Journal
DEEP-SEA RESEARCH PART I-OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH PAPERS
Volume 179, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr.2021.103645
Keywords
Deep sea; Mn nodules; Sub-bottom profiler; AUV imagery; Clarion-clipperton zone
Categories
Funding
- European Union [603418]
- UK Natural Environment Research Council, National Capability Programme
- Marine Environmental Mapping Programme (MAREMAP)
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By utilizing geophysical observations from autonomous underwater vehicles, this study found that higher nodule occurrence is related to layers with increased sediment thickness, suggesting the importance of local seafloor heterogeneity in nodule formation.
The relationship between polymetallic nodules (Mn nodules) and deep-sea stratigraphy is relatively poorly studied and the role of sediment thickness in determining nodule occurrence is an active field of research. This study utilizes geophysical observations from three types of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) data (multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiles and underwater photography) in order to assess this relationship. Multibeam bathymetry was processed with a pattern recognition approach for producing objective geomorphometric classes of the seafloor for examining their relation to sediment thickness and nodule occurrence. Sub-bottom profiles were used for extracting sediment thickness along a dense network of tracklines. Close-range AUVphotography data was used for automated counting of polymetallic nodules and their geometric features and it served as ground truth data. It was observed that higher nodule occurrence were related to layers with increased sediment thickness. This evidence reveals the role of local seafloor heterogeneity in nodule formation and suggests that unique patterns of local stratigraphy may affect geochemical processes that promote polymetallic nodule development at local scales.
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