Answer to Question #176609 in Physical geography for alfred

Question

Advantages and challenges of extracting manganese nodules from the ocean floor under technical, ecological and economic considerations

Answer 1

The extraction of manganese nodules from the ocean floor will let us investigate the processes behind the formation of the ocean floor.

However, this idea has the following challenges: the International Seabed Authority stated that only certain countries decided that only certain countries may participate in extracting manganese nodules from the ocean floor in certain areas. Moreover, the nodules are located at depths between 3 and 5 km, which requires decent financing and development of appropriate technologies. Mining will surely impact the environment and will require paying high taxes. Moreover, the minerals and metals that can be obtained from the nodules are available on land, which is more economically efficient.