107° W, is a volcano enriched ridge, 60 miles (97 km) wide and 330 miles (530 km) long;
  • The third, 107°-101° W, is a low welt with a central trough 1,200–2,400 feet (370–730 m) deep which transects the Albatross Plateau; and
  • The fourth, 101°-96° W, contains the Tehuantepec Ridge which extends 400 miles (640 km) northeast to the continental margin.[6]

The Nova-Canton Trough is often seen as an extension of the fracture.[7]

The zone contains nodules made up of valuable rare-earth and other minerals. Some of these play an essential role for the energy transition to a low carbon economy.[8] These nodules form around bone fragments or shark teeth. Micronodules then further aggregate and accrete into the clumps targeted for harvesting.[9]

Clipperton Fracture Zone

The Clipperton Fracture Zone is the southernmost of the north east Pacific Ocean lineations. It begins east-northeast of the Line Islands and ends in the Middle America Trench off the coast of Central America,[4][10][6] forming a rough line on the same latitude as Kiribati and Clipperton Island, from which it gets its name.

Clarion Fracture Zone

The Clarion Fracture Zone is the next Pacific lineation north of Clipperton FZ. It is bordered on the northeast by Clarion Island, the westernmost of the Revillagigedo Islands, from which it gets its name. Both fracture zones were discovered by the U.S. research vessels "Horizon" and "Spencer F. Baird" in 1954.[11]

Deep sea mining

The CCZ has been divided into 16 mining claims spanning approximately 1,000,000 square kilometres (390,000 sq mi). A further nine areas, each covering 160,000 square kilometres (62,000 sq mi), have been set aside for conservation.[1] ISA estimates that the total amount of nodules in the Clarion Clipperton Zone exceeds 21 billion tons (Bt), containing about 5.95 Bt of manganese, 0.27 Bt of nickel, 0.23 Bt of copper and 0.05 Bt of cobalt.[12] The ISA has issued 19 licences for mining exploration within this area.[13] Exploratory full-scale extraction operations were set to begin in late 2021.[2] ISA aimed to publish the deep sea mining code in July 2023. Commercial license applications were to be accepted for review thereafter.[14]

The so-called two-year rule states that before regulations are passed, a member nation has the authority to notify ISA that it wants to mine. This starts a two-year clock during which the ISA can come up with rules. If it fails to do so, the mining is implicitly approved. Nauru gave notice in July 2021, creating a deadline of July 9, 2023. ISA's next meeting, however, begins a day later, on July 10.[9]

Environmental concerns

Areas of the fracture zone that have been licensed for mining are home to a diversity of deep-sea xenophyophores. A 2017 study found 34 novel species in the area. Xenophyophores are highly sensitive to human disturbances, such that mining may adversely affect them. They play a keystone role in benthic ecosystems such that their removal could amplify ecological consequences.[15] The nodules are considered "critical for food web integrity".[16] The zone hosts corals, sea cucumbers, worms, dumbo octopuses and many other species.[9]

Massachusetts Institute of Technology and TU Delft use their ISA observer status to investigate the potential impact of collecting these minerals and compare it to the environmental and human impact of terrestrial mining.[17][18] In April 2021, scientists from JPI oceans project carried out in depth studies into mining technology and its possible effect on the seabed.[19]

Mining has the potential for large environmental impacts. The impact of the release of tailings from nodule processing into the water column on pelagic organisms or the detrimental effects they may have on the benthic communities below are unknown.[20]

NGOs and governments have called for a moratorium until more is known about potential environmental impacts.[21]

References
  1. "DeepCCZ: Deep-sea Mining Interests in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone". NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  2. "Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone | International Seabed Authority". www.isa.org.jm. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018.
  3. "Marine Regions · Clarion Clipperton Zone (ISA Environmental Management Area)". marineregions.org. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  4. "Clipperton Fracture Zone". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  5. "The Clarion-Clipperton Zone". Pew Charitable Trusts. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  6. H. W. Menard and Robert L. Fisher (1958). "Clipperton Fracture in the Northeastern Equatorial Pacific". The Journal of Geology. 66 (3): 239–253. Bibcode:1958JG.....66..239M. doi:10.1086/626502. JSTOR 30080925. S2CID 129268203.
  7. Contributions – Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Scripps Institution of Oceanography. 1972. p. 69. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  8. Church, Clare; Crawford, Alec (2020). "Minerals and the Metals for the Energy Transition: Exploring the Conflict Implications for Mineral-Rich, Fragile States". The Geopolitics of the Global Energy Transition. Lecture Notes in Energy. Vol. 73. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 279–304. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-39066-2_12. ISBN 978-3-030-39066-2. S2CID 226561697. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  9. Imbler, Sabrina; Corum, Jonathan (29 August 2022). "Deep-Sea Riches: Mining a Remote Ecosystem". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  10. Keating, Barbara H. (1987). Seamounts, islands, and atolls. American Geophysical Union. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-87590-068-1. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  11. "Marine Regions · Clarion Fracture Zone (Fracture Zone)". marineregions.org. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  12. International Seabed Authority (2010). A Geological Model of Polymetallic Nodule Deposits in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone and Prospector's Guide for Polymetallic Nodule Deposits in the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone. Technical Study: No. 6. ISBN 978-976-95268-2-2.
  13. "Exploration Contracts | International Seabed Authority". www.isa.org.jm. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  14. Reid, Helen (29 October 2021). "New deep-sea mining rules set to miss 2023 deadline, Latam and Caribbean countries say". Reuters. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  15. Gooday, Andrew J.; Holzmann, Maria; Caulle, Clémence; Goineau, Aurélie; Kamenskaya, Olga; Weber, Alexandra A.-T.; Pawlowski, Jan (1 March 2017). "Giant protists (xenophyophores, Foraminifera) are exceptionally diverse in parts of the abyssal eastern Pacific licensed for polymetallic nodule exploration". Biological Conservation. 207: 106–116. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2017.01.006. ISSN 0006-3207.
  16. Stratmann, Tanja; Soetaert, Karline; Kersken, Daniel; van Oevelen, Dick (10 June 2021). "Polymetallic nodules are essential for food-web integrity of a prospective deep-seabed mining area in Pacific abyssal plains". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 12238. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-91703-4. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 8192577. PMID 34112864.
  17. Gallagher, Mary Beth. "Understanding the impact of deep-sea mining". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  18. 9 European partners work together to help the maturation of a hydraulic nodule collector, while minimizing its environmental footprint, blueharvesting-project.eu
  19. "Assessing the Impacts of Nodule Mining on the Deep-Sea Environment". www.jpi-oceans.eu. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  20. Schriever, G. (4 May 2009). "SS Ocean Mining: Development of Environmental Research related to future Deep Sea Mining - Are Concerns justified and what should be done?". All Days. OTC. doi:10.4043/19935-ms.
  21. "One step closer to a global moratorium on deep-sea mining". Fauna & Flora International. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.


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