Q. Which of the following statements is/are correct about Shallow water mining?
1.It is considered a high-risk and high-cost option to mine metals and minerals.
2.Mining metals from the shallow-water ocean floor requires removing large amounts of sediment.
3.Shallow water mining trigger local extinctions and changes in species composition.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below;
Statement 1 is incorrect: It is considered a relatively low-risk and low-cost option to satisfy the demand for metals and minerals.
Shallow-water mining projects are already underway in Namibia and Indonesia, and projects have been proposed in Mexico, New Zealand, and Sweden.
Statements 2 and 3 are correct: Shallow Water Mining is not a sustainable substitute for Deep-Sea Mining.
This is because mining metals from the shallow-water ocean floor requires removing large amounts of sediment.
Removing these sediments, which takes thousands of years to accumulate, means jeopardizing organisms that call it home.
This could trigger local extinctions and changes in species composition. Other issues could be the impact on water quality and release of harmful substances from the sediment and disturbance from noise and light.
Source: DTE
