Impact of ferromanganese ore pollution on phytoplankton CO2 fixation in the surface ocean

Dabrowska, Alicja, Kamennaya, Nina A., Murton, Bramley J. and Zubkov, Mikhail V. (2019) Impact of ferromanganese ore pollution on phytoplankton CO2 fixation in the surface ocean. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 146, 1002-1006. (doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.07.062).

Abstract

Because ferromanganese polymetallic crusts can become a global resource of valuable elements the ecological impact of seafloor crust mining requires evaluation. Whilst the detrimental impact on deep-ocean benthos is established, experimental evidence about the mining hazard to surface-ocean is sparse. When retrieved, mined crusts can leach elements potentially harmfull to the core oceanic CO2-fixers – phytoplankton. To directly assess the magnitude of this potential hazard at ocean-basin scale, we examine the impact of ore slurry on phytoplankton CO2 fixation along a meridional transect through the South Atlantic Ocean. Within 12 h crust slurry additions caused a 25% decrease of CO2 fixation in the subtropical region and 15% in the temperate-polar region. Such moderate susceptibility of phytoplankton indicates limited release of harmful elements from tested polymetallic powder. Although this implies that environmentally sustainable seafloor mining could be feasible, longer-term complex studies of the mining impact on the surface ocean are required.

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