Suchergebnisse

International experts from member States, including developing counties and sponsoring States as well as from the scientific community, and contractors convened at a workshop held to discuss the development of a Regional Environmental Management Plan (REMP) for the Area of the Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge in Évora, Portugal, from 25 to 29 November Organized by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), in collaboration with the Government of Portugal and the European Commission through its Atlantic REMP project, the workshop held at the University of Évora in Portugal provided an opportunity for participants to review available scientific information and consider environmental requirements for applying area-based management tools and addressing cumulative impacts from future exploitation activities at a regional scale. To date, ISA has issued three contracts for exploration for polymetallic sulphide deposits in the Area of the Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which are rich in metals such as copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver. Once developed, the aim of the REMP will be to ensure effective environmental protection of this area as required by article 145 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

ABSTRACT This work presents the preliminary result of the multidisciplinary cruise EXPLOSEA2 surveying the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Azores Archipelago from 46◦ 30′ N to 38◦ 30′ N aboard the R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa and ROV Luso over 54 days (June 11 to July 27, 2019). In this cruise report, we detail the geophysical, hydrographic, geological, oceanographic, ecological, and microbiological data acquired and a brief of main findings. The cruise addressed the exploration and comprehensive characterization of venting sites, including the water column, the sediments and rocks that host the hydrothermal activity, and the associated mineralizations, biology, and microbiology. Deep hydrothermal chimneys and massive sulfide deposits (up 3,000 m in depth) within the Moytirra hydrothermal active field were identified on slopes that had not been explored previously. Another striking finding made during the EXPLOSEA2 cruise was the field of carbonate chimneys named the "Magallanes-Elcano" field, a potentially relict ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal site sourced by abiotic methane. This field is related to a serpentinite and gabbro rock outcropping on a dome-shaped massif named the "Iberian Massif." An outstanding finding of the EXPLOSEA2 survey was the identification of the first garden of soft corals growing after active submarine eruptions were reported in the Azores Archipelago composed by a high density of soft corals the suborder Alcyoniina at the summit and flanks of a recent volcanic cone at 160 m water depth developed during the 1957–1958 eruption of Capelinhos. Several cold-water coral habitats formed by colonial scleractinians (e.g., Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata), coral gardens composed of mixed assemblages of black corals (Leiopathes sp.), and octocorals and dense aggregations of the glass sponge Pheronema carpenteri that may be classified as vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) have been discovered during the EXPLOSEA2 cruise along the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This work reveals the importance of ...