IMPLICATIONS OF DARK OXYGEN PRODUCTION AS A NATURAL PROCESS and DEEP SEA MINING

WASHINGTON POST: DARK OXYGEN 

Excerpt:

The researchers, whose study was published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, found that through a newly discovered process, masses made of minerals such as manganese and iron, often used to make batteries, can produce oxygen even in complete darkness. Organisms normally need light to produce oxygen through a process known as photosynthesis, but researchers believe electrochemical activity produced by these masses — called polymetallic nodules — can extract oxygen from water. The masses formed over millions of years and can be about the size of a potato.   .....  Environmental activists and many scientists believe deep-sea mining is dangerous because it can destabilize ecosystems in unpredictable ways and could affect the ocean’s ability to help contain climate change. The study received funding from companies active in seabed mining exploration.

5000 SEA CREATURES NO ONE KNEW ABOUT and NOW THE THREAT OF DEEP SEA MINING

WASHINGTON POST - DEEP SEA MINING and 5000 SEA CREATURES NO ONE KNEW EXISTED

Excerpts:  A new analysis of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast mineral-rich area in the Pacific Ocean, estimates there are some 5000 sea animals completely new to science there. ............ There are bright, gummy creatures that look like partially peeled bananas.  Glassy, translucent sponges that cling to the seabed like chandeliers flipped upside down. Phantasmic octopuses named, appropriately, after Casper the Friendly Ghost.

DEEP SEA MINING COULD KILL OFF ANIMALS NOT YET DISCOVERED : CELL PHONE METALS DESIRED

SAVE THE HIGH SEAS ORG - DEEP SEA MINING WOULD KILL ANIMALS NOT YET DISCOVERED  by Sabrina Weiss

This does not sound good. 

The ocean floor is rife with life, some of it unseen, but the noise and the lights and so much else could disturb the ocean ecology...