Dwindling Natural Resources - Will The Sea Bed Rescue Us?

Oceans occupy approximately 71% of the earth's surface (~3.6 x 10⁸ square kilometers). They are also the major source of direct sustenance to a very diversified marine life and indirectly a source of sustenance for man kind. The global rainfall and weather patterns are controlled by the process of sea water evaporation and movement of ocean currents. Oceans are also a source of food for man kind in the form of sea food consumed by millions of humans across the planet. Agriculture itself cannot sustain the hunger of about 7 billion humans on the planet. Let us face it, without the oceans we cannot have life on the planet.

With growing human population and the rapid consumption of natural resources on the land mass, the land-based natural resources are fast dwindling. Mining of metals and stones has steadily declined in the last few decades from land based sources. Mines have been exploited to their fullest potential and a vast number of mines are being abandoned due to the fact they are now exhausted. The cost of digging deeper in land based mines is not consummate with the returns of the new deposits found. Again the fact is that we are fast reaching the point where there will be no viable return from land based mining of minerals, ores and metals.

What is the alternative? It is estimated that the reserves of minerals and metals on the ocean bed is large enough to sustain the energy requirements of the still growing human population for the next few centuries. Let me provide some statistical data based on an open internet resource:

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the floor of America's continental shelf contains more than one trillion cubic meters of sand and gravel, 155 billion cubic meters of shell and carbonate sand, three and a half billion metric tons of heavy-metal sand, a similar amount of phosporite, 70,000 kilograms of precious coral, and 17 trillion metric tons of rock salt. These regions also contain varying amounts of titanium, gold, platinum, zircon, and other heavy metals, as do the coastal areas of other nations. Significant mineral deposits also lie on the ocean basin—the deep seabed—the most important of which are manganese nodules. Scientists and observers have estimated that the Pacific Ocean has the richest deposits, containing one to one and a half trillion tons, making this perhaps the largest mineral deposit on earth. Nodules also are found on the seabed of the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and an estimated 250 million metric tons of them are on America's Outer Continental Shelf. The nodules are rounded masses of manganese oxide which form through chemical precipitates from the ocean, accreting around objects such as bones, stones, or teeth. The nodules vary greatly in size, from grains of sand to large boulders. They consist mainly of manganese and iron, with important concentrations of nickel, cobalt, and copper, as well as small traces of up to 74 other metals, most of which are not economical to extract. The metallic concentrations of the nodules
varies by geographic location, and within particular deposits.

Reference: http://www.cato.org/...2n3/cj2n3-7.pdf

The ingenuity of the human mind to exploit these resources without causing permanent damage to the delicate eco-systems of the oceans is what is required by the scientists and engineers of the current and next generation. There are already groups and individuals who favor the exploitation of the sea bed citing the exhaustion of land based mineral resources as well as those who vehemently oppose it citing irreparable damage to the oceanic eco-system. There is an intergovernmental body known as the "International Seabed Authority" that was established to organize and control all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, an area underlying most of the world's oceans. It is an independent treaty organization originally established by the "Law of the Sea Convention" a widely accepted multilateral treaty. For more details refer:
http://en.wikipedia....eabed_Authority

Some ecologists consider it to be a disaster-in-waiting if large scale sea bed mining efforts are taken up globally. Refer the article:
http://www.theecolog...e_on_earth.html

The debate continues to rage about a very sensitive subject, and it is time we as chemical engineers of a responsible chemical engineering community start voicing our opinion on this subject. There is a lot at stake for us and our future generations. We can ignore it only at our peril.

I would love to have comments from members of the "Cheresources" community on the subject which I have just got involved into but nevertheless a very interesting one.

Regards,
Ankur.