Experimental of Sedimentation Characteristics of Viscous Particles in the Polymetallic Nodule Province of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean

Ya-zhi HAN , Ze-kun CHEN , Jian-xin XIA , Xiao WANG , Huai-ming LI

Science Technology and Engineering ›› 2025, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (22) : 9296 -9304.

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Science Technology and Engineering ›› 2025, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (22) : 9296-9304 DOI: 10.12404/j.issn.1671-1815.2407382
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Experimental of Sedimentation Characteristics of Viscous Particles in the Polymetallic Nodule Province of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean
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Abstract

The deep-sea is rich in polymetallic nodules resources that are promising for mining, but the process of mining poses a number of environmental problems, in particular the migratory diffusion of plumes formed by sediments disturbance. To evaluate the environmental impact of sediment setting behavior during polymetallic nodule mining, seafloor surface sediments and seawater from the Beijing Pioneer polymetallic nodule mining area in the northwestern Pacific Ocean were employed. Sedimentation experiments were conducted to investigate the deposition characteristics of the suspended sediments. The results indicate that the deep-sea sediments are primarily composed of viscous particles, with median particles sizes ranging from 2.57 to 4.47 μm, and maximum particle size of 66.9μm. The relationship between settling velocity and particle size was analyzed, showing that the settling velocity of viscous particles increased due to flocculation effects. After 5 hours of sedimentation, the median particle size of suspended sediments decreased to below 0.1 μm, and the maximum optical density has observed at 14 minutes after the onset of sedimentation. A positive correlation is observed between the mass concentration and optical density of the suspension. By fitting the temporal variation of sediment mass concentration, the settling pattern is determined. The mass concentration reached its peak 14 minutes after the onset of settling, and decreased to 2.46% of the initial value after 5 hours, indicating that 97.54% of the total mass has settled. These findings provide supporting data for environmental impact assessments related to plume behavior during deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining.

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Northwest Pacific Ocean / deep-sea sediments / settling velocity / optical density / mass concentration

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Ya-zhi HAN, Ze-kun CHEN, Jian-xin XIA, Xiao WANG, Huai-ming LI. Experimental of Sedimentation Characteristics of Viscous Particles in the Polymetallic Nodule Province of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. Science Technology and Engineering, 2025, 25(22): 9296-9304 DOI:10.12404/j.issn.1671-1815.2407382

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