Deep Ocean Mining Environmental Study, Northeast Pacific nodule province; geology and geochemistry of Site C

Probably the single most obvious and important environmental effect during deep-sea mining operations will be the resuspension and discharge of large amounts of sea floor sediment into the water column.  The objectives of the geological program, therefore, were two-fold.  The first was to provide baseline information on the sediment system by defining the nature of the sediment., its contained pore fluids and associated nodules.  The second was to carry out laboratory studies to help predict how the resuspended sediment might interact chemically with surface area sea water and how rapidly the sediment might settle out.