Slow Dancing On The Seafloor

Today’s blog is on something I'm fascinated about, and they are polymetallic nodules also known as Manganese nodules. My first introduction to these nodules were back in the days at the University of the South Pacific UU204 Pacific Worlds Course summer class, and my first impression was to separate the words; poly, probably refers to ‘many’ and metallic, sounds like it has to do with metals, shiny ones and maybe brittle?

Since then, I've kept an eye out for these living nodules by reading up on the latest developments in the seabed from scientific articles, press releases and joining the campaign against seabed mining. In one of my nighttime readings, I found something particularly interesting about the way some writers were describing these nodules; at some instances, they described them as ‘rock-like’ structures. Ocean rocks are not the same as polymetallic nodules, they differ in formation, composition, location and value. While polymetallic nodules are known for its slow formation and high concentration of minerals rich in metals on the seabed, ocean rocks have diverse composition without the high concentration of valuable metals and are found in places like the mid-ocean ridges and coastal areas.

I thought, hmm, that can't be the central description of these growing nodules on the seabed and perhaps, this nodule description was centred around the writer’s linear vocabulary, imagination and relationship with the ocean. Hence, my attempt to write about polymetallic nodules from my lens, using the words I know with the images that come to mind when I think about these underwater nodules.

By Koelle, selbst fotografiert, own photo, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What are polymetallic nodules?

Scientific research described the core as the essential central part of the nodules. Imagine a 9-month pregnancy cycle, where a foetus grows into a fully formed baby, now with that in mind, the core is formed by the merging of different particles for longer periods of time roughly between 10 to a 100 million of years, to fully develop into growing nodules. Scientists further described that the particles at the core are in the form of shark’s teeth, volcanic fragments, whales' ear bones, limestones, shell fragments, and microscopic debris.

Geez, that scientific description is so important to us for many reasons such as for example, sharks and whales are part of our past, present and future; they are protectors, defenders and are necessary to the food web-integrity. Their presences in the core aren’t accidental but rather deliberate to our relationship with the ocean and its vastness. The core in the nodules is connected to the core in our traditions; is connected to the core in our large untrack-able forest space and species; is connected to our intellectual and conscious survival instincts core, and is connected to the core of our relational and spiritual relationships with each other.

At the nodule's core, the particles engage in a slow dance, in science they call it core nucleation and metallic components precipitation from the surrounding seawater; they dance for millions of years to the point where these nodules grow to the size of a potato. At the core could be a shark’s tooth, a whale’s ear bone, or some metals floating in the ocean depth, and depending on the layer’s crystallisation, if more crystallised, it is thought to be the richer in manganese, nickel and copper. Otherwise, they are richer in iron and cobalt.

According to scientific research, it would take from 10 to a 100 million of years for these nodules containing our tradition and cultural linkages, among others, to be created given the long process of ‘slow dancing on the seafloor’. And such begs the question, if we allow mining companies to mine our seabed for these growing nodules, at the very baseline, are we losing millions of our heritage, tradition, etc?! Is this the price we are willing to pay for skyscrapers? It would take us forever to see nodules growing to these large sizes again on our seabed.

What is their role in the seabed?

Some of us might already be asking, what’s the role of these growing nodules in the ocean space, and as you might have already guessed, they contribute to the ocean’s ecosystem. They are anchors for sponges, corals, and other epifauna organisms, and are essential for food-web integrity. For example, they trap jelly falls, which contributes to a food supply for scavengers and omnivores. They also act as sinks where they regulate metal concentrations in the seawater to ensure that there’s a deep-sea chemical balance.

Some studies show that up to 51% of fauna in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico) depend on these growing nodules and if they were to be removed, it would lead to 18-21% loss of species.

Most recently a groundbreaking discovery published in July 2024 in the Nature Geoscience suggests that these growing nodules may produce oxygen through electrochemical processes also known as dark oxygen production. Which means that these nodules that are being hunted by mining companies, are natural batteries for the ocean floor. Like trees providing oxygen to life

above water, polymetallic nodules are producing oxygen for the seafloor.

While this discovery may be controversial in the science world, we as Indigenous people have always known and understood the interconnectedness of all the core. The cores’ are the primary foundation of who we are; our core is magnetic, solid, rooted, a hot-sphere and a critical backbone, to remove one core, is to effectively erase a part of our holistic core.

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