Oceanography Seminar- Diva Amon

Diva Amon
Postdoctoral Researcher
Research Affiliate
Department of Oceanography
University of Hawaii at Manoa

"Megafaunal community structure and biodiversity in the UK-1 claim area of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone"

There are 15 exploration areas, each up to 75,000 km2, allocated for polymetallicnodule mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific Ocean. Nodule mining will impact the megafauna in the claim area through physical removal of nodules, compaction, suspension and deposition of sediment during nodule extraction, as well as light and noise pollution from machinery. Despite this, baseline studies of megafaunal community structure and biodiversity, and their correlations with environmental drivers (e.g., abundance and size distribution of polymetallic nodules) across the vast CCZ, are scarce.

The ABYSSLINE project has been designed as a five-year study to:

1. evaluate benthic ecological baseline conditions within the UK-1 claim area in the eastern CCZ, and
2. to elucidate scales of species and population connectivity across the CCZ.

In this talk, we will present the most complete picture to date of the nodule-field megafauna derived from ROV surveys and samples collected during Year 1 of the ABYSSLINE project.

Event Sponsor
Ocenaography, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Sharrese, (808) 956-7633, ocean@soest.hawaii.edu, http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/seminar.html, Oceanography Seminar- Diva Amon (PDF)

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