Area Slated for Deep-Sea Mining Is Filled With Exotic Species
Deep beneath the sparkling surface of the Pacific Ocean, in the vast expanse between Mexico and Hawaii, lies an area known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). At the floor of this marine region, between 12,000 and 18,000 feet below sea level, is a wide and mucky abyssal plain dotted by seamounts, that covers about 1.7 million square miles. There, it is very cold and exceedingly dark. No light reaches that deep. Temperatures hover below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Food is scarce. Yet still, the sediments of the CCZ are far…