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Environmental Risks of Mining Metalliferous Muds in the Atlantis II Deep, Red Sea

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The Red Sea

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Abstract

After two companies were awarded a 30-year license for the exploration and exploitation of metalliferous sediments in the Atlantis II Deep (Red Sea) in 2011, we herewith present conclusions and recommendations derived from an environmental risk assessment, the Metalliferous Sediment Atlantis II Deep (MESEDA) study, conducted in the period 1977–1981. For economic reasons, this program was discontinued before final report delivery and fell dormant for 30 years. The effects of environmental disturbances of the benthic and the near-bottom water layer habitats in and around the mining site deserve further and more modern risk assessments. We examine the relevance of our 1981 recommendations and of subsequent publications to the extended period of resource extraction planned for this century and recommend more up-to-date risk assessment investigations and evaluations.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Eric J. Foell for streamlining our use of the English language in the manuscript. Louiesito Abalos has kindly adjusted the color images for better printing quality, as all figures were originally prepared more than 30 years ago. Drs. Gerd Schriever, Bettina Martin, and Bernd Christiansen were helpful in the preparation of the photographs. We are most grateful to Dr. Teresa Radziejewska (Poland) and Dr. Rahul Sharma (India) for their helpful reviews of our manuscript. The German contributions to the environmental MESEDA project were supported by the German Ministry of Research and Technology under Grant R 301/R 309 and by the University of Hamburg. We also gratefully acknowledge the positive cooperation with the Red Sea Commission, the Preussag company, particularly with Dr. Harald Bäcker, Chief Scientist of the Preussag team and with all our scientific, technical, and student team members. It has been great fun to work together with scientists from the Republic of the Sudan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The cooperative spirit of the many individuals from industry, administration, and science remains a positive model for industrial developments concerned about environmental protection, particularly in that no restrictions were placed on the publication of scientific results and our personal views on the potential impacts of mining.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Hydrobiologie und Fischereiwissenschaft der Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Hjalmar Thiel, Ludwig Karbe & Horst Weikert

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  1. Hjalmar Thiel
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  2. Ludwig Karbe
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  3. Horst Weikert
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Correspondence to Hjalmar Thiel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Saudi Geological Survey Center for Marine Geology, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Najeeb M.A. Rasul

  2. Stewart Geophysical Consultants Pty. Ltd., Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Ian C.F. Stewart

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Thiel, H., Karbe, L., Weikert, H. (2015). Environmental Risks of Mining Metalliferous Muds in the Atlantis II Deep, Red Sea. In: Rasul, N., Stewart, I. (eds) The Red Sea. Springer Earth System Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45201-1_15

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