Extensive Coverage of Marine Mineral Concretions Revealed in Shallow Shelf Sea Areas
Ferromanganese (FeMn) concretions are mineral precipitates found on soft sediment seafloors both in the deep sea and coastal sea areas. These mineral deposits potentially form a three-dimensional habitat for marine organisms, and contain minerals targeted by an emerging seabed mining industry. While...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00541/full |
| _version_ | 1818034043700117504 |
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| author | Laura Kaikkonen Elina A. Virtanen Elina A. Virtanen Kirsi Kostamo Juho Lappalainen Aarno T. Kotilainen |
| author_facet | Laura Kaikkonen Elina A. Virtanen Elina A. Virtanen Kirsi Kostamo Juho Lappalainen Aarno T. Kotilainen |
| author_sort | Laura Kaikkonen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ferromanganese (FeMn) concretions are mineral precipitates found on soft sediment seafloors both in the deep sea and coastal sea areas. These mineral deposits potentially form a three-dimensional habitat for marine organisms, and contain minerals targeted by an emerging seabed mining industry. While FeMn concretions are known to occur abundantly in coastal sea areas, specific information on their spatial distribution and significance for marine ecosystems is lacking. Here, we examine the distribution of FeMn concretions in Finnish marine areas. Drawing on an extensive dataset of 140,000 sites visited by the Finnish Inventory Programme for the Underwater Marine Environment (VELMU), we examine the occurrence of FeMn concretions from seabed mapping, and use spatial modeling techniques to estimate the potential coverage of FeMn concretions. Using seafloor characteristics and hydrographical conditions as predictor variables, we demonstrate that the extent of seafloors covered by concretions in the northern Baltic Sea is larger than anticipated, as concretions were found at ∼7000 sites, and were projected to occur on over 11% of the Finnish sea areas. These results provide new insights into seafloor complexity in coastal sea areas, and further enable examining the ecological role and resource potential of seabed mineral concretions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T06:32:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-892de4f146f448c58bb13b5dd36a3d5e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T06:32:53Z |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-892de4f146f448c58bb13b5dd36a3d5e2022-12-22T01:59:01ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452019-09-01610.3389/fmars.2019.00541484296Extensive Coverage of Marine Mineral Concretions Revealed in Shallow Shelf Sea AreasLaura Kaikkonen0Elina A. Virtanen1Elina A. Virtanen2Kirsi Kostamo3Juho Lappalainen4Aarno T. Kotilainen5Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandFinnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Marine Research Centre, Helsinki, FinlandDepartment of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandFinnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Marine Research Centre, Helsinki, FinlandFinnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Marine Research Centre, Helsinki, FinlandGeological Survey of Finland (GTK), Espoo, FinlandFerromanganese (FeMn) concretions are mineral precipitates found on soft sediment seafloors both in the deep sea and coastal sea areas. These mineral deposits potentially form a three-dimensional habitat for marine organisms, and contain minerals targeted by an emerging seabed mining industry. While FeMn concretions are known to occur abundantly in coastal sea areas, specific information on their spatial distribution and significance for marine ecosystems is lacking. Here, we examine the distribution of FeMn concretions in Finnish marine areas. Drawing on an extensive dataset of 140,000 sites visited by the Finnish Inventory Programme for the Underwater Marine Environment (VELMU), we examine the occurrence of FeMn concretions from seabed mapping, and use spatial modeling techniques to estimate the potential coverage of FeMn concretions. Using seafloor characteristics and hydrographical conditions as predictor variables, we demonstrate that the extent of seafloors covered by concretions in the northern Baltic Sea is larger than anticipated, as concretions were found at ∼7000 sites, and were projected to occur on over 11% of the Finnish sea areas. These results provide new insights into seafloor complexity in coastal sea areas, and further enable examining the ecological role and resource potential of seabed mineral concretions.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00541/fullBaltic SeaGradient Boosting Machine (GBM)ferromanganese concretionsmarine mineralspolymetallic nodulesseabed habitats |
| spellingShingle | Laura Kaikkonen Elina A. Virtanen Elina A. Virtanen Kirsi Kostamo Juho Lappalainen Aarno T. Kotilainen Extensive Coverage of Marine Mineral Concretions Revealed in Shallow Shelf Sea Areas Frontiers in Marine Science Baltic Sea Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM) ferromanganese concretions marine minerals polymetallic nodules seabed habitats |
| title | Extensive Coverage of Marine Mineral Concretions Revealed in Shallow Shelf Sea Areas |
| title_full | Extensive Coverage of Marine Mineral Concretions Revealed in Shallow Shelf Sea Areas |
| title_fullStr | Extensive Coverage of Marine Mineral Concretions Revealed in Shallow Shelf Sea Areas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Extensive Coverage of Marine Mineral Concretions Revealed in Shallow Shelf Sea Areas |
| title_short | Extensive Coverage of Marine Mineral Concretions Revealed in Shallow Shelf Sea Areas |
| title_sort | extensive coverage of marine mineral concretions revealed in shallow shelf sea areas |
| topic | Baltic Sea Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM) ferromanganese concretions marine minerals polymetallic nodules seabed habitats |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00541/full |
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