Summary of the Japanese Environmental Study for Direct Impact Experiment on Seamount (DIETS)

摘要

Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ) initiated a five-year project called "Environmental Impact Research on Marine Eco-system for Deep-sea Mining" in 1998 to farther advance the results of the previous environmental research project on manganese nodule mining by considering the direct impact on the marine ecosystem. The aim of the research is to establish methods to estimate the impact on the marine ecosystem likely to be caused by mining operations for seabed mineral resources in deep-sea areas. This research focuses on the direct impact on the marine ecosystem. The survey area of this study is in the vicinity of Minami-Tori-Shima Island where cobalt-rich manganese nodules exist abundantly and Japan's nodule collector test was conducted in 1997. In this paper. the results of the research are briefly reported.