Marine Sciences III: Oceans of the Future Lecture Notes (PDF)

1 Marine Sciences III; Oceans of the Future Marine Sciences III Oceans of the Future Sabine Gollner; [email protected]  Marine Sciences III; Oceans of the Future News of the Day…  Deep-sea biology...

1 Marine Sciences III; Oceans of the Future Marine Sciences III Oceans of the Future Sabine Gollner; [email protected]  Marine Sciences III; Oceans of the Future News of the Day…  Deep-sea biology and deep-seabed mining Sabine Gollner Marine Sciences 3, December 2024 [email protected] Our blue planet Our black planet The deep sea The deep sea < 200 meters 92% of the ocean 50% below 3000 m Mean depth 3800 m The ocean The deep sea - characteristics Lack of light High pressure Low temperature (2°C) Stable temperatures Weak currents Low food availabilty  The deep sea – more than one ecosystem Abyssal plains Seamounts Continental margins (with canyons, cold seeps) Whale falls & wood falls Mid-Ocean ridges (with hydrothermal vents) The abyssal plains The abyssal plains & polymetallic nodules  The abyssal plains – a stable ecosystem Sedimentation rate: A few mm per 1000 a (red clay) 10-30 mm per 1000 a (oozes) Several m per 1000 a (close to rivers) ⇒Usually very slow! ⇒Habitats are very sensitive to disturbance Future human disturbance by trawling of polymetallic nodules (Growth rate of nodules: 1-4 mm per 1 000 000 a!)  Biological pump – Deposition on the sea floor Zooplankton fecal pellets, marine snow, phytodetritus and the ocean’s biological pump; Progress in Oceanography Volume 130, January 2015, Pages 205-248 Turner 2016  The deep sea – high diversity Making ocean life count 2000 – 2010: http://www.coml.org 30 million observations Estimate of known marine species: 250 000 New species during Census: 6 000 New formal descriptions: 1 200 Extrapolation of total number of species: maybe up to million(s)  Census of marine life Making ocean life count 2000 – 2010: Knowledge is inversely correlated to size class Only ~5% of the ocean have been systematically explored Ramirez et al. 2010  Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life (CeDAMar) The big questions are still…. How many species are there, and how are they distributed? How big is the area that one species can inhabit, and what does that mean to our estimates of species richness in the oceans of the world? Biodiversity and Connectivity  Biodiversity – what and how many species do we find? Anthozoa (Octocorallia) 170 megafauna morphospecies in UK area Unexpected high & hidden diversity of brittlestars (archetypic species) Amon et al. 2016 Christodoulou et al. 2019 Species ranges – where do we find which species? Notomastus sp. Glover et al. 2016: very few OBIS records Species ranges – where do we find which species? A total 275 polychaete morphotypes. Only one morphotype was shared among all five study areas 49% only in one area Bonifacio et al. 2019 How are populations connected? ? ? ?  Abyssal plains Abyssal plains: Lack of light Low & stable temperatures Food from surface waters No in situ PP Low food availabilty Low faunal biomass; high diversity  The deep sea – more than one ecosystem Abyssal plains Seamounts Whale falls & wood falls Continental margins (with canyons, cold seeps) Mid-Ocean ridges (with hydrothermal vents) The deep sea – energy input The deep sea – energy input Deep-sea hydrothermal vents ©Tunnicliffe Energy rich, reduced and hot fluids are venting out of the deep sea floor  High variability of vent fluid emissions -> video of a black smoker from Lau Basin (from Fisher) From: Gribbin 2009  Global distribution of hydrothermal vent fields Vent field activity: Red symbols Confirmed Yellow symbols Inferred  Communities at hydrothermal vents 1st level primary producers (not dependent on light!): autotrophic bacteria autotrophic nutritional symbiosis 2nd level primary consumers: deposit feeders suspension feeders 3rd level secondary consumers: predators scavengers The unique endemic fauna at active hydrothermal vents is dependent on CHEMOSYNTHESIS Shrimp (Rimicaris exoculata) Mussel (Bathymodiolus spp.)  Bacteria in symbiosis with macrofauna Episymbiotic: Taking a hot bath... Shrimp Rimicaris exoculata Video shrimp on chimney  Bacteria in symbiosis with macrofauna Episymbiotic: The hottest animal on earth: Pompeii worm Alvinella pompeijana Le Bris et al. 2007 Bacteria in symbiosis with macrofauna Endosymbiotic: Dual symbiosis and eating: Mussel Bathymodiolus spp. The fastest growing animal on earth: Tubeworm Riftia pachyptila  How is an animal taking up symbionts? Vertical transmission: from one generation to the other Horizontal transmission: every animal has to take them up from the environment – HOW? Nu Nussbaumer et al. 2006 Bu How is a tubeworm taking up symbionts? Nussbaumer et al. 2006  Associated macrofauna Deposit feeders: Limpets are everywhere! Polychaetes Suspension feeders (at low flow vents) Barnacles Anemones Predators and scavengers crabs fish Associated macrofauna is highly abundant but species poor. Currently >700 species described A community at low flow Lau Basin vents Movie crabs and predation Every vent field is unique at MAR Lost City Logatchev 2 TAG Irinovskoe © IFREMER Biogeographic provinces: Macrofauna – foundation species Ramirez et al. 2007 Dispersal in a patchy environment Movie crabs and predation Adams et al. 2012  Connectivity in a patchy environment Distance needed to ensure connections of larvae (accounting for currents and larva life span): 150 km… =>Phantom stepping stones? Breusing et al. (2016) Dispersal in a patchy environment: additional pathways? Movie crabs and predation Adams et al. 2012 July 2023: the discovery of the underworld of hydrothermal vents! In cave system: microbes, tubeworms, bristle worms, snails (all known from active vents); non-visible life still needs to be analyzed. Existence of vent animal in caves: proof of life in the subsurface proof that vent animals travel underneath the seafloor changes our understanding of dispersal at deep-sea hydrothermal vents  Proposed connectivity model between seafloor surface and crustal subseafloor hydrothermal vents. Bright, Gollner et al. 2024 Whole series of videos from expedition open accessible: Traveling through Vents | The Underworld of Hydrothermal Vents - Week 1 https://youtu.be/lLo09UflWaQ Curiosity-Driven Science | The Underworld of Hydrothermal Vents - Week 2 https://youtu.be/M7oqvMZriEc A New World Beneath Vents | The Underworld of Hydrothermal Vents - Week 3 https://youtu.be/E4_CCzfwKmw The Underworld of Hydrothermal Vents | 4K ROV Highlights https://youtu.be/0UHB2dy1lr4 Active vent field: with active and inactive mounds/chimneys Extinct vent field: with extinct mounds/chimneys and no subsurface flows  Ecological connectivity - Polymetallic Sulfides at Hydrothermal Vents Jamieson & Gartman 2020 Levin et al. 2016 -> active vents & inactive vents & vent surrounding! Resilience of benthic communities at polymetallic sulfides: vent surrounding areas & senescent vents Highlights at 9° NEPR: Shared (meio-)fauna species at active & senescent vents & in vent periphery Senescent vents & vent periphery: Source populations for vent meiofauna Gollner et al. 2020  Resilience of benthic communities at polymetallic sulfides: vent surrounding areas Vent fluid associated chemosynthesis influences consumers in the vicinity of Rainbow vent field* Reyhaneh Roohi, Ragna Hoogenboom, Ronald van Bommel, Marcel T.J. van der Meer, Furu Mienis, Sabine Gollner * Frontiers in Marine Science Topic: Understanding Ocean Ridges  Fauna at inactive and extinct vents Very limited knowledge! “hydroids, anemones, barnacles, sponges, corals, lobsters, holothurians” ©Nautilus minerals  Abyssal plains / Hot vents Abyssal plains: Hot vents: Lack of light Lack of light Low & stable High & unstable temperatures temperatures Food from surface Venting of sulfide rich waters fluids No in situ PP High in situ PP Low food availabilty High food availabilty Low faunal biomass; Very high faunal high diversity biomass; low diversity Global increasing demand for minerals  “... in the ocean depths, there exist mines of zinc, iron, silver and gold which would be quite easy to exploit” Captain Nemo in Jules Verne - Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, 1870 Jules Verne  Deep-sea mineral resources polymetallic nodules/abyssal plains, polymetallic sulfides/hydrothermal vents, cobalt-rich crusts/seamounts ©Missao Seahma  Polymetallic nodules on the abyssal plains in water depths of 4000 to 6000 meters metal concentrations vary, but contain potentially more manganese, nickel, and cobalt than land-based reserves nodules accrete slowly, at rates of millimeters per million years. Polymetallic nodules Polymetallic nodules Polymetallic nodules  Polymetallic sulphides on or below the seabed where hydrothermal vents release mineralized seawater at mid-ocean ridges, in back-arc basins and along submarine volcanic arcs Polymetallic sulphides  Global distribution of hydrothermal vent fields Vent field activity: Red symbols Confirmed Yellow symbols Inferred  Deep-sea mineral resources polymetallic nodules/abyssal plains, polymetallic sulfides/hydrothermal vents, cobalt-rich crusts/seamounts ©Missao Seahma  organization through which States Parties to UNCLOS organize and control all mineral-resources-related activities in the Area for the benefit of mankind as a whole. In so doing, ISA has the mandate to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects that may arise from deep- seabed related activities. The Area (>200 nautical miles/extended continental shelf) covers around 54 per cent of the total area of the world’s oceans. ISA has 168 members, including 167 member States and the European Union. Observers (e.g. Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative) Exploration contracts in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) #exploration contracts & area per contract Nodules: 19 x 75,000 km2 Sulfides: 7 x 10,000 km2 Crusts: 5 x 3,000 km2 Test-mining in ABNJ 2021 by DEME GSR 2022 by the Metals company Several mining-vehicles in development #exploitation contracts: 0 Draft exploitation regulation: in development since 2011 Levin et al. 2020  Prototype mining vehicles Patania II ( ©DEME GSR) for nodules Artists impression of mining vehicle traversing the seabed collecting nodules and creating a plume. Source Blue Nodules video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCus0hTsibc&feature=youtu.be Cutter by © Nautilus Minerals for PMS  Environmental mining impact & time scales of recovery Sulfides Main mining impacts: Removal of mineral resource ->Habitat loss,fragmentation & modification Sediment plumes (vehicle & return plume) ->burial, clogging of filter Crusts Nodules apparatus, toxic effects Sound & Light Time scales: Geological timescales for resource recovery From a few years to million years for Hein et al. 2020 Gollner et al. 2017 Hein et al. 2020 community recovery at the mined area Mining impact on abyssal plains  Environmental impacts and risks of deep-sea mining (MiningImpact2) – nodule fields Test-mining by DEME in Belgian and German Exploration Area in CCZ (Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone) in 2021 JPIO-MiningImpact2: independent investigation of plume dispersal and community recovery after test-mining.  Patania 2 impact: CCZ 2021 pre-impact direct impact indirect impact 26yr old test-mining track Copyrigth Ifremer / Nodinaut Impaired microbial loop after 26 years (de Jonge et al. 2020) Reduced nematode abundance and diversity after 26 years (Miljutin et al. 2011) Copyrigth Ifremer / Nodinaut Nodules required to preserve abyssal epifauna  Mitigation1 measures to reduce impacts to the point where they have no adverse effects Mitigation hierarchy2: tool to manage biodiversity risk Avoidance2: completely avoid creating impacts, such as spatial or temporal actions Minimisation2: reduce duration, intensity and/or extent of impacts that cannot be avoided Rehabilitation/Restoration1,2,3: rehabilitate/restore ecosystems following exposure to impacts that cannot be avoided/minimized. Emphasizes the reparation of ecosystem processes, productivity and services/ re-establishment of the pre-existing biotic integrity in terms of species composition and community structure Biodiversity Off-set1: compensate for significant residual adverse biodiversity impacts after mitigation measures have been taken. Goal: no net loss and preferably net gain of biodiversity. 1BBOP (2012) Glossary. Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme, Washington DC, USA. 2BBOP & UNEP (2010) Mitigation Hierarchy. Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme & United Nations Environment Programme, Washington DC, USA 3IFC (2019) Guidance Note 6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources. International Finance Corporation, Washington DC, U.S.A Regional Environmental Management Plans (REMPs)  Removal of nodules – Time scales of impact Removal of nodules = removal (loss) of nodule-obligate fauna on million year scale at the mined location (nodule growth rate ~ a few mm per million years) Nodules are porous and have obligate epifauna (e.g. sponges) and (non-obligate?) infauna Nodules and their epifauna are critical for ecosystem function (e.g. food-webs) -> can restoration (e.g.artificial nodules) aid mitigation? If no = serious harm on geological time scale -> it needs are clear objective (e.g. if serious harm is accepted on geological time scale, what is the spatial scale that is accepted? How much loss is “acceptable”) Hein et al. 2020 Hein et al. 2020 © GEOMAR X- ray scan of a nodule cross section from the Clarion–Clipperton Zone with typical alternation of Mn- rich (red) and Fe- rich (purple) layers. Sediment (yellow) within the nodules is an indication of their © JPIO MI2 high porosity.  Deployment of >100 experiments BGR reference area with nodules (2019) BGR area without natural nodules (2019) BGR area after dredge impact (2019) BGR & GSR area after test-mining (2021, 2022) Recovery of experiments in the next 30 years, due to expected slow growth rate of organisms. EXPLORATION LICENSES- SULFIDES (nMAR, areas beyond national jurisdiction) Mineral exploration in areas within national jurisdiction: example Norway The Norwegian government has started a process suggesting to open areas in the Arctic for mineral exploration.  Polymetallic sulphides - mining Bulk cutter (Nautilus minerals)  Test mining in national waters (2017) Japan undertakes large-scale deep-sea mineral extraction at 1600m off the Okinawa coast: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/09/26/national/japan-successfully- undertakes-large-scale-deep-sea-mineral-extraction/#.WcpbpcgjE2w Expected impact of mining on the marine environment - SMS Mining will leave permanently disturbed areas at the mine site with a surrounding area potentially impacted by debris plumes. The spatial scale will vary in relation to the volumes of mobilized sediments, sediment grain size (finer particles are more easily transported over greater distances), and the bottom current regime. Faunal recovery at active hydrothermal vents - volcanic eruptions as natural analogues? (no) Recovery at inactive vents? Recovery in vent surrounding?  Mitigation1 measures to reduce impacts to the point where they have no adverse effects Mitigation hierarchy2: tool to manage biodiversity risk Avoidance2: completely avoid creating impacts, such as spatial or temporal actions Minimisation2: reduce duration, intensity and/or extent of impacts that cannot be avoided Rehabilitation/Restoration1,2,3: rehabilitate/restore ecosystems following exposure to impacts that cannot be avoided/minimized. Emphasizes the reparation of ecosystem processes, productivity and services/ re-establishment of the pre-existing biotic integrity in terms of species composition and community structure Biodiversity Off-set1: compensate for significant residual adverse biodiversity impacts after mitigation measures have been taken. Goal: no net loss and preferably net gain of biodiversity. 1BBOP (2012) Glossary. Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme, Washington DC, USA. 2BBOP & UNEP (2010) Mitigation Hierarchy. Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme & United Nations Environment Programme, Washington DC, USA 3IFC (2019) Guidance Note 6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources. International Finance Corporation, Washington DC, U.S.A  Unique vent fields along the nMAR -> 11 vent fields as sites in need of protection ->based on scientific knowledge (from the past ~40 years) Locations of the 11 Vent fields on the nMAR. hydrothermal vent a)Lost City fields within the Area b) Broken Spur on the nMAR and of c) TAG the exploration d) Snake Pit contract blocks (≤ 10 e) Logatchev-1 km x 10 km; not to f) Logatchev-2 scale) awarded by the g) Semyenov-2 International Seabed h) Irinovskoe Authority to date. i) Ashadze-2 From the InterRidge Global j) Ashadze-1 Database of Active Submarine Images copyright Ifremer Hydrothermal Vent Fields Version 3.4. PANGAEA. Gollner et al. 2021  Unique vent fields in the Indian Ocean ->12 vent fields are in need of protection ->based on scientific knowledge (from the past ~20 years) Vent fields at IOR (A) Daxi (B) Wocan (C) Tianxiu (D) Onnuri (E) Dodo (F) Solitaire (G) Edmond (H) Kairei (I) Pelagia (J) Tiancheng (K) Longqi (L) Duanqiao Gollner et al. 2021  Application of scientific criteria for identifying hydrothermal ecosystems in need of protection S. Gollner, A. Colaço,A. Gebruk, P.N. Halpin, N. Higgs, E. Menini, N.C. Mestre, P.-Y. Qian, J. Sarrazin, K. Szafranski, C.L. Van Dover Criteria (e.g. uniqueness, functional significance, fragility,…) adapted from FISHING Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) MARITIME ACTIVITIES International Maritime Organization (IMO) Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs) BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) Highlights Criteria exist to assess vulnerability and importance of marine ecosystems. Nine criteria were applied to 11 hydrothermal vents on the Northern Mid- Atlantic Ridge. Suites of physico-chemical and biological attributes are unique at each vent field. All vent fields meet multiple or all criteria for vulnerability and importance. While further research always adds insight, enough is known about active hydrothermal vents now to proceed with their protection (worldwide).  What area would need protection? From a science perspective we know enough to proceed with the protection of the vent ecosystem. Current protection in ABNJ includes a point-coordinate for active vents (SINP) and a zoning scheme for protection (not further defined). Assumption: There is a need to define the 3-D space that protects the unique and fragile active vent to safeguard the high ecosystem services. Goal: A standardized approach to define this 3-D space that may be applied by different bodies.  Resilience of deep-sea ecosystems and mitigation of deep-seabed mining impacts: integrating science, management and governance Understand the role of nodules for the ecosystem Understand resilience of vent communities diversity & connectivity of nodule (in)fauna, diversity, connectivity, sphere of vent restoration experiment influence, spatial management SCIENCE  Recent DOSI minerals WG activities Co-coordinated/led by: Patricia Esquete Garrote, Jesse van der Grient, Sabine Gollner DOSI (>2200 members from 103 countries) integrates science, technology, policy, law, and economics to advise on ecosystem-based management of resource use in the deep ocean and strategies to maintain the integrity of deep-ocean ecosystems within and beyond national jurisdictions. The Minerals Working Group (>180 members) constitutes a broad spectrum of scientific, industry, economic, conservation, legal and policy expertise. As collated working group responses and as individuals, we provide expert opinion on deep-seabed mining related concerns through written responses, policy briefs, publications, side-events, interventions, workshops and symposia. Policy briefs Commentary on ISA Draft Regulations & Draft Standard and Guidelines: for example Establishment of Baseline Environmental Data Participation in number of (virtual) deep-seabed mining workshops and meetings: for example ISA Workshops on regional environmental management plan (REMP) for CCZ, nMAR and NWPacific ISA Council and Assembly meetings (with side-events) https://www.dosi-project.org/topics/minerals-deep-sea-mining/  ONE OCEAN – WHOSE OCEAN? Check out Pathways to Sustainability UU https://www.uu.nl/en/research/sustainability/thematic-networks/sustainable-ocean