Using AUV imaging and sediment cores, scientists return to a deep-sea test site where tracks were left on the seabed 26 years earlier. The results reveal how slowly the ocean floor can recover, and why manganese nodule mining could leave long-term damage in one of Earth’s least understood environments.
The extract expands from scientific evidence to the global decisions now taking shape: mining licenses, the International Seabed Authority, Nauru, industrial interests, and the deep ocean’s role in carbon and oxygen cycles. Before the seafloor is opened to large-scale extraction, one question remains: who gets to decide its future?
Documentary: Gold Rush in the Deep Sea
Director: Friederike Lorenz & Tamar Baumgarten-Noort
Production: Gruppe 5, ZDF, ARTE (2016)
#deepseamining #seabedmining #manganesenodules #oceanfloor #deepsea #internationalseabedauthority #nauru #marineconservation