Field Notes
March 5, 2026
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles are evolving from supplementary survey platforms into systems capable of reshaping ocean operations — reducing vessel dependency, lowering marginal cost, and enabling persistent subsea monitoring at scale.
Read →February 10, 2026
The Clarion-Clipperton Zone holds an estimated 21.1 billion tons of polymetallic nodules worth trillions of dollars — and sits at the center of an intensifying global debate over extraction rights, environmental responsibility, and who gets to govern the deep.
Read →January 1, 2026
Renewable energy systems depend on a concentrated set of critical minerals whose demand is rapidly outpacing supply. Deep-sea polymetallic nodules — rich in cobalt, copper, manganese, and nickel — could provide a third path between damaging land-based expansion and a stalled energy transition.
Read →November 10, 2025
Terrestrial mining produces 6–8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, devastates ecosystems, and imposes severe human costs. Deep-sea mining offers a potentially lower-impact alternative — but requires careful research, conservative engineering, and rigorous oversight.
Read →October 7, 2025
As global demand for critical minerals accelerates and China dominates existing supply chains, the United States must take the lead in deep-sea mining — not for dominance, but as a responsible steward committed to transparency, environmental rigor, and international cooperation.
Read →September 1, 2025
Deep-sea mining encompasses three distinct resource types — cobalt crusts, seafloor massive sulfides, and polymetallic nodules — each with different technical requirements and environmental profiles. Nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone represent the most accessible target, but significant unknowns remain.
Read →August 4, 2025
Formed over millions of years on the deep ocean floor, polymetallic nodules contain concentrated deposits of nickel, cobalt, manganese, and copper — the exact minerals constraining the global energy transition. Here is what they are, where they come from, and why they matter.
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