Chemical Compositions of Sediment Plume Discharged from the Benthic Disturber

摘要

JET was conducted to evaluate the impact of deep-sea mining on the benthic environment. To date, negative effects were predicted from several studies and the relationship between quantities of mining deposit and biological responses was focused on. However attention was not paid to the quality of the re-suspended material. In this study, the quantity of settling particle generated by the artificial disturbance was estimated equivalent to 1,105 days of natural flux, and it is also revealed that the chemical compositions were quite different from the natural one. These results suggested the benthic disturbance would be an unexpected phenomenon for the benthic organisms.