Task for Unit 1: Geology
Seventh Grade
Task 1
Article: “There’s Gold in that Ocean”
Essay topic: Should valuable resources from the ocean floor be mined for human benefit, even though
this is harmful to sea life?
Answer should include the following:
 the types of mineral resources that can be found in the oceans
 the value minerals to humans
 the ways minerals are mined on the Earth’s surface and below the oceans
 the disadvantages of surface and ocean mining, in particular to the environment and wildlife
 the advantages (economic, etc.) to mining
Use text based evidence to support your argument.
There's Gold in That Ocean
Tons and tons of valuable gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead are
sitting in the ocean floor, completely undisturbed. Some people have had
the desire to go after these riches, but getting to them is a bit precarious,
since they are as far as a mile below the surface of the ocean. Now, though,
new technological developments, along with worldwide demand, have
combined to make mining for these metals economically feasible for the
first time.
Scientists have known for a long time that concentrations of metals are present in a variety of
locations at the bottom of the oceans. These metals owe their existence to hydrothermal vents, which
are also known as "smokers," because they bear a resemblance to underwater chimneys. The vents
develop in areas of the ocean where the tectonic plates that form the earth's crust are moving away
from each other along a diverging boundary. The seawater that seeps into the flanks of these divergent
plates becomes super heated by the magma that lies beneath the earth's crust. As the water heats up, it
rises back toward the surface, similar to when cold milk is poured into a cup of hot coffee, gets heated,
and rises to the top. The heated seawater brings with it precious metals that it has leached from the
subterranean rock and spews forth from a hydrothermal vent. As the steaming hot, mineral-rich water
comes into contact with the frigid seawater, the minerals solidify and drop to the ocean floor, forming
deposits.
Interest in extracting these copious amounts of mineral deposits is growing, especially in nations
such as China and India where additional resources are needed to bolster burgeoning economies. Other
nations are also eager to claim ownership of the precious bounty waiting on the ocean floor. According
to the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the organization that controls ocean mining activities, not all
deposits contain enough minerals to mine, but some could weigh as much as 100 million tons.
Innovative technology is making it possible to mine the metals, which lie more than a mile under the
ocean's surface. A Canadian company called Nautilus Minerals Inc. is negotiating to mine an area off
Papua, New Guinea, and hopes to be operating by 2011 or 2012. The company would extract the
Task for Unit 1: Geology
Seventh Grade
valuable deposits using 180-ton, remotely operated machines, which would pump a mixture of the
deep-seawater and the minerals from the deposits up to a ship. The machines would then separate the
mineral deposits from the water and pump the water back into the ocean. Because the deep-seawater is
highly acidic and could potentially harm or even kill the surface-level sea life, the machines would
circumvent these issues by pumping the deep-seawater directly back down to the bottom of the ocean.
Nautilus Minerals isn't only concerned about surface-level sea life—it must take care to protect
any sea life that may be affected during the mining project. Even though the seawater surrounding the
hydrothermal vents is as acidic as battery acid, the area around the vents is a comfortable home to a
diverse community of bizarre animals. International authorities must be assured that all of these
creatures, from six-foot tubeworms to "blind" shrimp, would not be harmed in any way before any
approval for a mining project will be given to Nautilus Minerals.
In April, scientists, businesspeople, and policymakers from 20 countries met at the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts to discuss methods that could be utilized to best extract the
metals while protecting the wondrous deep-sea creatures. "It's a unique set of life down there. Frankly,
we haven't found everything. We need to make sure we go in with our eyes open," said Maurice Tivey, a
geologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
The unique species that thrive near the vents are a chief concern of scientists, including marine
geologist Peter Rona, who discovered hydrothermal vents in the Atlantic Ocean in the 1980s. Rona says
that the area near the vents is "like another planet," in part because the water is completely different
from the ocean water people are familiar with, but also because the marine life there is equally out of
the ordinary. Rona believes that these species in the highly acidic deep sea may tell us more about life
on Earth—and maybe even life on other planets, which may have environments analogous to the acidic
ocean. That's why it's important to strike a balance between mining the valuable resources with
protecting the priceless species, Rona maintains. "The mining needs to go forward, [and] the
environments need to be sustained and conserved," Rona said, adding, "That's a challenge, but it's
doable."
Task for Unit 1: Geology
Seventh Grade
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