The Clipperton Fracture Zone, also known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone,
is a geological submarine
fracture zone of the
Pacific Ocean, with a length of around 4500 miles (7240 km).
The zone spans approximately . It is one of the five major lineations of the northern Pacific floor, south of the Clarion Fracture Zone, discovered by the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for oceanography, ocean and Earth science research ...
in 1950. The fracture, an unusually mountainous topographical feature, begins east-northeast of the
Line Islands
The Line Islands, Teraina Islands or Equatorial Islands (in Gilbertese, ''Aono Raina'') are a chain of 11 atolls (with partly or fully enclosed lagoons) and coral islands (with a surrounding reef) in the central Pacific Ocean, south of the Hawa ...
and ends in the
Middle America Trench
The Middle America Trench is a major subduction zone, an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the southwestern coast of Middle America, stretching from central Mexico to Costa Rica. The trench is 1,700 miles (2,750 km) long an ...
off the coast of Central America.
It roughly forms a line on the same latitude as
Kiribati and
Clipperton Island.
In 2016, the seafloor in the Clipperton Fracture Zone – an area being researched for
deep-sea mining
Deep sea mining is a growing subfield of experimental seabed mining that involves the retrieval of minerals and deposits from the ocean floor found at depths of or greater. As of 2021, the majority of marine mining efforts are limited to shal ...
due to the abundant presence of
manganese nodule resources – was also found to contain an abundance and diversity of life, with more than half of the species collected being new to science. The zone is sometimes referred to as the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ),
[ ] with reference to
Clarion Island at the northern edge of the zone.
Geography
The fracture can be divided into four distinct parts:
*The first, 127°–113° W, is a broad, low welt of some 900 miles, with a central trough 10 to 30 miles wide;
*The second, 113°-107° W, is a volcano enriched ridge, 60 miles wide and 330 miles long;
*The third, 107°-101° W, is a low welt with a central trough 1,200–2,400 feet deep which transects the
Albatross Plateau
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacifi ...
; and
*The fourth, 101°-96° W, contains the
Tehuantepec Ridge which extends 400 miles northeast to the continental margin.
The
Nova-Canton Trough is often seen as an extension of the fracture.
Deep sea mining
The zone, which is administered by the
International Seabed Authority (ISA), contains
nodules
Nodule may refer to:
*Nodule (geology), a small rock or mineral cluster
*Manganese nodule, a metallic concretion found on the seafloor
*Nodule (medicine), a small aggregation of cells
*Root nodule
Root nodules are found on the roots of plants, p ...
made up of various
rare-earth elements dubbed as playing an essential role for the
energy transition
The energy transition is the process of downshifting fossil fuels and re-developing whole systems to operate on low carbon energy sources. More generally, an energy transition is a significant structural change in an energy system regarding ...
to a
low carbon economy
A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mi ...
. The zone has been divided into 16 mining claims spanning approximately . Further nine areas, each covering , have been set aside for conservation.
The International Seabed Authority estimates that the total amount of nodules in the Clarion Clipperton Zone exceeds 21 billions of tons (Bt), containing about 5.95 Bt of
manganese, 0.27 Bt of
nickel, 0.23 Bt of
copper and 0.05 Bt of
cobalt.
The ISA has issued 19 licences for deep-sea mining exploration within this area. Exploratory full-scale extraction operations are set to begin in late 2021.
The ISA are aiming to publish the deep sea mining code in July 2023 though there is contention if they will meet this deadline, commercial licences will be accepted for review thereafter. These nodules are seeded by biogenic processes, micronodules are then further aggregated and accreted into the large clumps targeted for harvesting.
Areas of the fracture zone that have been licensed for mining are home to a diversity of deep-sea
xenophyophores, with a 2017 study finding 34 species new to science in the area. As xenophyophores are highly sensitive to human disturbances, deep-sea mining may have adverse effects on the group; further, as they play a
keystone role in benthic ecosystems their removal could amplify ecological consequences. Research is being conducted by different research organisations, including
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
TU Delft, who have observer status in the International Seabed Authority, in order to fully investigate the potential impact of collecting these elements and compare it to the extensively researched
environmental and human impact of
terrestrial mining, with the intention of mitigating these impacts through policy. It is currently unknown how the release of
tailings from nodule processing into the water column would affect pelagic organisms or the detrimental effects they may have on the benthic communities below.
Environmental concerns about deep sea mining
Deep sea mining has the potential for large impacts on the environment, specifically the polymetallic nodules found in this area are considered "critical for food web integrity". In April 2021 scientists from JPI oceans project travelled to the CCZ to carry out more in depth studies into the mining technology and its possible effect on the seabed. Major NGO's and governments have called for a moratorium on deep sea mining within the deep sea until more is known about potential environmental impacts.
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=March 2017
Fracture zones
Pacific Ocean
Mining
Environmental conservation