Scenario 01
Benthic sediment
Simulated for the Nauru-sponsored NORI D licence area. The model tracks disturbed particles near the seabed.
- Location
- NORI D / CCZ
- Pathway
- Collection disturbance
Water column
Seabed
Method schematic · not a model output
The science / 2022 scenarios
Follow the particles.
Read the assumptions.
Blue Peril uses oceanographic modeling to explore potential sediment dispersal in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone.
Two distinct pathways
From collection
to discharge.
The published technical note is the primary source for the scenarios below.
Scenario 02
Midwater discharge
Simulated in the Tonga-sponsored licence area, with tracers released at 1,062 metres. The campaign reports a three-month pathway toward Hawaiʻi and the northern Line Islands.
- Release depth
- 1,062 m
- Pathway
- Vessel discharge
Ocean surface
1,062 mSeabed
Method schematic · not a model output
Read this as a scenario.
Open the full technical note · PDFThese are conditional predictions, not observations of existing pollution. Current estimates, settling rates and sediment production introduce uncertainty; the note identifies gaps in deep-ocean measurements.
How the analysis is assembled
Currents → tracers → visualisation.
01 / Inputs
Ocean currents
The note uses GLORYS / Copernicus Marine reanalysis.
02 / Tracking
Virtual particles
OpenDrift follows tracers through the modeled flow.
03 / Interpretation
Spatial analysis
The film translates the scenarios into a visual investigation.
Research context
Keep the source
with the finding.
PDF · 2022
Technical note
The oceanographic methods and assumptions behind the plume scenarios.
Read the technical note
PDF · 2020
Scientific literature review
Predicting the impacts of mining deep-sea polymetallic nodules in the Pacific Ocean.
Read the report
PDF · 2019
Why the Rush?
A campaign report on the financial and institutional context of seabed mining in the Pacific.
Read the report