The Ecological Impact of Sub Tailings Placement

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The Ecological Impacts of Submarine Tailings Placement
Chapter · December 2016

DOI: 10.1201/9781315368597-7
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Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, 2016, 54, 315-366
© R. N. Hughes. D. J. Hughes, I. P. Smith, and A. C. Dale, Editors
Taylor & Francis
THE ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF SUBMARINE

TAILINGS PLACEMENT
ELISABETTA B. MORELLO1,2, MICHAEL D.E. HAYWOOD1, DAVID T. BREWER1,
SIMON C. APTE3, GERT ASMUND4, Y.T. JOHN KWONG5 & DARREN DENNIS1
CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere, Ecosciences Precinct,

1
41 Boggo Rd, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia

2CNR—National Research Council of Italy, ISMAR—Marine Sciences Institute,
Largo Fiera della Pesca 2, Ancona, 60125, Italy

E-mail: Elisabetta.Morello@csiro.au (corresponding author)
3CSIRO Land and Water Flagship, Locked Bag 2007, Kirrawee NSW 2232, Australia
4Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience—Arctic Environment,
Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark

5Natural Resources Canada, 555 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G1, Canada
Most of the 2500 industrial-size mines operating around the world dispose of their tailings on land. For
technical, spatial, and chemical reasons this is not always feasible, and attention has shifted to submarine
tailings placement (STP) and deep-sea tailings placement (DSTP). Marine disposal presents numerous
challenges that can have significant environmental impacts across a range of ecosystems. This review
describes the processes at the basis of the disposal rationale and how these can affect its outcome, and
outlines the ecological impacts that are associated with or interact with these processes. Mine waste
disposal on to the seafloor appears to be poorly understood given the extent of its implementation.
The uncertainty surrounding this method extends to our understanding of both biophysical processes
and ecological impacts. For example, the potential role of vertically migrating species in transporting
mine-disposed trace elements from deeper environments into the shallower surface layers has been
largely overlooked, and, similarly, the nature, extent, and impact of secondary plumes that develop
off the main tailings current are poorly described and quantified, as is their interaction with migrating
biota. Furthermore, the vulnerability of deep-sea environments to human impacts and their potential
for recovery remains largely unknown. Given the large degree of uncertainty around the impacts of
this practice on a wide range of ecological communities, coupled with the high connectivity of both
deep-water and pelagic environments, it is imperative that participating countries, the global scientific
community, and managing entities act urgently to bridge these knowledge gaps, improve management
practices, and take a more precautionary approach to the implementation of STP and DSTP.
Introduction
Mining for metallic ores produces waste materials that can be classified into 1) waste rock, which
is geological material that does not contain sufficient amounts of the commodity of interest to be
processed and may include overburden covering the targeted resource, and 2) mine tailings, which
are pulverized rock remaining after valuable metals have been extracted from the ore. The composi-
tion of the tailings depends largely on the composition of the ore being mined and the process used
to extract it. Tailings contain bulk minerals and may also contain trace quantities of metals and
compounds used in the extraction process (e.g., flotation agents); they may contain high quantities
315
ELISABETTA B. MORELLO et al.
of sulphides, which can lead to one of the main problems of mining: acid mine drainage (Dold 2014,
Ramirez-Llodra et al. 2015).
About 2500 industrial-size mines are operating around the world (Vogt 2012). Almost all of
them dispose of their tailings on land, usually in tailings impoundments (also known as tailings
dams). Despite concerns about the long-term safety of these dams (Ramirez-Llodra et al. 2015),
storage in this form is generally regarded as industry best practice. During the life of a mine, the
tailings are pumped into the impoundment and stored submerged underwater to minimize chemical
reactivity (e.g., generation of acid and associated acid mine drainage). Mine closure usually involves
draining and capping the dams and rehabilitating and revegetating the landform.
However, in some locations, land-based disposal may not be the most technically feasible
option. For instance, in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, the challenges of high rainfall, earth-
quakes, topography, and social pressures combine to make the development of effective tailings
impoundment difficult. Furthermore, problems related to space requirements (e.g., in Norway, the
argument against land-based disposal is that there is no suitable land near the fjords; Vogt 2012), the
formation of acidity via sulphide oxidation, and the long-term maintenance of tailings dams have
led developers to consider alternative methods of disposal (Dold 2014, Ramirez-Llodra et al. 2015).
An alternative waste management strategy, which is suitable for mines that are relatively close to
coastal locations or have access by pipeline, is marine disposal. Following the tightening of interna-
tional regulations (e.g., see London Protocol; http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/LCLP/
Pages/default.aspx), shore-based disposal of mine wastes, or dumping from ships, is no longer accepted
unless the waste can be classified as “inert inorganic geological material” (http://www.imo.org/).
Although only a few minerals are truly inert (Dold 2014), the practice has evolved into the disposal of
tailings slurries that can be conveyed through a pipeline and discharged at beach level or at depth via
a submerged pipeline. The London Protocol is ratified by 45 countries; although Papua New Guinea
did sign the previous version of it (the London Convention 1972), neither it nor Indonesia have signed
the 1996 London Protocol (Dold 2014, Ramirez-Llodra et al. 2015). The United Nations has expressed
criticism of this kind of disposal (Dold 2014).
Definition and history of marine tailings disposal

Mine wastes have been disposed of by discharging to the sea at a number of locations worldwide,
for example, Howe Sound (Britannia mine), British Columbia, Canada (Drysdale 1990, Syvitski &
Macdonald 1982); Tilt Cove, Newfoundland, Canada (Kwong & Hynes 2003); and Portman Bay
(Roberto mine), Cartagena, Spain (Peña et al. 2013). Currently, there are at least 15 mining and
mineral-processing operations around the world using engineered submarine tailings disposal in
the marine environment (Table 1).
Early operations were largely unplanned, and tailings plus other waste materials were directly
discharged into the sea as a matter of convenience. This often led to contamination of the nearshore
environment and adverse impacts on local biota (Castilla & Nealler 1978, Ellis & Hoover 1990).
Since the early 1970s, pipelines and engineered treatment systems have been incorporated into the
practice of marine tailings disposal (MTD). Over this time, design modifications to both the tailings
outfall and the final tailings deposition basin have located them at progressively greater depths to
minimize environmental impacts (Ellis & Ellis 1994, Ellis et al. 1995b). Terminology has evolved
to describe the changing practice:
• MTD: generally refers to tailings disposal in the shallow marine environment (surface
discharge)
• submarine tailings placement (STP) or disposal: tailings disposal where the deposited tail-
ings are intended to settle at medium depths, about 100–1000 m
• deep-sea tailings placement (DSTP): a more recent practice where tailings are intended to
settle at depths greater than 1000 m
316
Table 1 Summary of all known past and current mines using STP or DSTP to dispose of their tailings
Type of
mine/ Tailings Settling and
mineral Operation discharge Discharge deposition
Mine processed Location period/start (t day−1) depth (m) depth (m) References
Atlas Cu Cebu Island, 1971–1990 100,000 10–30 Island Strait, 350 to Ellis et al. (1995b)
the Philippines >500 m
Black Angel Pb/Zn Greenland 1973–1990 1650 30 Shallow fjord, Loring & Asmund (1989), Asmund et al. (1991,
~ 80 m 1994), Johansen et al. (1991), Asmund (1992a,b),
Poling & Ellis (1995), Riget et al. (1997), Larsen
et al. (2001), Josefson et al. (2008), Perner et al.
(2010)
Island Copper Cu/Mo/Au British 1971–1995 33,000–55,000 30–50 Silled fjord, >100 m Ellis et al. (1995a,b), Burd (2002), Poling et al.
Columbia, (2002)
Canada
Jordan River Cu Vancouver 1962–1971 NA Tidewater Depression in Juan Ellis et al. (1995a)
Island, Canada 1972–1974 ~450 12 de Fuca Strait,
317
≥22 m
Kitsault Mo British 1981–1982 12,000 50 Silled fjord, >350 m Anderson & Mackas (1986), Mackas & Anderson
Columbia, (1986), Ellis & Hoover (1990), Pedersen et al.
Canada (1995), Odhiambo et al. (1996), Burd et al. (2000)
Marcopper Cu Marinduque 1975–1986 113 Mt total 6 Shallow Ellis et al. (1995b)David (2002, 2003)
Island, the embayment, 20 m
Philippines
Misima Au/Ag Misima Island, 1989–2004 15,000–22,000 112 Bwagaioa Basin Jones & Ellis (1995)
Papua New (Solomon Sea),
Guinea ~1500 m
Sydvaranger Fe Bokfjorden, 1971–1997 4600–9600 22 Fjord, 220 m Skei (2010)a
Norway
Up to 33 mines Norway Kvassnes & Iversen 2013, Ramirez-Llodra et al.

in Norway, 2015
7 active and 26
closed by 2013
Continued
Table 1 (Continued) Summary of all known past and current mines using STP or DSTP to dispose of their tailings
Type of
Tasu iron Fe/Cu Moresby Island, 1967–1983 Tasu sound Baker (2002), Yeager (2010)
British
Columbia,
Canada
Titania Ti Jøssingfjord, 1960–1984 ~6800 85 m to 30–40 m Olsgard & Hasle (1993)
Norway
Titania Ti Dyngadjupet, 1984–1994 113 170 Skei (2010)a
Norway
Agios Nikolaos Bauxite Agios Nikolaos, 120 Gulf of Corinth, Ramirez-Llodra et al. (2015)
Greece 800 m
318
Batu Hijau Cu/Au Sumbawa 1999 120,000– 108 Open ocean, Gwyther et al (2009)
Island, 160,000 >2000 m
Indonesia
Boulby Potashb Potash United 1972–2003 600 14 North Sea, ~90 m Craig et al. (1993)
Kingdom
Cayeli Bakir Cu/Zn/Pb Turkey 1994 12,000 385 then 275 Black Sea, >2000 m Berkun (2005)
Gardanne Al Marseilles, 1967 4000 (two plants 320 and 330 Submarine canyon, Dauvin (2010), Ramirez-Llodra et al. (2015)
France combined) 1200 m
Huasco iron Fe pelleting Huasco, Chile 1994 3000 35 Ensenada Chapaco Vasquez & Guerra (1996), Lancellotti & Stotz
Bay (2004), Dold (2014)
Deposition, depth
not available
Hustadmarmor Elnesvågen, 1978–2003 30 >30 m Ramirez-Llodra et al. (2015)
AS Møre og
Romsdal,
Norway
Continued
Table 1 (Continued) Summary of all known past and current mines using STP or DSTP to dispose of their tailings
Type of
Lihir Au Lihir Islands 1996 8000 115 Open ocean, McKinnon (2002), Brewer et al. (2007),
group, Papua >2000 m Dambacher et al (2007)
New Guinea
Minahasa Raya Au North Sulawesi, 1996–2004 3000 82 Coastal shelf, Edinger et al. (2007, 2008), Ellis (2008), Lasut &
Indonesia 160 m Yasuda (2008), Lasut et al. (2010)
Skaland Graphite Senja Island, 1917–1920, 30 150–300 m Ramirez-Llodra et al. (2015)
Graphite AS Troms, 1931–2002
Norway
Sibelco Nordic Nepheline Stjernsundet, 1961–2000 Tidal zone ~400 m Ramirez-Llodra et al. (2015)
Stjernøy syenite Finnmark,
Norway
Simberi oxide Au/Ag Simberi Island, 2008 9040 130 Submarine canyon, Vogt (2012)
319
gold project Papua New >3000 m
Guinea
Sydvaranger Fe Bokfjorden, Since 2010 10,960 28 Fjord, 220 m Skei (2010)a, Vogt (2012)
Norway
Quartz High-purity Drag I Tysfjord, 1996–2010 30 329 m Ramirez-Llodra et al. (2015)
Corporation quartz Nordland,
Norway
Ramu Co/Ni Madang, Papua 2012 13,700 150 Basamuk Bay Vogt (2012)
New Guinea
Rana Gruber Fe Ranfjorden, 1964–2012 35–45 530 m Ramirez-Llodra et al. (2015)
Nordland,
Norway
a
Bergverk og avgangsdeponering Status, miljøutfordringer og kunnskapsbehov By Jens Skei (2010) (report in Norwegian).
b Since May 2003 Boulby Potash mine has used backfill to dispose of tailings.
The large-scale practice of engineered STP started in 1971 at the Island Copper mine (Vancouver
Island, Canada) and the Atlas copper mine (Cebu Island, Philippines) (Table 1; Ganguli et al. 2002,
Poling 2002). In addition to the Island Copper and Atlas mines, two other closed STP operations,
the Kitsault molybdenum mine (British Columbia, Canada) and the Black Angel mine (Greenland),
have been widely discussed in the literature (Table 1). Whilst the Island Copper and Kitsault mines
did not seem to have significant long-term ecological impacts (e.g., Burd 2002), at Black Angel
mine the adopted STP system caused contamination of the receiving fjord (Loring & Asmund 1989,
Asmund et al. 1991, Larsen et al. 2001, Perner et al. 2010). Most STP operations that started in the
early 1970s are now closed; operations that started after the early 1990s involve DSTP (Table 1; see
Dold 2014 and Ramirez-Llodra et al. 2015 for further details). In this review we focus on DSTP as
it is the only practice currently in use; reference to STP provides historical context.
Conceptual diagrams showing the operational components and potential environmental impacts
of STP (using a fjord as an example) and DSTP are given in Figures 1 and 2, respectively. Tailings
are discharged from a submerged pipeline into fjords (Figure 1), fjord-like sea channels, and coastal
seas (Figure 2) at depths ranging from 30 m to several hundred metres. Both the tailings liquid
and solids behave as stressors to the marine environment, potentially affecting pelagic and ben-
thic organisms.
Under certain circumstances, tailings can be remobilized and rise up to the biologically produc-
tive euphotic zone. Figure 1 shows what may happen in a fjord in winter when the water body is
River input (natural sediment)
Ice level (winter)

0
Sea level (summer)
Discharge pipe
Sill (20 m)
Pycnocline Tid
20 m al c u r re nt s
Mixing
40 m Subsurface
plume
60 m
Fine particle suspension

80 m Turbidity current
Deposit
Original fjord bottom 2000 m
100 m
Figure 1 Environmental impacts of submarine tailings placement (STP) using a typical fjord as an example.
320
Discharge pipe
0
Euphotic Zone
Biological production
Pycnocline
80 m
Outfall
Dispersion
150 m
Subsurface Pelagic
Dispersion Ecosystem
Daily vertical migration

plume
Unpwelling
> Toxicity
> Sublethal effects
Dispersion > Bioaccumulation
Ta
> Biomagnification
ilin
> Community
gs
changes
Dilution
de
sit > Productivity

n
yc changes
ur
ren
t Remobilization
Deposition
Benthos
> Smothering
> Community
changes
> Toxicity
> Sublethal effects
> Bioaccumulation
> Biomagnification
2000 m
Figure 2 Environmental impacts of deep-sea tailings placement (DSTP): Tailings are discharged from a
submerged pipeline into coastal seas. Depths are not to scale. Note that there can be multiple subsurface
plumes.
covered by ice. As water freezes, the contained salt is rejected and concentrates just below the ice
layer. This makes the surface waters denser than the underlying water mass and causes the water
column to overturn and mix. Ultimately, the deposited tailings are recycled into the water column
and conveyed to the productive layer at or near the surface (Figure 1). The shallow sill characteristic
of fjords generally contains the disposed tailings within the fjord. However, in tidal areas, strong
tidal currents may wash over the sill and move tailings out of the fjord. This has the potential to
contaminate adjacent areas (Figure 1).
The processes that could lead to contamination of the productive surface waters of the euphotic
zone from DSTP are depicted in Figure 2. Strong currents on the seafloor may remobilize depos-
ited tailings (see section on ‘Oceanographic features’), which, in the event of upwelling, may be
brought to the surface and made available to the biota in the euphotic zone (Figure 2; section on
‘Oceanographic features’). Similarly, some organisms (e.g., zooplankton and micronektonic fish)
migrate up and down the water column daily and may act as carriers of toxic material for their pred-
ators in the surface layer (Figure 2; section on ‘Vertical migrations and benthopelagic coupling”).
The mining industry justifies placing mine tailings at depth (STP and DSTP) based on a per-
ceived low environmental risk and minimal ecological impacts relative to land-based placement.
The reasoning is as follows:
321
• Solid mine wastes can be engineered to sink rapidly to great depths, where they deposit
on the ocean floor in zones thought of as having relatively low biological productivity and
chemical reactivity.
• The material can be placed such that it is largely trapped beneath a pycnocline and is less
likely to resurface and disperse within the euphotic zone as a dissolved or particulate plume.
• The environmental impacts, socio-economic conflicts, or risks are considered to be lower
than for land-based tailings disposal options.
• The deposited material is isolated from the benthic environment over time because eventu-
ally it is covered by natural sedimentation (Ellis 2008).
• This form of disposal avoids the problem of acid rock drainage, which can be problematic
when tailings and waste rock are disposed of on land (Dold 2014).
• This form of disposal requires less post-closure maintenance.
The fundamental premise of DSTP is that tailings be discharged at the edge of a drop-off, can-
yon, or steep slope from which they should flow down to the ocean floor as a stable density current
subject to little dispersal. This traps them below the euphotic zone from which there is little risk of
upwelling back into shallow water (Ellis & Ellis 1994). The tailings solids eventually deposit on the
ocean floor, where the local topography determines the shape and extent of their footprint.
Preliminary conditions required for potential DSTP sites include:
• accessibility to the coast (Poling 2002)

• suitable bathymetry, topography, and physical oceanography: submarine slopes steep
enough, more than 12°, to carry tailings to a deep target deposition area and oceanographic
conditions that allow a density current to form
• absence of upwelling events
• absence of seasonal mixing (International Institute for Environment and Development
[IIED] 2002, Poling 2002)
• low productivity
• low overall ecological importance of the proposed deposition site (Poling 2002)
• a secure outfall site (Ellis et al. 1995b, Poling 2002).
These criteria restrict suitable sites to some oceanic islands and archipelagos where very deep
water occurs close to shore. However, a few inland mines (e.g., Ramu nickel mine in Papua New
Guinea) are transporting mine-processed tailings or slurry to the coastline and then disposing of
them as DSTP. These conditions are met at many potential mine sites in Indonesia, the Philippines,
and Papua New Guinea.
Scope of this review

Marine disposal presents numerous technical challenges that can have significant environmen-
tal impacts across a range of ecosystems; this review focuses on the ecological effects of tailings
disposal in the marine environment, drawing on the available literature to date. It describes the
processes (physical and biological) underlying the disposal rationale and how these can affect the
outcome of disposal operations. It also outlines the ecological impacts that are associated or interact
with these processes. It complements and expands some of the issues raised in two recent reviews
(Dold 2014, Ramirez-Llodra et al. 2015) and provides a synthesis of additional issues (e.g., the pres-
ence of secondary plumes, the role of daily vertical migration (DVM), and broad ecosystem effects
in dynamic tropical systems). It will serve as a synopsis and bibliography of knowledge to date and
a guide for future research on the ecological impacts of STP to address existing information gaps.
322
Submarine tailings
placement
Increase in
Increase in Generation
bioavailable resuspension
suspended of sediment
trace upwelling
sediments footprint
elements
Bioaccumulation Acute and Smothering of Habitat

and
Biomagnification chronic toxicities benthic habitat alteration
Pelagic ecosystem Benthic ecosystem

Phytoplankton Change in productivity Infauna
Zooplankton Epifauna
Fish Food web alteration
Coral reefs
Top predators
Seagrasses
Figure 3 Flow chart of the impacts of submarine tailings placement (STP) and deep-sea tailings place-
ment (DSTP).
The extreme scarcity of information on the impacts of tailings deposition as well as the poor
knowledge of deep-ocean environments means that the significance of DSTP is widely unknown.
Thus, our intention in this review is to expand the known potential impacts outlined in Figure 3 by
reviewing the available data and literature regarding: 1) the key physical, chemical, and biological
issues and processes related to STPs; 2) the ecological impacts of placing mine-derived wastes in
the marine environment—from those affecting benthic and demersal habitats to those affecting the
pelagic realm, culminating in a summary of the impacts on food webs and ecosystem functioning
(e.g., the role of bentho-pelagic coupling, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification); and 3) the recolo-
nization and recovery dynamics of marine communities affected by STPs. Finally, we attempt to
relate STPs to ecosystem assets and values by considering other human-induced impacts and review
the tools for assessing the risks of these impacts.
Technological aspects of DSTP

The wastes discharged in both STP and DSTP operations consist of a slurry of tailings and mill
wastewater. The tailings typically range in particle size from clay (<4 μm diameter) to sand
(~0.5 mm diameter). The accompanying wastewater may contain trace metals and residual mill
reagents, such as xanthate collector, polypropylene glycol, sodium cyanide, sodium hydrosulphide,
sulphosuccinic acid, polyacrylamide, and lime (Poling et al. 1993) to isolate the target metal(s) and
flocculants (Kline 1994). The tailings composition is variable and will depend on the nature of the
mine and the extractive technologies employed. Tailings composition may also change with mine
life as different ore grades are mined and processed.
323
The first step in modern DSTP methodology is to remove air bubbles (deaeration) from tail-
ings to reduce buoyancy and prevent the tailings from being entrained into the water surface; if
deaeration is ignored or done incorrectly a persistent density current may not develop. For example,
air was not removed from the tailings prior to discharge at the Atlas copper mine (Table 1) and at
the Titania mine in Norway (Skei 2010); this led to the formation of a visible surface plume (IIED
2002), spreading tailings over areas larger than predicted. Prior to deaeration, or transportation to
shore via pipeline, tailings are sometimes thickened to recycle water and process chemicals; in some
cases, tailings are also treated to remove or neutralize process chemicals.
Before discharge, tailings are sometimes mixed with seawater of suitable density and tempera-
ture in a mixing tank. At the Black Angel mine the flotation was performed in seawater, and seawa-
ter was used for transportation of the tailings.
The point where the pipe enters the sea and its location are important for pipeline integrity.
Sheltered sites are preferable, and pipe material must be adequate (Poling 2002). For example, at
the Batu Hijau mine, the pipeline broke twice on start-up because of inadequate pipe materials and
quality control (IIED 2002). Ocean currents, waves, and icebergs also have to be taken into account,
as well as the possibility of cyclones and other storm events; the Atlas Copper mine pipeline was
destroyed during a typhoon (IIED 2002).
Deep-sea tailings placement requires that pipeline discharge occurs at depths greater than the
maximum depth of the surface mixed layer, the euphotic zone, and the upwelling zone. Placing tail-
ings below these zones maximizes the likelihood of stable deposition on the seafloor (Ellis & Ellis
1994). The underwater outfall of the pipe must also be designed to avoid pipe blockage or breakage,
which can occur if the tailings flow is not at a steep enough exiting angle. However, the detailed tail-
ings rheology varies with many parameters, such as mineralogy, grind, process chemicals, particle
size, and shape. To avoid blockage, the rate of discharge must also be controlled in accordance with
the pipe’s capacity, and the pipeline must be regularly maintained. At the Lihir mine, the pipeline
was placed through a coral reef and lined with steel casing to ensure its long-term integrity on the
steep submarine slope; this came at the cost of the existing coral reef (Apte & Kwong 2004).
The pipeline releases tailings as a high-velocity jet that becomes diluted by seawater and dis-
sipates at a distance from the pipeline “due to entrainment of seawater and frictional losses” (IIED
2002). The mixture will continue to descend along the seafloor as long as it remains denser than the
surrounding water.
Seafloor currents may transport tailings in a different direction to the surface current. The tail-
ings current deposits its load on the seafloor when it loses momentum (IIED 2002). Solids settle
according to size and density, with coarser and denser sediments depositing first. The topography of
the seabed is important, and submarine canyons are often selected as deposition zones in DSTP oper-
ations. The tailings density current acts as a meandering river over the seabed. As a result, there is a
dynamic system of channels and levees, leading to some erosion and resettling of deposited particles.
Tailings deposited on the seafloor will, in most places, eventually be buried by natural sediments.
This occurs faster in shallow waters than in deep waters and is accelerated at the base of submarine
canyons, which sometimes form seaward of large tropical rivers carrying high-sediment loads.
When the tailings current becomes neutrally buoyant, some portion of the tailings plume sepa-
rates from the main density-driven current and forms subsurface plumes. The mechanisms and
dynamics of formation of these secondary plumes are poorly understood. They are often composed
of finer particles (Poling 2002). Secondary plume formation can occur at any depth as the tailings
current continues to flow down the sloping seafloor to a final deposition area (IIED 2002). These
plumes consist of tailings liquor, seawater, very fine suspended sediment, and organisms. They con-
tain residual process chemicals and anomalous concentrations of metals or other trace elements and
have higher turbidity than the surrounding water. Plumes may remain at specific depths because of
seawater stratification (section on ‘Oceanographic features’) or may separate into subplumes. It is
assumed that they slowly flocculate and settle. They provide a mechanism by which mine-derived
324
sediments may be transported over longer distances than predicted by the behaviour of the main
tailings plume. Secondary plumes become more dilute the further they are from where they formed
and can be dispersed by ocean currents and turbulence. It is important to minimize the production
of subsurface secondary plumes as they may enable tailings to enter into direct contact with biota in
the euphotic zone. They are well documented at past submarine tailings disposal operations, includ-
ing the Island Copper mine (Ellis et al. 1995a), the Kitsault mine (Pedersen et al. 1995), and the
Black Angel mine (Poling & Ellis 1995) at shallow and moderate depths. Two gold mines in Papua
New Guinea also provide examples of this process: subsurface plumes were reported at 250 and
450 m depths at Misima mine (NSR Environmental Consultants 1996) and at 95, 160, and 255 m
depths at Lihir mine (Brewer et al. 2012).
Key issues and processes

Oceanographic features
Vertical structure of the water column
Surface waters are the link between the atmospheric driving agents (e.g., sunlight, winds, and fresh-
water) and the relatively stable deep waters where longer-term processes occur. The topmost layer
of the ocean is known as the euphotic zone; the bottom depth of this zone is where photosynthesis
ceases to occur due to low sunlight penetration. This depth is generally determined by water clarity.
The euphotic zone hosts the base of the food web as it is where primary production occurs and most
animals live. Impacts on the euphotic zone affect not only those organisms living within or passing
through it, but also the populations those organisms support.
At most latitudes, surface waters comprise an
upper mixed layer, albeit seasonal, and a strati- Decreasing water density
fied layer beneath it. Below this are the interme-
diate, deep, and bottom layers. The upper ocean
is separated from underlying water by the pycno-
cline, where water density increases rapidly with
depth because of changes in temperature or salin-
ity. Sharp gradients in temperature are termed
Increasing water depth
‘thermoclines’, whereas gradients in salinity are

termed ‘haloclines’. Their depth and thickness vary
with latitude (Figure 4), local environmental condi-
tions, and season. In the tropics, the pycnocline is Polar
permanent or semi-permanent and is mostly driven Temperate
by temperature (permanent thermocline). In temper- Tropical
ate regions the permanent pycnocline is augmented
seasonally by a shallow seasonal pycnocline, and in
polar regions a pycnocline may be absent (Figure 4)
or seasonally determined by changes in salinity
(seasonal halocline).
The pycnocline effectively separates surface
(euphotic) waters from deeper waters, and disrupting
it requires energy to drive turbulent mixing. Wind,
waves, tides, currents, and their interactions, as well
as the movement of animals, may all contribute to
this turbulence. If the vertical gradient in density is Figure 4 Theoretical difference between pyc-
steep, more energy will be required to disrupt the nocline dynamics in polar, temperate, and tropi-
pycnocline and vice versa. Depth and stability of cal latitudes.
325
the thermocline may also be affected by large-scale processes. Sea-surface temperature (SST) and
thermocline depth anomalies are strongly related and, according to the ‘delayed oscillator’ theory,
causative agents for the onset and ending of El Niño events (Suarez & Schopf 1988, Battisti & Hirst
1989). As Zelle et al. (2004) outlined, in this loop, SST anomalies cause changes in the strength of
the trade winds; changes in wind stress, in turn, cause upwelling and mixing and produce planetary
waves—all factors that influence the depth of the thermocline. The cycle is closed by the changes in
depth of the thermocline, leading to changes in SST (Zelle et al. 2004). Consequently, all areas sig-
nificantly affected by El Niño events may be influenced by some of these effects, although exactly
how is unknown.
Ocean circulation patterns

The movement of water masses is determined by ocean currents, which reflect both direct and
indirect wind forcing and the density-driven thermohaline circulation. The general pattern is that
current speeds are greatest at the surface and weaken with depth, becoming increasingly steered
by seafloor topography. This pattern is by no means ubiquitous, however. At a given site, currents
reflect the large-scale ocean circulation modified by local influences, such as short-term wind events
and topography. In addition, they have a cyclic tidal flow component. Although tidal currents are
relatively weak in the deep ocean, they nevertheless represent the dominant flow component in
many abyssal areas.
Upwelling
‘Upwelling’ is a term generally used to describe the process by which deep water rises to the sur-
face. It can occur in the open ocean as well as along the coast and is usually wind driven: as wind
blows along the surface it displaces the warm or less-saline top layer, allowing the deeper water to
rise and replace it. Coastal upwelling results when surface currents persist with a component at 90°
to the orientation of the coastline. During offshore currents, nearshore surface waters are replaced
by cooler, and typically more nutrient- and oxygen-rich, waters from the deeper layers. In the case
of the western Pacific region, the ‘island mass effect’ and the formation of island current wakes are
also important drivers of upwelling. In this process, a land mass deflects currents causing eddies to
form, pycno- and thermoclines to shift, and deeper water to upwell on the leeward side of the island
(or of a headland). As a result, deep (nutrient-rich) waters are brought to the surface, and productiv-
ity increases (Heywood et al. 1990, Caldeira et al. 2005, Messié et al. 2006). This has been reported
to happen at moderate current speeds (Heywood et al. 1990).
Effects of oceanographic features on STP and DSTP operations

When deciding whether STP is a suitable discharge method, the prevailing oceanographic nature
of the area is the key information used. Pycnocline presence and stability are central to decision-
making because a stable pycnocline helps to ensure that post-processing slurry positioned at depth
is entrapped within deeper waters rather than mixed back into surface waters. The presence of a
stable pycnocline will thus affect the behaviour of the primary and secondary tailings plume(s). Its
depth will be important in determining the optimal depth for the tailings outfall.
Ocean currents determine the movement of tailings in the water and the extent of their impact.
Currents just above the seabed will influence the footprint of the tailings plume and the fate of
resuspended tailings, whereas midwater currents will be important for the lateral transport of sec-
ondary plumes and their likely impact on pelagic ecosystems. More often than not, information
on deep- and midwater currents is scarce or absent. This induces the erroneous alternative use of
surface currents when making considerations on the theoretical areal extent of tailings impacts.
Finally, the presence of conditions conducive to upwelling (e.g., seasonal winds or the topography of
an area with respect to prevailing oceanic and atmospheric conditions) will increase the probability
of tailings deposits or secondary plumes being conveyed from the deep waters to the surface layer.
326
An example of an STP system flawed due to poor ocean modelling was the Newmont Minahasa
Raya gold mine in Indonesia, where tailings occurred within fringing coral-reef sediments in waters
as shallow as 20 m (Edinger et al. 2007). The tailings pipeline outfall was placed at a water depth
of 82 m based on a modelling study that predicted a stable thermocline at a depth of about 50 m
(Edinger 2012). In reality, the thermocline depth varied between 50 and 100 m, and later oceano-
graphic studies suggested that the ideal outfall depth would be deeper than 135 m (Edinger 2012).
Another example of an STP system flawed due to failure to account for oceanographic condi-
tions was the Island Copper mine, where resuspension of tailings from the seafloor occurred (Ellis
et al. 1995a). This was attributed to 1) very high-velocity, turbulent tidal flow into the fjord system
and 2) spring and summer upwelling of cold, dense water off the coast of Vancouver Island. This
led to the formation of a high-density tidal current that periodically descended to the seabed, where
it resuspended tailings and conveyed them to the surface (Ellis et al. 1995a).
The deep sea

The deep sea (here defined as waters of depth greater than 500 m) is the vastest and yet least-studied
compartment of our oceans; owing to technical difficulties and expense, scientific research started
there a mere 40 or so years ago (McClain et al. 2009). When planning human activities that could
affect these areas, such as mining, impacts on biodiversity and probabilities of extinction should be
considered and planned for.
Little is known about how diversity varies with ocean depth; historically, it was assumed that
the deep sea supported low diversity. The deep sea has long been considered void of life, but the con-
trary has proven true for certain groups of biota. Owing to the decline in food availability (carbon
input) with depth and distance from the coast (McClain et al. 2009), an exponential decrease in the
standing stock (abundance and biomass) from the continental shelf to the abyssal plain has been
found for bacteria (Deming & Yager 1992; Aller et al. 2002), meiofauna (Soltwedel 2000), macro
fauna (McClain et al., 2009), invertebrate megafauna (Lampitt et al., 1986), and demersal fishes
(Haedrich & Rowe 1977). Similar relationships have been demonstrated, using several methods,
on a global scale for meiofauna, macrofauna, and megafauna (Rex et al. 2006, Wei et al. 2010).
However, the species diversity of some groups, such as the benthos in deep waters, has been found to
be comparable to, or higher than, that in shallow waters. Sanders (1968) first proved this in a study
of temperate and tropical sites, where he found that bathyal benthic diversity approximated tropical
coastal diversity, greatly exceeding temperate coastal diversity. Since then, this has been found to
be true elsewhere (McClain et al. 2009). In the north-western Atlantic, a unimodal trend of diversity
with depth, by which the highest diversity is recorded in upper bathyal depths (~700–2000 m), has
been widely described for polychaetes, bivalves, gastropods, invertebrate megafauna, cumacea, and
fish megafauna (Rex 1973, Rex et al. 1993, Smith et al. 2006). Such a trend was also found for other
regions of the Atlantic (Paterson & Lambshead 1995, Cosson-Sarradin et al. 1998, McClain et al.
2009, Stuart & Rex 2009). Similarly, the greatest diversity of demersal and pelagic fishes seems to
be at intermediate depths (~1500 m) and in some cases has been reported to be bimodal with peaks
around 700–1000 m and 2000–2400 m (Macpherson et al. 2009). A number of studies have also
reported unimodal trends of genetic divergence with depth, similar to that seen in the heterogeneous
bathyal region (200–4000 m), as being important for speciation and playing a crucial role in the
evolutionary radiation of deep-sea biota (Etter et al. 2005).
Furthermore, connectivity of populations and communities appears to increase with depth
(McClain & Hardy 2010). Available information on deep-sea biodiversity on a global scale seems
to point to the overall ‘cosmopolitanism’ of deep-sea biota. This vision is supported by studies
using molecular techniques and morphospecies as basic taxonomic units (McClain & Hardy 2010).
Studies showing broad distributions of genera and species irrespective of habitat are now numerous;
327
this suggests that genera living at depth have much broader geographical ranges than those at lesser
depths (McClain & Hardy 2010).
A global study of 116 deep-sea locations in the Mediterranean Sea, North and central Atlantic,
south-eastern Pacific, and the Antarctic has revealed an exponential positive relationship between
deep-sea biodiversity (based on nematodes) and ecosystem functioning (Danovaro et al. 2008). The
additional finding that ecosystem efficiency is exponentially positively related to functional diver-
sity in the deep sea and the consistency of these relationships across a wide geographical range are
indicative of the fact that higher biodiversity supports higher rates of ecosystem processes that are
performed with higher efficiencies (Danovaro et al. 2008). Furthermore, an estimated 0.45 giga-
tonnes of extracellular DNA, of unknown ecological and biogeochemical importance, has been
found in the top 10 cm of deep-sea sediments (Dell’Anno & Danovaro 2005). This is the largest
DNA reserve in the oceans, equating to 20% of the total organic phosphorous regeneration and pro-
viding about 50% of its prokaryotic demand (Dell’Anno & Danovaro 2005). Danovaro et al. (2008)
advocated that given the key ecological and biogeochemical roles played by the deep sea on a global
scale, conservation of deep-sea habitats should be of high importance for maintaining the health of
the world’s oceans.
Therefore, planning for a human activity that may affect the deep sea needs to carefully assess
the possible impacts on the biodiversity and functioning of these remote habitats and communities
to minimize the negative and often poorly understood consequences. The main problem in tack-
ling such a challenging task is the overall lack of data, due mainly to the technical difficulties and
expenses of sampling the deep sea. The published literature points to the western Pacific Ocean as
the area of deep sea least studied. This is particularly true for the tropical western Pacific, an area
that includes the main biodiversity hotspot globally, the Indo-Australian Archipelago. This region
is also where most DSTP ventures have been and are being developed.
Vertical migrations and benthopelagic coupling

Organisms living in the oceans perform vertical migrations up and down the water column (Hays
2003, Cohen & Forward 2009). These migrations take place for a number of reasons and in response
to particular triggers or stimuli. They can be daily, seasonal, or ontogenetic. Diel (or daily) verti-
cal migrations are performed over 24 hours and are the main subject of this section. In terms of
biomass, DVM represents the largest documented animal migration (Hays 2003). It primarily con-
cerns the zooplankton (meroplankton and holoplankton) and micronekton, but it also involves their
predators. DVMs may be stimulated or triggered by endogenous (e.g., sex, age, circadian rhythms)
or exogenous (e.g., light, temperature, salinity) cues and may occur for a number of reasons, from
predator avoidance to metabolic advantages, with the most likely reason being increased food avail-
ability at the surface (Enright & Hamner 1967, Hays 2003, Cohen & Forward 2009).
Three different patterns of DVM are reported for marine organisms (Hays 2003, Cohen &
Forward 2009):
1. Normal DVMs: animals migrate from deep water to the surface at dusk and descend again
at dawn.
2. Twilight DVMs: organisms rise to the surface at dusk and perform a midnight sink halfway
through the night, irrespective of light intensity changes; this is followed by a second rise
at dawn, followed by another sink.
3. Reverse DVMs: animals migrate from deep water to the surface at dawn and descend again
at dusk.
The patterns and extent of DVMs are important determinants of the structure and dynamics of
ocean systems: they contribute towards accelerating the flux of organic matter between the surface
328
and the bottom (Karuppasamy et al. 2006), and in doing so they enhance the biological pump,
which is responsible for transporting fixed carbon and other substances to deeper waters and vice
versa (Brodeur et al. 2005). Thus, DVM, and the pelagic community performing it, is crucial not
only for the trophodynamics of oceanic ecosystems but also for the possible contribution to trans-
porting pollutants from the surface to the bottom and vice versa, as well as into organisms that are
then consumed by humans (Willis & Pearcy 1982). This may be of particular importance in the
context of DSTP operations, as DVMs may provide a significant biological pathway for STP-related
contaminants from deep waters into the euphotic zone: animals interact with the secondary tailings
plumes, absorb or ingest contaminants, and migrate to the surface where they are eaten.
Moreover, it is thought that one of the positive consequences of DVMs for relatively poorly motile
organisms, such as zooplankton, is to use vertical displacement to take advantage of lateral currents
so they can move horizontally in the water column (Manuel & O’Dor 1997, Poling et al. 2002).
The range of migrations (the difference between daytime and night-time depths) tends to
increase with the size of the animal. Small planktonic animals (<1 mm in length) typically migrate
only 10–20 m; larger plankton, including some of the larger copepods (up to 20 mm in length),
migrate 100–300 m, whereas the larger organisms such as micronekton (e.g., myctophid fish) may
migrate up to 1000 m (Rice 2000). The 6 cm long shrimp Systellapis debilis, which inhabits the
mesopelagic zone in the daytime (500–600 m), often swims to within 50 m of the surface at night
(Rice 2000). The most extensive vertical migrator is the small fish Ceratoscopelus warmingii. It
lives in the deep North Atlantic at about 1600–1800 m in the daytime and within 100 m of the sur-
face at night; each upward or downward migration is estimated to take 3 hours (Rice 2000).
Predators of zooplankton are likely to perform DVM in response to zooplankton migrations.
Visual predators may rely on light at the surface for feeding, whereas tactile ones will follow their
prey and be part of the sound-scattering layer (SSL) observed by echo sounder devices. Iwasa (1982)
used a habitat selection game between predator and prey to model this: at night (low visual preda-
tion efficiency) both predator and prey are at the surface, whilst during the day the zooplankton
stay on the bottom and the predators divide between lower layers and the surface. Carnivorous
tactile zooplankton (e.g., copepods and jellyfish; Hays 2003), as well as many mesopelagic and
micronektonic fish (e.g., Maurolicus muelleri; Rasmussen & Giske 1994) form part of the SSL.
On the contrary, big-eye tuna (Thunnus obesus; Dagorn et al. 2000); swordfish (Xiphias gladius;
Carey & Robinson 1981); and megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios; Nelson et al. 1997) have
been observed descending to the SSL when light intensity increases. They may move back to the
surface to warm up and may remain if there is sufficient prey at the surface (Hays 2003). The bask-
ing shark (Cetorhinus maximus) was found to perform DVM in UK waters and to change the type
of DVM according to the behaviour of its prey (Sims et al. 2005). In the Clyde Sea (Scotland) and
on the European shelf edge, the basking shark performed normal DVM in response to Calanus
finmarchicus migrations, whereas in the Irish Sea, where Calanus carries out reverse DVM in
response to chaetognath densities, the basking shark also reversed its migrations (Sims et al. 2005).
Air breathers operate according to the optimal foraging theory, concentrating where there is more
food. Examples of this have been described for penguins (Wilson et al. 1993), fur seals (Horning
& Trillmich 1999), pilot whales, spotted dolphin (Baird et al. 2001, 2002), and leatherback turtle
(Hays 2003).
Reanalysis of the zooplankton data collected around Lihir gold mine by Brewer et al. (2012)
found that at least one-third of the copepod taxa observed to inhabit the region actively moved daily
from deeper waters to the euphotic zone and back via the pycnocline. Similar patterns emerged for
the micronektonic community. Furthermore, it was found that, when considering maximum depth
of these taxa, the highest diversity was present at depth (900–1000 m), and these comprised mostly
migrating species (Morello & Haywood 2012). Thiel et al. (2015) reported DVMs down to 850 m in
the Red Sea, inducing a proposal to discharge tailings from the Atlantis II Deep operation beyond
1000 m depth so that contaminants could not reach the surface via migrating organisms.
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There has been an evolution of the predator-prey relationship in response to the DVM of meso-
pelagic species by which predators either follow migrating prey or perform temporary migrations
to the layers where they occur most frequently (Lehodey et al. 2010). Vertical movements have thus
become key structuring components of the oceanic trophodynamics. All organisms in this inter-
mediate trophic level at some stage of their life history will be prey of larger organisms within the
group and predators of smaller organisms (Lehodey et al. 2010). This creates a conveyor-belt effect
by which the entire water column is linked from top to bottom and bottom to top by means of the
daily vertical movements of its organisms. Thus, matter from the surface is actively transported
down a couple of thousand metres, not because of one animal performing the entire migration, but
through successive predator-prey interactions at different depths. For example, if some organisms
migrate from 1500 to 500 m and eat those that migrate from 750 m to the surface, there will be an
indirect transfer of biological matter (and possibly any substances within or attached to it) from the
surface to 1500 m; the opposite could be true as well. The net result is that at any one time, bottom
waters are likely to be connected to the surface productive waters to the advantage or the detriment
of either. Thus any pollutant that is present at the surface may, in one form or another, be transferred
to the bottom layers, and the same is likely to be true upward for any contaminants deposited in the
deep. Furthermore, these unknown dynamics of contaminant transport may interact with the sec-
ondary plumes that shear off from the main tailings density current, exacerbating the problem—the
extent of this phenomenon is not known but should be granted more attention.
Microbiological processes in the oceans

High pressures coupled with the low ambient temperatures (<5°C), make the deep oceans a restric-
tive environment for life. Nevertheless, bacteria are found in all marine environments, irrespective
of depth. Bacterial growth is generally slow in the deep oceans (Marquis & Matsumura 1978). For
instance, microbial activity in the deep oceans is typically one to three orders of magnitude slower
in deep-sea sediments compared to that in shallow-water sediments. On the seabed, microbial activ-
ity is highest at the sediment-water interface and decreases above and below this point (Marquis &
Matsumura 1978).
There have been limited studies of microbiological processes in deep- ocean sediments.
However, available sediment core data indicate that microorganisms are widely distributed in deep-
ocean sediments. For example, Meadows et al. (1994) found microorganisms throughout the 40 cm
depth cores taken at sites in the Pacific Ocean. Microorganisms were most abundant in the top
5 cm and decreased exponentially with depth in the sediment cores. This is analogous to terrestrial
environments, although the depths and magnitude of activity are much higher in terrestrial settings.
Bacteria fulfil a wide range of important functions in aquatic ecosystems from mineralization
of organic matter and microbially mediated redox reactions (e.g., iron and manganese reduction),
to oxidation of sulphidic material and sulphate reduction resulting in sulphidic waters, precipitates,
and sediments. These processes may affect the stability of deposited tailings.
In addition, Grossart et al. (2010) hypothesized a conveyor-belt mechanism by which bacteria
in stratified lakes could attach, or hitch-hike, on organisms performing DVM to move up and down
the water column and detach at the most convenient site. This hypothesis predicted that bacteria
could travel upward in the water column, as well as downward, attached to faecal pellets or marine
snow (Kiørboe et al. 2002). This allows bacteria to exploit organic matter in the euphotic zone and
inorganic nutrients in deep waters (Grossart et al. 2010, Tang et al. 2010). In the oceans, where zoo-
plankton and other organisms perform DVMs of substantial amplitude, their role in the dispersal
of bacteria may be even greater. The fact that contaminants, such as trace metals, are concentrated
by bacteria in the sediment or the secondary plumes and the water column may be relevant to our
review of the ecological impacts of STPs.
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Bioavailability, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification of contaminants

Contaminants introduced to the environment in tailings typically contain trace metals and chemi-
cals used in mineral processing (e.g., flotation agents). In this review we have adopted the terminol-
ogy of Rainbow (2006), whose definition of ‘trace metal’ included heavy metals such as cadmium,
mercury, nickel, chromium, cobalt, copper, and so on and elements such as arsenic and selenium,
which are actually metalloids (Rainbow 2006). Generally, mine tailings are not treated to remove
contaminants prior to their discharge into the sea, although in some cases cyanide levels are reduced
(Vogt 2012).
Many trace metals are essential to cellular metabolism and bind to sulphur- and nitrogen-
containing molecules within cells. However, they are toxic when they occur in excess, such as
when they bind in the wrong place or at the wrong time (Rainbow 2006, 2007, Luoma & Rainbow
2008). Metal toxicity occurs when the organism cannot cope with an overwhelming influx and the
subsequent accumulation rates of metals that occur (and for benthic organisms this is mostly via
dietary exposure).
The types and quantity of trace metals in tailings vary according to local geology. The impacts
depend on the amount of metal that is bioavailable; total metal concentration does not correspond
to the amount that is available for uptake by plants or animals. For example, in sediments, asso-
ciation of metals with sulphide reduces their bioavailability. As a consequence, in some sill fjords
and the Black Sea where chemically reducing conditions prevail, metals associated with sulphide
minerals will have little impact on marine life because they are relatively immobile under reduc-
ing conditions.
Metals derived from STP may be dissolved in the water (either overlying the sediment or in
sediment porewater; Pedersen et al. 1995) or they may be bound to sediment particles.
Contaminants can have an impact on biota in two ways: either through direct toxicity (sublethal
or lethal) or by accumulating in the tissues, potentially followed by trophic transfer up through the
food chain and possibly biomagnification (mercury and selenium). Trace metals can be assimilated
by benthic animals either by absorption of dissolved metals through body surfaces (particularly
metals that tend to associate with protein; Wang & Fisher 1999) or through ingestion when feeding
(Brand et al. 1984, Burd et al. 2000). Trace metals that are primarily anionic in seawater tend to be
accumulated through food (Wang & Fisher 1999), and dietary exposure is now considered to be the
major route for metal accumulation in marine animals (Lee et al. 2000, Wang 2002), particularly
fish (Mathews & Fisher 2009) and virtually all benthic organisms. By contrast, dissolved metals are
thought to be the sole source of metal uptake for algae (Rainbow 1995a).
Direct metal toxicity may derive from dissolved substances as well as from compounds
adsorbed on to, bound to, or contained in suspended sediments/tailings. Direct toxicity of soluble
substances leached from the tailings solids is relatively easy to assess (e.g., using bioassay tests).
Bioaccumulation and biomagnification, on the other hand, are more difficult to measure and assess
and have the additional problem of posing a potential threat to local human health. Furthermore,
the zone affected by this phenomenon could be much larger than the tailings depositional footprint.
Bioavailability
Bioavailability affects the extent to which trace metals and contaminants affect aquatic organisms.
It is a complex interplay of a variety of factors, which include uptake route (e.g., water column vs.
dietary uptake), total concentration, salinity (Rainbow 1995a,b), speciation, interactions between
competing cations, mineralogy, pH, redox potential, temperature, total organic content, and a num-
ber of poorly understood biological factors (Luoma 1989, Casas & Bacher 2006, Taylor & Maher
2006), such as interspecific differences in digestive physiology (Rainbow 2006, Ivanina et al. 2013).
In addition, the availability of metals to biota may change over time (Ahrens et al. 2001, Needham
et al. 2004); for example, many deposit-feeders have acidic guts that may facilitate the dissolution of
331
metals and metalloids (such as arsenic) associated with ingested sediments, thus making them more
bioavailable (Luoma & Rainbow 2008, Edinger 2012).
Bioaccumulation
Aquatic organisms uptake trace metals and accumulate them in their body tissues as part of a natu-
ral process called bioaccumulation (Luoma 1983, Langston & Bebiano 1998). Some metals, such
as copper, zinc, and iron, are accumulated by aquatic organisms because they are essential to life
and metabolic functions (e.g., as constituents of enzymes) (Depledge & Rainbow 1990, Langston &
Bebiano 1998). Other, non-essential, metals (e.g., lead, cadmium, and mercury) do not have biological
roles but are nevertheless accumulated by organisms and can be very toxic (Luoma 1983, Depledge
& Rainbow 1990, Langston & Bebiano 1998, Rainbow 2002). Even essential metals can be severely
toxic to organisms when above certain threshold concentrations (Rainbow 2002). Accumulation
of metals in organisms is determined by their bioavailability, as well as organism behaviour and
physiology. Different organisms accumulate different trace metals to varying degrees, and metal
concentrations vary greatly at the levels of tissue, organ, and body (Depledge & Rainbow 1990,
Wang 2002). Metals are accumulated by organisms by different processes in various ways along a
continuum. At one extreme a species may accumulate all the metal ingested and not excrete any,
whereas at the other extreme a species may excrete all the metal taken up so that there is no net
accumulation within its tissues (Rainbow 2002). This can result in different species having widely
different levels of trace metals in their body tissues, even when they have been exposed to similar
levels of metal in the surrounding water and through their food. For example, barnacles accumulate
zinc and excrete very little so that the concentration of zinc within their tissues increases over their
lifetime (Rainbow & White 1989). Although the zinc within the barnacle tissue may reach very
high levels (e.g., up to 50,000 μg g−1 (Walker 1977), most is stored in a detoxified form, as zinc
pyrophosphate granules (Walker et al. 1975a,b). By comparison, palaemonid shrimp regulate the
concentration of zinc in their bodies by excreting the excess even when exposed to a wide range of
zinc concentrations (White & Rainbow 1982).
Trophic transfer and biomagnification

Bioaccumulation should not be confused with biomagnification, which is the progressive increase in
organism metal concentration along a food chain spanning at least two or more trophic levels (Gray
2002). In terms of contaminant impacts, this is a highly undesirable phenomenon. Biomagnification
is generally a property of hydrophobic organic contaminants and is relatively uncommon for metals
(except for mercury and selenium). It is more common in terrestrial food webs than in marine food
webs (Isaacs 1975), and, with the exception of organic mercury, attempts to demonstrate biomag-
nification are generally inconclusive (Powell & Powell 2001) or do not extend beyond one or two
trophic levels (Brewer et al. 2012). In lotic systems, predator-prey relationships are relatively well
defined and food webs less complex, whereas marine systems are more open and any given predator
may consume a diverse array of prey from different trophic levels, whose prey are, in turn, varied
(Gray 2002). Complexity of food webs is believed to dissipate the transfer of heavy metals from
lower to higher trophic levels (Wang 2002). In addition, a number of organisms, including fish and
crustacean zooplankton, have self-regulatory physiological responses to ingesting trace metals. For
example, active excretion and inert ligands are mechanisms that help keep trace metal concentra-
tions at low, sublethal levels (Depledge & Rainbow 1990, Powell & Powell 2001).
The most widespread view is that diet is the main mode of uptake for trace metals (Langston &
Spence 1995, Wang 2002). However, in marine organisms, the importance of considering exposure
route is highlighted by the fact that bioconcentration of metals has been found to differ between
trophic levels, with some studies observing increased accumulation of metals from the water at
higher trophic levels than at lower trophic levels (Wang 2002). Furthermore, work carried out by
Amiard-Triquet et al. (1993) supports the theory that metal concentration may not be a function of
332
trophic level, but rather a consequence of an organism’s physiology and the metal’s biological role.
It is thus clear that different organisms have unique physiological processes that contribute to the
regulation or accumulation of different metals at different rates (Depledge & Rainbow 1990, Wang
2002). Given the lack of species-specific knowledge of these rates (and sometimes of the processes),
interpretation of how different organisms may respond to the availability of different metals is par-
ticularly challenging. In addition, the home range and extent of vertical and horizontal mobility of
some animals are likely to significantly affect exposure to metals and therefore their impact.
To complicate matters further, mine tailings are likely to contain a variety of metals. When
taken up in combination, metals have synergistic or sometimes even antagonistic effects (Franklin
et al. 2002, Jara & Aranguiz-Acuna 2013). Exposing rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to a
mixture of copper, zinc, and nickel resulted in additive toxic effects (Brown & Dalton 1970). The
presence of additional metals can also affect the rate of uptake. The presence of copper and zinc
affected zinc accumulation by the gastropod Littorina saxatilis but had an antagonistic effect on its
uptake of cadmium and lead (Daka & Hawkins 2006). When copper and cadmium were added to
tanks containing the alga Chlorella sp., growth was inhibited to a greater degree than predicted from
the concentrations of the individual metals added (i.e., synergistic effect). In contrast, the impacts
of combinations of copper and zinc, cadmium and zinc and copper, and cadmium and zinc were all
less than that of the individual metals (i.e., there was an antagonistic effect; Franklin et al. 2002).
The potential impacts of STP on benthic organisms

Introducing mine tailings into the marine environment has the greatest impacts on the benthic fauna
because they are directly in contact with the seabed, living either on its surface (epifauna) or within
the substrate (infauna). At particular risk are the infauna as they burrow through and ingest sedi-
ment and process its organic content (Seitz 2011).
Benthic organisms are affected by STP through the following:
1. Direct smothering either by tailings material that is moving downslope or as a result of

slumping of accumulated tailings (Jones & Ellis 1976, Harding 1983, Pedersen et al. 1995)
2. A change in the benthic habitat caused by introduced tailings (Burd et al. 2000)
3. An increase in suspended sediment (Crouse et al. 1981, Rogers 1983)
4. Exposure to contaminants such as trace metals and residual milling chemicals (Mitchell
et al. 1985, Anderson & Mackas 1986).
Smothering
Smothering occurs when the deposition rate is greater than that at which organisms can avoid or
grow through the accumulating tailings. In addition to direct burial of less-motile or sessile organ-
isms (Jones & Ellis 1976, Brinkhurst et al. 1987, Ellis & Robertson 1999), high sedimentation
rates during the deposition phase may smother the fauna by clogging feeding organs (Josefson
et al. 2008) or by impeding the diffusion of oxygen through the sediment, which causes hypoxia or
anoxia (Diaz & Rosenberg 1995). That benthic organisms can be buried by tailings is not surpris-
ing given the sheer volume of material disposed: daily tailings discharge rates have ranged from
450 t day−1 (Jordan River, Vancouver Island, Canada) to 100,000 t day−1 (Atlas Copper, Cebu Island,
the Philippines; Table 1). The thickness of the accumulated tailings can vary dramatically depend-
ing on the physical characteristics (seabed slope, tailings grain size and composition, and bottom
currents) and distance from the outfall; close to the outfall this has been found to vary over orders
of magnitude from centimetres to metres (Table 2).
The areal extent, or footprint, of tailings on the seabed may also be considerable (Table 2).
Tailings discharged into Alice Arm by the Kitsault mine in Canada were detectable in surface
333
Table 2 Examples of the thickness of accumulated tailings, with an indication of their footprint,
at mines using STP
Tailings thickness or
rate of accumulation Tailings footprint
Distance from Close to Surface area Distance from
Mine outfall outfall (km2) outfall (km) Reference
Black Angel, 0–2 cm 20 m ~0.5 km 2 6–10 Asmund personal
Greenland with observation,
thickness Larsen et al. 2001,
>2 cm Elberling et al. 2002
Minahasa Raya, Not given 10–12 m Not given 3.5 Edinger et al. 2007,
Indonesia Shimmield et al. 2010
Island Copper, Canada 0 cm (20 km away) >60 cma Not given 20 Burd 2002
Kitsault, Canada 30 cm (5 km away) 120 cm 14 Not given Burd et al. 2000
Kitsault, Canada Not given Up to 50 m Not given Not given Ellis 2003
Misima, PNG 1–2 cm y−1 10 m yr−1 20 Not given Jones & Ellis 1995
Misima, PNG 1.5 m 75 m Not given Not given Shimmield et al. 2010
Jossingfjord, Norway Not given 50 m Not given Not given Olsgard & Hasle 1993
Lihir, PNG 3–7 mm >50 mmb 60 >20 km Shimmield et al. 2010,
Hughes et al. 2015
Gardanne, France 50 cm (25 km Not given Not given ³75 km Dauvin 2010
from outfall,
<10 cm 50 km
from outfall)
Note: PNG, Papua New Guinea.
a The length of the corer used to sample the tailings was only 60 cm; however depths at sampling stations close to the outfall
decreased by up to 55 m during the life of the mine.

b Modelled estimates.
sediments over an area of 14 km2 (Burd et al. 2000, Burd 2002). Tailings from the Wesfrob iron/
copper mine were detected in sediments in Tasu Sound, British Columbia, at least 7 km from
the outfall and covered an area of approximately 14 km2 (Harding 1983). An acoustic survey in
waters off the gold mine on Lihir Island (Papua New Guinea) estimated tailings covered 60 km2
(Shimmield et al. 2010), extending 20 km east of the outfall down to depths of at least 2000 m
(Hughes et al. 2015). The tailings footprint at Lihir Island is likely to be much larger, mainly due
to the abundance of secondary plumes shearing off the main tailings density current (Apte unpub-
lished data). Elevated levels of arsenic and antimony, found to be highly correlated and in approxi-
mately equal proportions in waters off the Minahasa Raya mine in Indonesia, suggested that tailings
extended up to 3.5 km from the mine outfall and covered an area of about 0.32 km2 (Edinger et al.
2007). At Island Copper mine in Canada, tailings were detected up to 20 km away from the out-
fall (Burd 2002), whilst tailings from the Misima mine, Papua New Guinea, covered an area of
20 km2 (Jones & Ellis 1995, Shimmield et al. 2010). At the Black Angel mine, tailings covered
approximately 500 × 1000 m (Asmund 1992a), but an increased lead concentration in sediments was
detected 6 km from the outlet (Larsen et al 2001) and 10 km from the outlet (Elberling et al. 2002).
Although the amount and extent of mine-derived tailings can be large, in some instances natu-
ral sedimentation rates can be equally high. For example, on the continental shelf to seaward of the
mouths of large rivers carrying a heavy sediment load, deposition rates can be of a similar order
of magnitude as those observed at STP operations. For example, more than 10 cm y−1 are carried
approximately 250 km from the mouth of the Amazon (Kuehl et al. 1986, 1996) and 84 × 106 t y−1
of sediment (Kineke et al. 2000) accumulates at a rate of more than 2.5 cm y−1 at 650 m depth in a
334
submarine canyon off the mouth of the Sepik River (Papua New Guinea) (Walsh & Nittrouer 2003).
The high degree of mobility and sedimentation to seaward of river mouths influences the composi-
tion and abundance of benthic communities (Rhoads et al. 1985, Aller & Stupakoff 1996, McKee
et al. 2004). In areas where there is physical reworking of the substrate and sedimentation is high,
benthic communities can be depauperate (McKee et al. 2004). For example, in the submarine delta
of the Changjiang River (Yangtze River) in China, sparse populations of small polychaetes domi-
nate the areas where silty clays are rapidly accumulating. Further away from the river mouth, where
sediment accumulation rates are lower, there are denser and more diverse populations of more
deeply burrowing polychaetes, crabs, and ophuroids (Rhoads et al. 1985). Generally, however, less
than 5% of riverine sediments reach the deep sea where natural sedimentation rates are very low
(Ellis & Ellis 1994, Meade 1996, McKee et al. 2004), so the amount of tailings introduced to these
areas by DSTP systems (such as those used at Misima and Lihir Islands in Papua New Guinea) is
unnatural: it greatly increases sediment deposition rates, and the benthos inhabiting these sediments
is ill-equipped to deal with this. At Lihir, a layer of fine-grained, orange sediment 3–7 cm thick
was found on top of consolidated mud at a depth of 800–2000 m close to the outfall; no biological
activity was recorded in this layer (Hughes et al. 2015).
Whilst natural slope failures can result in catastrophic submarine landslides that bury exten-
sive areas of seabed (the Agulhas Slide off South Africa displaced volumes of substrate of up to
20,000 km3; Hampton et al. 1996), these events are episodic incidents compared to STP, for which
tailings are introduced to the environment over extended periods of time. Following an isolated
catastrophic sedimentation event, depending on the areal extent of the impact, it is possible that
recovery may begin to occur after a relatively brief interval. On the other hand, STP systems rou-
tinely operate for decades, so the impact is likely to be chronic rather than episodic, delaying the
initiation of recovery for many years.
Survival of organisms following smothering is dependent on the rate of tailings delivery, the
nature of deposited material and the ability of the organisms either to move away from the area of
active deposition or to burrow upward through the accumulating tailings (Young & Richardson
1998). Some mobile deposit-feeders have been shown to be able to survive burial by up to 50 cm
of dredged material and then burrow up to the new sediment surface within hours or days (Nichols
et al. 1978, Maurer et al. 1986). The tolerable depth of burial would be more than an order of
magnitude less for most meiofauna. The US Army Corps of Engineers conducted an extensive
series of experiments on the impacts of dredge spoil on benthos. This involved 15,174 test animals
comprising seven species and showed that mortality increased with sediment depth, burial time,
and increased exotic sediment (Maurer et al. 1986). At a titanium mine in Jøssingfjord, Norway, a
tailings deposition rate on the order of 4–5 cm y−1 within 1 km of the outfall had an adverse impact
on the benthos, whereas at distances of more than 2–3 km, where the deposition rate was 1 mm y−1,
impacts were not detectable (Olsgard & Hasle 1993).
Species have different tolerances for the tailings accumulation rate. As part of the suite of
investigations into the STP operation at the Kitsault mine in British Columbia (Canada), laboratory
studies determined the ability of benthos to survive tailings deposition. The order of tolerance was
related to external body structure, which determined the relative ability of the animals to burrow
through the sediment (Burd et al. 2000). Four species of subtidal bivalve were the most resistant
to smothering, followed by a polychaete species and juvenile tanner crabs, whilst three species of
intertidal bivalves were the least resistant (Reid & Baumann 1984, cited in Kline 1994).
Smothering will have a greater impact on the benthos in areas of low natural sedimentation
because the resident biota will be less tolerant than assemblages in areas of high natural sedimenta-
tion (McFarland & Peddicord 1980). Some organisms are able to withstand accumulation rates of up
to 20 cm y−1 (Reid & Baumann 1984, cited in Kline 1994, Ellis 2003); others are not so tolerant. The
waste deposited by the mine at Misima Island (Papua New Guinea) at rates of between 2 cm y−1 and
335
10 cm y−1 smothered and eliminated sessile benthic fauna on the floor of the Bwagaoia Basin (depth
of 1000 to 1500 m) (Ellis & Ellis 1994). Hughes et al. (2015) found very low densities of meiofauna
at stations closest to the outfall 3 years after the mine had closed. At Lihir Island, the same authors
found that the density of meiofauna and macrofauna was significantly lower at sites close to the out-
fall than at reference sites, and existing macrofauna comprised mainly small polychaetes (Hughes
et al. 2015).
The specific impacts of STP on benthic organisms depend on the individual operation. Whilst
organisms in the direct path of the tailings deposition are likely to be eliminated completely (Jones
& Ellis 1976), in some cases the tailings move downslope as a meandering density current such
as occurred at Island Copper mine, Canada (Hay et al. 1982, 1983, Ellis 2003). The meandering
nature of the tailings flow means that at any particular time, large areas of substrate that had been
previously covered with tailings are able to stabilize, which to some degree enables colonization by
opportunistic species such as polychaetes (Ellis 2003).
Changes to the nature of the habitat

Apart from the potential for smothering benthic plants and animals in its path, the vast volume of
tailings delivered by STP alters the benthic habitat of the receiving area by:
• changing sediment grain size

• changing grain size heterogeneity
• changing the grain shape to sharp edged (the ore is crushed during processing) from
rounded (natural sediment has usually been abraded and smoothed over the millennia)
• reducing the spatial heterogeneity of the environment
• reducing the organic content of the sediment (Burd et al. 2000)
• increasing the sediment mobility or compaction depending on the grain size (tightly
packed, partly due to the homogeneous grain size)
Laboratory studies have demonstrated that some species actively avoid tailings. For example,
when presented with a choice between substrates comprising natural sediment or mine tailings,
ovigerous tanner crabs (Chionoecetes bairdi) spent significantly more time on the natural sediment
(Johnson et al. 1998b). The tailings had a higher concentration of metals and had a much finer grain
size (34% of particles < 63 μm) compared with the natural sediment (40% of particles 125–250 μm).
Juvenile yellowfin sole (Pleuronectes asper) avoided fresh mine tailings and preferred natural sedi-
ment or weathered (75-year-old) tailings. However, when the fresh tailings were covered with 2 cm
of natural sediment, they did not differentiate between the two (Johnson et al. 1998a).
Substrate characteristics are important for determining the composition of epibenthic and infau-
nal assemblages (Coles & McCain 1990, Buhl-Mortensen et al. 2012, Frojan et al. 2012, Mattos
et al. 2013). Many species require a particular range of sediment grain size to facilitate foraging,
refuge, and reproduction (Kline 1994, Methratta & Link 2012, Parks et al. 2013), so grain size can
play a role in determining species diversity (Gray 1974, Ward 1975) (see Snelgrove & Butman 1994
and Burd et al. 2008 for exceptions) and in some cases even the size spectra of infauna (Ward 1975).
Mine tailings tend to comprise material with a limited size range and may be different in mineral
composition to the natural sediments. Typically tailings may range from clay size (<4 μm diameter)
to sand (~0.5 mm diameter) (Poling et al. 1993, Josefson et al. 2008), although the tailings produced
by any particular mine operation would tend to have a narrower size range than this (Kline 1994,
Kline & Stekoll 2001). Changes in the size spectrum of the sediment particles will make the envi-
ronment uninhabitable to some species, and until the tailings are overlaid with natural sediment,
this may limit the suite of species able to recolonize (Josefson et al. 2008).
336
Tailings consist of milled rock that has been mechanically crushed. This produces relatively
sharp-edged grains compared to natural sediments, which have undergone millennia of abrasion
that has smoothed the particle edges (Skei 1985). This may alter the ability of deposit-feeders to
ingest sediments and increase abrasion on soft tissues, thereby limiting the species potentially able
to live in sediment dominated by tailings (Olsgard & Hasle 1993).
In addition to reducing habitat heterogeneity at the sediment particle scale, tailings deposits
reduce the variability at a coarse scale. Many natural habitats are patchy (e.g., rocky outcrops nested
within areas of fine sediment), whereas tailings accumulations are extensive homogeneous areas.
Homogeneous environments restrict the diversity of niches and reduce floral and faunal diversity
(Gray 1974, Ward 1975, Olsgard & Hasle 1993). Whilst areas comprising fine-grain sediment may
in time be covered with the natural accumulation of fine sediment, rocky areas may be permanently
buried beneath accumulated fine-grain tailings.
Mine tailings are low in organic content (Burd et al. 2000, Edinger 2012), which poses a prob-
lem for deposit-feeders and, indirectly through resuspension, for suspension-feeders because organic
matter is the dominant food source for these animals (Snelgrove & Butman 1994). The level and
quality of organic deposition has been shown to influence the diversity and abundance of benthic
assemblages (Burd et al. 2008).
Grain size and size spectra of the tailings may affect the degree of compaction or mobility of the
sediments. Tailings from the Alaska-Juneau mine were considerably finer (34% of particles < 63 μm
and 40% of particles 125–250 μm) than the natural sediment (5% of particles < 63 μm and 20% of
particles 125–250 μm) and formed a more compact substratum (compressive strength = 4.1 kg cm−2)
than the natural one (compressive strength = 0.13 kg cm−2). Increased compaction can deter infauna
from settling as they are unable to bury into the substratum (Johnson et al. 1998b). It can also reduce
sediment porewater and lead to reduced oxygen levels that hamper the infauna’s recovery (Taylor
1986, Diaz & Rosenberg 1995, Moody 2001, IIED 2002).
Even in unimpacted areas, benthic communities are often depauperate where there is strong
physical reworking of the sediments (McKee et al. 2004). In some cases, tailings deposits are more
mobile and unstable compared to the natural sediments. In the Jøssingfjord area in south-western
Norway, mine tailings (10 to 200 μm diameter) formed a soft, mobile substratum (Olsgard & Hasle
1993). The persistent instability of the seabed, which is stressful to biota (Probert 1981), was postu-
lated as one of the main causes of reduced benthic diversity (Olsgard & Hasle 1993).
Increased suspended sediment

Suspended sediment affects benthos by reducing light transmission in shallow waters and by direct
physical or behavioural mechanisms, such as impeding respiration and feeding through clogging
gill and filtering surfaces (Kline 1994). Given that most STP operations locate their outfalls below
the euphotic zone, a reduction in light transmission should not be an issue provided the plume
remains below the depth of the outfall, although this has not always been the case (Edinger 2012;
see ‘Technological aspects of DSTP’).
Natural suspended sediment levels vary widely in coastal areas and are influenced by factors
such as wave energy, freshwater input, depth, currents, and proximity to river mouths (Drake 1976).
The rate at which sediment particles settle from the water column depends on characteristics of the
sediment itself (grain size, shape, cohesiveness, etc.) and the surrounding environment (water turbu-
lence, temperature etc.; Maggi 2013), which varies between STP operations. Furthermore, second-
ary plumes may separate away as the turbidity current entrains water and its density decreases (see
‘Technological aspects of DSTP’). This adds complexity to the problem owing to the patchiness of
areas with elevated turbidity, highest close to the seabed and at intervals up the water column cor-
responding to the presence of these secondary plumes.
337
Increased suspended sediment occurs not only during tailings deposition but also from slope
failure of the tailings already deposited on the seabed. A study conducted at the Lihir gold mine
found that the site closest to the outfall, at a depth of 800 m, was characterized by a “dense haze of
suspended particles” over the seabed (Hughes et al. 2015). The steep slope of seabed at ‘ideal’ DSTP
sites means that deposits of fine-grain sediments are inherently unstable (Bornhold et al. 1994). A
slump and resuspension of deposited tailings at the Kitsault mine between 1988 and 1990 resulted
in a significant decline of benthos in Alice Arm, British Columbia (Burd et al. 2000).
Exposure to contaminants
The impacts of contaminants on marine benthos are complex because of the:
• wide range of contaminants in tailings,
• variation in bioavailability of different contaminants and different forms of the same
contaminant,
• variability in the uptake potential between species, and
• potential for their impacts on the benthos to interact where there are multiple contaminants
(see section on ‘Bioavailability, bioaccumulation and biomagnification of contaminants’).
In many cases, the concentration of these contaminants within mine tailings exceeds their natu-
ral concentration by several orders of magnitude; for example, at the Lihir gold mine in Papua New
Guinea, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and copper in the tailings liquor and arsenic, cadmium, and
silver in the tailings solids exceeded natural concentrations (Apte 2009; Table 3). Hughes et al.
(2015) found sites closest to the mine outfalls at Lihir and Misima Islands contained higher values
of tailings-derived trace metals. At the Minahasa Raya gold mine (northern Sulawesi, Indonesia),
Simpson et al. (2005) found the highest concentrations of arsenic and mercury at depth, possibly
due to release from deposited tailings. Similar findings were reported for copper at Batu-Hijau
copper/gold mine in Sumbawa (Indonesia; Angel et al. 2013).
Table 3 Typical metal concentrations in gold mine tailings
liquor and solids at Lihir gold mine, Papua New Guinea, in
comparison with their mean concentrations in the earth’s crust
Tailings liquor Tailings solids Crustal average Conc.
Element (μg L−1) (mg kg−1) (mg kg−1) factor solids
As 2210 820 1.8 456
Cd 19 5.3 0.2 26.5
Hg 7.6 0.09 0.08 1.1
Cu 5030 120 55 2.2
Ag 4 1.4 0.07 20.0
Zn 3200 68 70 1.0
Mn 38,700 800 950 0.8
Co 656 18 25 0.7
Pb 201 46 13 3.5
Ni 300 5.4 75 0.1
Cr 171 16 100 0.2
Fe 90,300 35,000 56,300 0.6
Al 92,000 5400 82,300 0.1
Source: Adapted from Apte, S. 2009. An overview of recent geochemical inves-
tigations at the Lihir mine. CSIRO Land and Water Report No. 15/09.
Sydney, Australia: CSIRO.
Note: Conc. factor solids, tailings solids/crustal average.
338
Table 4 Comparison of particulate metal concentrations in mine tailings and natural sediments
Al As Cd Cr Cu Hg Mn Mo Ni Pb Zn
Mine Tailings
Ramu tailings (Ni)a 24,000 2.3 0.12 2700 60 0.17 4500 — 690 4.8 87
Black Angel mine (Pb, Zn)b — 81 28 — 133 0.7 — — — 2100 4200
Deposited Lihir tailings (Au)c 10,000 400 0.4 10 120 0.5 500 — 10 70 120
Island Copper (Cu)d — 5 3 140 700 0.03 650 40 20 20 80
Natural Sediments
Marine sediment (off Ramu), 33,000 9.0 0.10 20 108 <0.05 950 — 29 <0.5 86
1200 m deptha
Marine Sediment off Lihir Is 6860 303 <1 12 232 — 371 — 9 49 125
Rupert Sound, BC (near — 5 2 125 44 0.06 640 2 40 25 88
Island Copper)
Average crustal abundancee 82,000 1.5 0.11 100 50 0.05 950 1.5 80 14 75
Note: All concentrations μg g−1, dry weight.
a Jones et al. (1999).
b Poling & Ellis (1995).
c NSR Environmental Consultants (2001).
d Poling (1995).
e Salomons & Forstner (1984).
The other potentially toxic components of tailings are the residual milling reagents that are used
in the extraction process to concentrate the target metals (Poling et al. 1993).
The total metal concentrations of marine sediments vary according to the geological origin of the
sediments. In soft marine sediments (which cover most of the ocean floor), differences may be found
between siliceous, carbonaceous, and clay-dominated materials. The total organic carbon (TOC)
content of sediments varies according to location. In the deep oceans, where the supply of organic
matter is limited, organic carbon is typically 0.1% of the total mass, whereas in coastal environments,
where organic carbon inputs are higher, TOC concentrations are higher, typically between 0.3% and
1.0% (Schulz & Zabel 2000). A comparison of particulate metal concentrations in mine tailings and
natural marine sediment is presented in Table 4. As can be seen, metal concentrations in mine tail-
ings are variable and can be significantly enriched compared to background sediment concentrations.
The chemistry of soft marine sediment is distinguished by depth profiles of constituents that are
inextricably linked to biological processes, mainly the oxidation of organic matter. In highly produc-
tive coastal waters, measurable oxygen concentrations are found to depths of typically no more than
1 cm in fine sediments. However, owing to much lower levels of biological activity, oxygen concentra-
tions persist to depths of typically 5–20 cm in deep-ocean sediments (Jahnke et al. 1989, Relexans
et al. 1996, De Wit et al. 1997). Sediments are normally classified in terms of oxic, suboxic, and anoxic
zones. When porewater oxygen is completely depleted, microorganisms utilize other electron accep-
tors to oxidize organic matter. These include nitrate, manganese(IV), iron(III), and sulphate (Schulz
& Zabel 2000). The utilization of iron and manganese leads to the formation of soluble, reduced by-
products of iron(II) and manganese(II) and the development of characteristic porewater profiles. Once
released into porewaters, iron(II) and manganese(II) diffuse along vertical concentration gradients.
Once these species diffuse into the oxic zone they are oxidized by reacting with molecular oxygen and
form new mineral phases (amorphous iron and manganese hydroxides). These diagenetic reactions are
of great significance to the cycling of other trace metals as they can lead to the following reactions:
• Solubilization of metals associated with iron and manganese phases such as arsenic
• Coprecipitation/adsorption of dissolved metals following the oxidation of iron(II) and
manganese(II)
339
Sediment sulphide concentrations are another key parameter that influences metal speciation
and transport. Most transition metals (e.g., copper, cadmium, nickel, and mercury) react readily
with dissolved sulphide or particulate amorphous iron sulphides to form highly insoluble metal
sulphides. In shallow-water environments, it is widely accepted that complexation by sulphide is a
major control on particulate metal bioavailability and toxicity (Ankley 1996, Ankley et al. 1996).
Anoxic waters form when the consumption of oxygen by biological processes is greater than
supply. Anoxia normally occurs in water bodies where there are physical barriers, such as sills that
impede water circulation and limit the supply of oxygenated water by advection. There are two
types of anoxic basin. The more common one originates from the development of a strong halo-
cline (salinity gradient) as a result of low-salinity, oxygenated water overlying highly saline water.
The salinity gradient prevents the effective mixing of the two layers. Examples of this type are the
Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, and many fjords such as the Framvaren Fjord, Norway. The second type
of anoxic basin forms as a result of a strong thermocline, which prevents the mixing of water lay-
ers. The Cariaco Trench off the coast of Venezuela is such an example. The loss of oxygen from the
water leads to the bioutilization of other electron acceptors, such as sulphate, which is reduced to
sulphide during the bacterially catalysed oxidation of organic matter.
It is likely that the concentrations of residual milling reagents in solution are greatest close to
the outfall, and it is thought that they rapidly dilute with increasing distance from the outfall; conse-
quently their impacts on the benthos would be small (Kline 1994). Reagents adsorbed by the tailings
particles will potentially be transported to the deposition zone. However, there is little information
in the literature on the impacts of milling reagents on benthos.
Many gastropods, polychaetes, bivalves, annelids, and echinoderms are deposit-feeders that ingest
large amounts of sediment. Other species are suspension-feeders, filtering material from the water
column; both forms of feeding facilitate the uptake of dissolved or sediment-bound metals. Burrowing
animals can also stimulate the downward transport of dissolved metals into subsurface sediments. For
example, the burrowing polychaetes Hediste (= Nereis) diversicolor and Arenicola marina and the
crustacean Corophium volutator increased the transport of cadmium into the sediment by a factor of
1.5–2 compared to control sediments that lacked burrowing benthic macrofauna (Petersen et al. 1998).
There can be large differences in the bioavailability of trace metals in seemingly similar
tailings. In tests on tailings from two zinc/lead mines, the Black Angel and the Nanisivik mine
(McGreer et al. 1980), blue mussels were kept in aquaria with seawater and tailings. Those mussels
that lived on Black Angel mine tailings accumulated lead over the course of 30 days to a concentra-
tion of 1000 μg g−1 dry weight, whereas those that lived on Nanisivik tailings reached 5 μg g−1, also
over 30 days. The same difference is reflected in the environmental pollution at the two mines. In
a comparative study, Asmund et al. (1991) showed that the Black Angel mine had by far the largest
environmental impact of the two.
Similarly, bioaccumulation may vary significantly between species exposed to the same tail-
ings slurry or contaminated sediment. Coast mussels (Mytilus californianus), spot-tailed sand
shrimp (Crangon nigromaculata), and Dungeness crab (Cancer magister) inhabiting seabed habitat
exposed to suspended dredged sediment contaminated with organic and inorganic chemicals were
analysed for metal uptake (Peddicord 1980). Coast mussels accumulated copper and lead, and to a
slight degree, zinc, but did not accumulate arsenic, cadmium, iron, manganese, mercury, or nickel.
In contrast, spot-tailed sand shrimp accumulated arsenic, cadmium, copper, manganese, and zinc,
and Dungeness crab accumulated manganese, cadmium, lead, nickel, and zinc (Peddicord 1980).
Brown algae and blue mussels sampled at several distances from the Black Angel mine
(Greenland) were tested for lead and zinc contamination during the mining operations and 20 years
after closure (1972 to 2010). Both lead and zinc levels were high in the algae. Zinc ranged from
240 ± 18 μg g−1 close to the mine to 9.3 ± 0.56 μg g−1 (mean ± 1 standard error [SE]) 35 km from
the mine, whereas lead ranged from 29.7 ± 7.0 μg g−1 at the mine when it was operating to 16.8 ±
7.5 μg g−1 after the mine’s 1990 closure (data extracted from Figure 15.13 of Johansen & Asmund
340
1999). Lead in blue mussels at affected sites was found to be up to 3000 times higher than that at
control sites (Johansen & Asmund 1999). Zinc and lead levels were also monitored in a number of
fish and prawn species from the same area, but zinc did not rise above background levels. Lead was
low in the flesh, but elevated in the liver and bone during the period of mine operation, although it
decreased following mine closure (Johansen & Asmund 1999).
The variability in metal uptake amongst different species is quite striking and extends to dif-
ferences between species of the same genus. For example, the two mussel species Mytilus edulis
and M. trossulus (which until recently had been regarded as one species, M. edulis) from the same
site at Newfoundland, Canada, had no differences in their accumulated levels of arsenic, copper,
manganese, lead, selenium, vanadium, and zinc, but there were differences in their levels of silver,
cadmium, molybdenum, and uranium (Lobel et al. 1990).
As mentioned previously, contaminants can have an impact on biota either by direct toxicity
(sublethal or lethal) or by bioaccumulating in the tissues. Laboratory studies are usually required to
determine whether the effects of tailings are due to toxicity or physical disturbance (e.g., smother-
ing, clogging of gills; Burd et al. 2000).
The tailings from a proposed molybdenum mine in Ketchikan, Alaska, were tested for acute
toxicity on a range of species found close to the proposed disposal site. Fifty per cent of juvenile
coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), amphipods (Rheoxynius abronius), euphausids (Euphausia
pacifica), and mussel larvae (Mytilus edulis) died within 96 hours, 10 days, 96 hours, and 48 hours,
respectively, after being exposed to suspensions of 100 to 200 g L−1 of tailings in seawater (Mitchell
et al. 1985). Mitchell et al. (1985) claimed that this would be the range of concentration of tailings
expected within a 100 m radius of the outfall pipe; tailings beyond this distance would be more
dilute, and it was inferred that this would be an acceptable level of toxicity.
At the Island Copper mine, Rupert Sound, British Columbia, sediment particulate copper levels
of more than 300 μg g−1 resulted in a decline in the density of benthic infauna to fewer than 100 ani-
mals m−2, less than 2.5 g m–2 biomass, and less than seven taxa per station (Burd 2002). It is likely
that these decreases were a result of the toxicity of the tailings rather than emigration of infauna
given that these animals are unlikely to be able to migrate the large distances involved.
In a laboratory study, juvenile sole (Pleuronectes asper) were held on a range of substrata: natu-
ral sediment, tailings, and tailings that had been weathered for 75 years. The exposure to tailings
did not seem to affect sole survival, but fish held for 60 days on fresh tailings grew significantly
slower than those on natural sediment or weathered tailings (Johnson et al. 1998a).
Some marine species have the ability to detoxify accumulated trace metals and thus appear
unaffected by what can sometimes be extremely high levels of metal in their systems. Very high
levels of cadmium have been reported for scallops (Chlamys varia, Chlamys islandica, and Pecten
maximus); however, the cadmium is detoxified by binding with cytosolic proteins (metallothioneins),
lysosomes, and mineral concretions (Carmichael & Fowler 1981, Stone et al. 1986) and stored in the
digestive organ (Metian et al. 2007).
Impacts on pelagic species, food webs,

and ecosystem functioning
Comparatively few studies have been aimed at quantifying and analysing the impacts of STP and
DSTP tailings on the pelagic ecosystem, despite this ecosystem being an important source of food
(Brewer et al. 2007) and the host of the dynamics described in the section on ‘Vertical migra-
tions and benthopelagic coupling’. The main organisms comprising the pelagic ecosystem per se
include the phytoplankton (primary producers), the zooplankton (herbivorous and carnivorous), the
micronekton (mainly teleosts and crustaceans consuming zooplankton), pelagic cephalopods (e.g.,
squid), fish (herbivorous and carnivorous), turtles, and marine mammals (whales and dolphins).
341
Given that primary productivity in the euphotic zone is a major source of organic carbon for the
ocean floor, pelagic impacts may also indirectly affect benthic organisms (e.g., limitation of food
supply/organic matter) (see section on ‘Key issues and processes’).
The formation of subsurface or surface plumes, the increased turbidity they generate, the con-
taminants they carry (and that may be released), and the resuspension of deposited tailings material
are predicted to cause the main direct impacts of STP operations on pelagic communities and exist-
ing fisheries. The risk of potential biological impacts depends on levels of turbidity and toxicity, the
depth at which the plumes form and their persistence, the sensitivity of marine organisms to these
disturbances, as well as their ability to move away from the affected area or adsorb, concentrate,
or bioaccumulate the contaminants. The potential impacts on pelagic organisms, and the knock-on
effects on the entire food web, may be summarized as follows:
• local changes in primary productivity and food availability;

• changes in species composition/abundance;
• changes in biodiversity;
• effect of fine particles on organisms (e.g., clogging of gills and feeding mechanisms);
• local effects of increased turbidity on organisms that use bioluminescence;
• local acute toxicity of dissolved metals, particulate metals, and process chemicals;
• chronic/sublethal effects of metals on organisms; and
• metal bioaccumulation or biomagnification leading to increased trophic transfer of metals.
Increased turbidity may decrease primary productivity through shading/light attenuation in

the same way as suspended sediments discharging into a coastal bay following heavy rain (Parsons
et al. 1986). No studies in the scientific literature reported the effects of increased mine-derived
turbidity, but the scientific literature on sediment suspension derived from other sources has widely
reported that phytoplankton variability (in diversity and biomass) is strongly linked to the amount
of irradiance and the depth of the euphotic zone (Cloern 1987, Mallin & Paerl 1992, Litchman 1998,
Schallenberg & Burns 2004, Fang et al. 2006). The few studies available on the effects of mine
tailings reported overall alterations to phytoplankton productivity. Stockner et al. (1977) related
a decrease in phytoplankton productivity with increasing water turbidity in a coastal fjord under
the influence of mine tailings (Howe Sound, British Columbia, Canada), as was found, locally, in
response to light attenuation from deep-seabed manganese nodule mining in the Pacific Ocean
(Matsumoto 1984). Parsons et al. (1986), in a controlled experiment on the effects of the tailings
from a molybdenum mine, found that phytoplankton production and chlorophyll a maxima in a
tailings-affected mesocosm were delayed relative to a control. The delay was caused by the pulse
increase in turbidity associated with the tailings, and once this cleared, the system returned to nor-
mal (Parsons et al. 1986). These results indicate that a sustained impact (as would occur in reality)
could cause a substantial decrease in productivity. In contrast, productivity increases have also been
reported to result from higher concentrations of limiting trace elements such as iron, zinc, selenium,
and cobalt (Cutter & Bruland 1984, Morel et al. 1991, Morel & Price 2003, Jickells et al. 2005).
However, Ellis & Ellis (1994) found unaltered primary productivity and unaffected planktonic bio-
mass at the Island Copper mine (Canada) even after around 20 years of operation.
The published literature has widely reported the simplification of (benthic) communities that
tend to regress to earlier succession stages in response to generalized pollution stress (Pearson &
Rosenberg 1978). Few studies address the changes in abundance and composition of pelagic com-
munities, particularly in response to waste from mining. Reported effects range from reduced sur-
vival and growth of zooplankton (Pafenhöffer 1972), alterations in zooplankton and micronekton
abundance (Parsons et al. 1986, Brewer et al. 2012) and evenness (Mackas & Anderson 1986), to
no impacts at all (Matsumoto 1984, Mackas & Anderson 1986, Bradford et al. 1999). Overall, the
available information highlights the difficulty of disentangling impacts from multiple sources (e.g.,
342
tailings vs. overburden) and demonstrates that an action that causes a direct impact on one group of
organisms may have indirect repercussions on how the whole ecosystem functions.
Other direct effects may include the flocculation of fine particulate material entrapping small
organisms such as phytoplankton and larvae at the early stages of development. The trapped organ-
isms will ultimately sink to greater depths, where they will die. Fine particles will also clog filtering
mechanisms and fish gills. Zooplankton may ingest tailings particles/suspended solids, and these, in
addition to possible lethal and sublethal effects related to toxicity, may have physical impacts (e.g.,
increasing their specific gravity, causing more energy to be expended to maintain buoyancy) and
affect feeding and ingestion rates as well as food uptake (Arruda et al. 1983, Hart 1988, Arendt et al.
2011) and possibly reproductive success (Arendt et al. 2011). The magnitude of these effects is corre-
lated with background levels of suspended solids and the extent to which a species/taxon is adapted
to turbid environments (Arendt et al. 2011). For example, rotifers are well adapted, and copepods
can manage high-sediment loads, whereas phytoplankton ingestion by filter-feeding cladocerans is
significantly negatively affected by silt (Kirk 1991, Arendt et al. 2011). These differential impacts of
suspended solids in the short term have been put forward as the mechanisms underlying long-term
shifts in community composition in response to turbidity (Kirk 1991, Arendt et al. 2011).
Fish distribution is widely reported to be influenced by turbidity (Cyrus & Blaber 1987a,b).
The impacts of turbidity on fish are likely to depend on the background turbidity levels and on fish
behaviour (e.g., visual vs. non-visual predation, planktivorous vs. piscivorous) (De Robertis et al.
2003, Meager et al. 2005, Meager & Batty 2007). Numerous studies have assessed the effects of tur-
bidity and sediment resuspension on fish from freshwater and estuarine habitats, where background
turbidity levels are generally quite high, but few have done so on marine fish (Matsumoto 1984). In
response to high levels of turbidity, most authors reported suffocation from clogged gills (Herbert &
Merkens 1961, Alabaster 1972); altered foraging behaviour due to decreased visibility (e.g., Moore
& Moore 1976, Gardner 1981, Boehlert & Morgan 1985, De Robertis et al. 2003, Meager et al.
2005); decreased ability to avoid predators (Meager et al. 2006); and ultimately changes in abun-
dance with varying levels of turbidity (Cyrus & Blaber 1987a,b).
On the other hand, turbidity may be important for more vulnerable life stages, such as juveniles,
by providing cover that makes the fish less visible and less susceptible to predation (Cyrus & Blaber
1987b, Fiksen et al. 2002). Little information is available on the impacts of turbid plumes, particu-
larly mine-derived ones, on large pelagic species. The few sources available point to insignificant
effects (positive or negative) on adult tuna and billfish (Matsumoto 1984). By contrast, the impacts
on eggs and larvae seem to be mainly associated with the trade-offs between decreased predation
success due to impaired vision versus decreased predation mortality, as well as impaired embryonic
development, undernourishment due to clogged gills, and malformations (Matsumoto 1984). The
preferred strategy appears to be that of active avoidance (Brewer et al. 2012). Qualitative observa-
tions made around the Lihir gold mine indicate that the mine may have an effect on the foraging
behaviour of at least one large pelagic fish species (Brewer et al. 2012). Skipjack tuna (Katsuwomis
pelamis) appeared to exhibit different feeding strategies at the mine site, where they fed on dense
schools of aggregated micronekton, compared to the control, where the main foraging behaviour
was to feed around floating objects (Brewer et al. 2012).
The impacts of increased turbidity described for single species or species groups may have
wider-ranging knock-on effects at the ecosystem level. For example, turbidity appears to have a
role in shaping predator-prey interactions by differentially affecting different trophic guilds. The
‘turbidity-as-cover’ hypothesis, put forward by Gregory (1993) and supported by the works of Cyrus
& Blaber (1987a,b) and De Robertis et al. (2003), predicts that high-turbidity environments are
favourable to planktivorous fish and deleterious for piscivores that rely on visual cues. Turbid waters
make it more difficult for the piscivores to see and prey on the planktivores, which, in turn, do not
experience a decrease in food availability. When these increases in turbidity occur suddenly and
in areas characterized by high water clarity, where fauna and flora are not accustomed to murky
343
environments, they may cause shifts in the food web connections with unforeseeable knock-on
effects and trophic cascades. These effects, in the context of discharging mine waste at sea, have yet
to be addressed in the scientific literature.
The published scientific literature reporting on the accumulation and trophic transfer of mine-
derived trace metals in marine pelagic food webs is scarce. Anderson & Mackas (1986) assessed the
lethal and sublethal effects of molybdenum tailings from Kitsault mine (Canada) on zooplankton.
They found no significant short-term physiological damage (decreased respiration, decreased survival,
increased mortality) resulting from the tailings on the zooplankton. In fact, in moderate tailings con-
centrations (40 mg L−1) the physiological responses (e.g., respiration) were often enhanced (Anderson
& Mackas 1986). They also found that zooplankton faecal pellets contained significant amounts of
tailings, indicating this as a possible route for the exportation of metals from surface waters. Similarly,
Powell & Powell (2001) found no significant evidence for bioaccumulation or biomagnification of
copper, lead, zinc, cadmium, mercury, or arsenic from the Bougainville copper mine (Papua New
Guinea) tailings disposal. Simpson et al. (2005) found the concentration of arsenic and total mer-
cury in the muscle tissues of fish around the Minahasa Raya gold mine (Indonesia) to be below both
Australian and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Brewer et al. (2012) reported trophic
transfer of heavy metals in the mine region around Lihir gold mine (Papua New Guinea) at the lower
trophic levels (zooplankton and micronekton), but with the exception of mercury, none of the metals
was transferred to the large pelagic fish. This apparent lack of transfer could be because there was
none or because the higher-trophic-level pelagic species, such as tuna, are highly mobile and help
dissipate any effects or because the food web had not been adequately sampled. This reveals the dif-
ficulties of disentangling effects and indicates that an apparent lack of impact may not reflect reality.
Recolonization and recovery

There have been several comprehensive studies of recolonization of mine tailings based on long-
term monitoring of benthos and infauna (Olsgard & Hasle 1993, Burd et al. 2000, Larsen et al. 2001,
Burd 2002, Josefson et al. 2008; Table 5). Nevertheless, the literature provides relatively few studies
of recolonization of mine tailings and community recovery on which to base a comprehensive con-
clusion regarding both the short-term and long-term environmental impacts of this practice. This
does not reflect inaction by the research community but is rather a result of the logistical difficulty
of conducting in situ experiments on the seabed, particularly for very deep placements.
The evolution of the disposal of marine tailings from unsophisticated dumping into nearshore
habitats (MTD) to the current deep-water engineered practices (DSTP) has complicated the study
Table 5 Studies on benthic biota recolonization of dumped mine tailings

Region Mine Tailings type Depth Reference
Maarmorilik, Black Angel Pb, Zn; 60 μm diameter 35 m (average), 80 m Larsen et al.
West Greenland (maximum) (2001)
Alice Arm, Kitsault Mo, Pb, Zn; no information 50 m (outfall), sample sites at Burd et al.
British Columbia on tailings diameter 86, 104, 160, and 190 m (2000)
Rupert Inlet, Island Cu; no information on tailings 50 m (outfall) Burd (2002)
British Columbia Copper diameter 26 sampling sites ranging
mine from 7 to 190 m
Jøssingfjord, Titania Ti (feldspar, pyroxene, Depth reduced from 85 to Olsgard & Hasle
Norway ilmenite, 10 to 200 μm 30–40 m resulting from (1993)
diameter) tailings accumulation
Maarmorilik, Black Angel Pb, Zn; 60 μm diameter 16 sample sites ranging from Josefson et al.
West Greenland 25 to 222 m (2008)
344
of recolonization and recovery. Such studies are invariably expensive and require specialist equip-
ment and staff (Thiel et al. 1991), and in some cases the expense of a deep-sea impact study might
have precluded some mine operations (Ellis & Ellis 1994). As a result, the literature summarized
here deals mainly with studies conducted in relatively shallow (<200 m) habitats. Nevertheless, the
results of these studies have been extrapolated (perhaps without justification) using several assump-
tions, such as slower rates of colonization, to determine the likely impacts on deep-sea communi-
ties (Gwyther et al. 2009). The validity of extrapolating shallow-water responses to the deep sea is
questionable, given that many deep-sea species are physiologically adapted to this unique environ-
ment (Gage & Tyler 1991) and the responses of shallow-water species to waste disposal may not be
appropriate analogies (Jumars & Gallagher 1982).
The recolonization and recovery of benthos and infauna following the initial impacts of tailings
disposal depends on several factors acting alone or in synchrony. The physical composition of the
tailings will determine the extent of habitat alteration that occurs at the deposition site. Tailings
divergent from the natural sediment will alter habitat availability and community structure. A study
at the Batu Hijau mine in Indonesia by Gwyther et al. (2009), using microcosm and mesocosm
experiments in water 15 m deep, found that meiofauna communities in tailings samples were statis-
tically indistinguishable from those in natural sediments after 203 days. However, after 203 days,
much of the top layer of the recolonization trays was tailings mixed with fine-sediment deposits.
Further, colonization was not dependent on the availability of natural sediment due to the similarity
of these particular tailings and natural sediments. Tailings from the Batu Hijau mine are discharged
via a submarine pipe at 125 m depth into a submarine canyon that is 3000 m deep, so it is question-
able whether the results of these experiments are transferable to the conditions at the disposal site.
Gwyther et al. (2009) argued that the colonization potential by meiofauna in the experiments would
be similar at 15 and 3000 m, although they acknowledged that the colonization rate would probably
be faster at the shallow depth.
In contrast, Fariña & Castilla (2001) found that copper mine tailings deposited in rocky inter-
tidal shores in northern Chile drastically reduced the number of sessile species, probably due to the
mechanical effects of tailings. Similarly, Lee & Correa (2004) found that the interstitial polychaete
Saccocirrus sonomacus was excluded from beaches affected by copper mine tailings due to physi-
cal disturbance rather than any toxic effect of elevated copper concentrations.
The rate of tailings deposition will affect the ability of endemic species to colonize tailings. For
example, Nichols et al. (1978) concluded from in situ experiments that soft-bottom communities can
avoid burial by 5–10 cm of sediment. Nevertheless, seabed communities are generally smothered
and destroyed where there is rapid and heavy settling of tailings (Ellis 1989). In one of the most
comprehensive studies of recolonization of tailings conducted at the Island Copper mine in Canada,
Ellis (2000) found that where deposition was less than 1 cm y−1, the affected and unaffected seabed
benthic communities were indistinguishable. Olsgard & Hasle (1993) did not observe any impact on
the local fauna where sedimentation from mine tailings in the Jøssingfjord (Norway) was 1 mm y−1.
This rate of deposition occurred more than 2–3 km from the mine outfall. Conversely, closer to the
outfall, sedimentation rates of 3–4 cm y−1 clearly had an adverse effect on fauna. Further, given that
maximum water depth at the tailings placement reduced from 85 to 30–40 m during 1960 to 1980,
severe impacts were inevitable.
Subsequent burial of tailings solids will allow colonization by infauna and epifauna to create
circumstances essentially identical to the endemic communities. In microcosm tubes deployed on
the seabed in Indonesia, Gwyther et al. (2009) showed that natural sediment accumulated to a depth
of 8.3 cm in the microcosms after 203 days; however, this rate is remarkably high and may have
been due to an artefact of the design of the microcosms. At abyssal depths, sediment accumulation
rates have been estimated to be in the range 0.5–2 cm ky−1 (Stordal et al. 1985), so natural sediments
will bury tailings in these environments slowly. Further, more recent mines located on oceanic
345
islands and archipelagos adjacent to very deep water (e.g., Lihir gold mine, Misima gold mine, and
Batu Hijau copper and gold mine) where DSTP is feasible will have much lower rates of natural
sediment deposition due to the absence of terrestrial run-off and riverine input.
Of principal concern when assessing the long-term impacts of tailings disposal at sea is the
toxicity of the deposited material and the time needed for the material to become chemically unre-
active. The ability of communities to recolonize tailings placements depends on the lethal and
sublethal effects of the trace metal components. After the Black Angel mine in Greenland closed
in 1990, Larsen et al. (2001) found the levels of lead and zinc in the fjord system sediments were
amongst the highest in the world; several immobile marine species used as bioindicators were also
found to have elevated levels of the same metals. In a subsequent study, 17 years after the mine was
closed, these heavy metal contaminants were found in the sediment at a depth of 12 cm (Perner et al.
2010). Using mercury content from sediment cores, the authors found that the detrimental mine
effects were not evident 30 km from the mine outfall.
A study of the effect of acute toxicity of molybdenum mine tailings on four marine species
(Mitchell et al. 1985) showed that at the mine’s predicted dilution ratios (ranging from 16:1 to 60:1,
depending on the flow dispersion scheme used), acute toxicity would not extend beyond 100 m of
the tailings outfall. A field experiment conducted at a depth of 63 m in the Inner Oslofjord, Norway,
Olsgard (1999) examined recolonization of defaunated sediments that were spiked with a range
of concentrations of copper. Total faunal abundance and the density of two species of polychaetes
decreased significantly at a copper concentration of 300 mg kg−1. Several other polychaete species,
a bivalve, and a brittle star were also significantly negatively correlated to copper content in the soft
sediment substrate (Olsgard 1999). However, most of the 116 taxa studied showed no response to the
experimental range of copper sediment concentrations, although given the experiment was within
20 km of the major city of Oslo, it is possible that many of the species were resistant to copper pol-
lution. Sediment samples from the experimental region showed slightly elevated levels of metals
(0.33–0.34 ppm cadmium, 61–87 ppm copper, and 268–326 ppm zinc) compared to pristine areas
(Olsgard 1999).
Although benthic biodiversity on tailings deposited by a copper mine on the western coast of
Canada returned 1 to 2 years after the placement stabilized, the community structure differed from
that on natural habitats 12 years after discharge had ceased (Ellis & Hoover 1990). Long-term moni-
toring over 19 years of benthic infauna on a tailings deposit in a British Columbia fjord provided
a comprehensive dataset with which to determine recolonization and recovery (Burd et al. 2000).
Diversity and abundance of small opportunistic biota recovered within 3 years on stable tailings
substratum, but larger, slower-growing biota, such as asteroid echinoderms, only recovered after a
decade. The study also showed that even after mine closure, tailings slumps can cause redeposi-
tion and smothering equivalent to the initial impacts. Both of these studies, in relatively shallow
locations, highlight that full benthic recovery may take more than a decade after mine closure, and
the species composition of the ‘recovered’ community may be very different to the original one.
After 5 years, bacteria and meiobenthos recolonized tailings deposited by the Misima gold mine
at a depth of over 1000 m, but these species differed from the endemics (Ellis & Robertson 1999).
Assuming it is even possible, the time required to allow ecological succession to the original com-
munity structure would likely be much longer and perhaps may not occur at all.
Ecological succession will occur following any habitat disturbance, including deposition of
mine tailings on the seabed. Newell et al. (2004) documented the recovery of macrofauna following
the impacts of marine aggregate dredging off the southern coast of the United Kingdom. They were
able to construct a generalized recolonization sequence of increased diversity, increased abundance,
and finally increased individual size through time.
In summary, it is difficult to make generalizations about recolonization and recovery on mine
tailings due to the diverse nature of previous and current sea tailings placements and the paucity
346
of studies on recovery from tailings deposition in the deep ocean. Evidence of this comes from
a wide range of outcomes reported in the literature. Tailings placements range geographically
from the Arctic to tropical climes, bathymetrically from shallow (<20 m) to abyssal, toxicologi-
cally from benign inert tailings to tailings with toxic trace metal content, and volumetrically from
less than 100 t day−1 to more than 5000 t day−1. Hence, the capacity of biota to recolonize tailings
varies widely between mines. Several comprehensive studies of benthic faunal recovery indicated
that benthic biodiversity can return within several years of mine closure (e.g., Ellis & Ellis 1994,
Burd et al. 2000). Conversely, elevated levels of lead and zinc generated by the Black Angel mine
(Greenland) were shown to affect marine biota a decade after the mine’s closure (Larsen et al. 2001,
Josefson et al. 2008). In each of these cases, final deposition depth was relatively shallow. More
recent placements are invariably in the deep sea, and this requires more logistically complex and
expensive ongoing studies.
Although there have been few (if any) studies of the recovery of deep-sea benthic communities
from the impacts of tailings disposal, there have been several studies of recovery from simulated
deep-sea mining. These studies focused on recovery from smothering by sediment, physical dis-
turbance of the seafloor to simulate mining, and increased turbidity from sediment plumes rather
than impacts from pollutants; however, they are still of interest in the study of recovery from tail-
ings disposal.
The most notable experiment of this nature is the DISturbance and reCOLonization (DISCOL)
experiment. It was conducted in 1989 on the edge of a German manganese nodule mining claim in
the south-western Pacific, more than 800 km off the coast of Peru (Thiel & Schriever 1990). This
experiment was a response to concern over the impacts of mining for manganese nodules on the
benthic communities of the deep sea. After conducting preimpact surveys using video and still
photography and box corers, an area of 10.8 km2 in about 4150 m of water was ploughed 78 times
with a device designed to simulate the impacts of nodule mining. About 20% of the experimental
area was tilled with the plough device, and most of the remaining area was affected by the sediment
plume generated by the ploughing (Thiel & Schriever 1990). The impacted and control areas were
surveyed immediately after ploughing and then 6 months, 3 years, and 7 years after the impact
(Borowski 2001).
Before the experiment, it was hypothesized that recovery of the deep-water benthic communi-
ties would take considerably longer than their shallow-water counterparts, perhaps decades (Thiel
1992). However, although there were considerable changes in some groups, they largely recovered
during the period of the study. The abundance of nematodes was reduced by 30% immediately fol-
lowing the disturbance (Schriever et al. 1996), although this had returned to baseline levels after 3
years (Schriever et al. 1996). Differences in the composition of the nematode communities between
disturbed and undisturbed areas persisted and were still evident 7 years after the initial disturbance
(Vopel & Thiel 2001). There were no changes in the harpacticoid copepod community immediately
following the impacts, but 7 years after the experiment, there were significant differences between
the harpacticoid copepod community in the disturbed and undisturbed areas (Ahnert & Schriever
2001).
Whilst the abundance of many macrofaunal (>500 μm) taxa was heavily reduced by the ini-
tial impact, the disturbance did not appear to cause disastrous long-term community changes. The
abundance of macrofauna in the affected area increased noticeably after 3 years and was gener-
ally equivalent to that in adjacent unaffected areas after 7 years, although the polychaete diversity
remained reduced in the affected areas (Borowski 2001). The abundance of megafauna was reduced
drastically following the initial impact, and although some relatively motile species (ophuroids,
holothurians, fish, and a species of hermit crab) had recolonized the disturbed areas after 3 years,
animals with limited mobility (e.g., anemones, asteroids, and lophenteropneusts) were only observed
in the disturbed areas after 7 years (Bluhm 2001).
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Discussion
It is evident from the foregoing review that the impacts of placing mine-derived tailings at depth in
the marine environment (STP) and particularly in the deep sea (DSTP) are varied and their reper-
cussions not yet clear. Waste disposal into the sea comes with additional complications that relate to
the perceptions and uncertainties surrounding this seemingly alien and inaccessible environment.
The ocean realm is usually perceived as relatively pristine compared to terrestrial environ-
ments. On one hand this evokes a strong desire to maintain and preserve it, but it also creates the
illusion that it can absorb and sustain any kind of impact. However, we know far less about the
ocean’s health and functional processes than we do about terrestrial environments (e.g., Richardson
& Poloczanska 2008). In addition, unlike terrestrial ecosystems, we usually cannot easily observe
the impacts or the extent of the degradation caused by human activities in coastal and oceanic com-
munities (Richardson & Poloczanska 2008), and there is a general ignorance about anything that
goes on in the open ocean (Mason et al. 2014). This is especially true for the deep sea and has a
substantial influence on the management approaches adopted.
In particular, the uncertainty about how mining waste products affect the marine environment,
in conjunction with the known toxicity of the waste, produces strong negative responses towards
STP practices. Objective assessments of the pertinent issues appear to be poorly articulated within
this growing debate. These issues include 1) knowledge of the short- and long-term impacts of STP
practices on marine communities, 2) the impacts (positive and negative) on local human communi-
ties and the host country of the mining industry, and 3) the management approaches that can provide
broader context and perspectives on the costs and benefits of STP.
Society generally accepts that urban development and deforestation involve the loss of habitat
and biodiversity. As our footprint has grown, so has our concern for the viability of species and eco-
logical communities. However, estimating species loss due to habitat destruction is difficult owing
to a combination of poor estimates of existing species (in terms of both diversity and density), a lack
of appropriate methodology, and in many cases inaccurate estimates of habitat loss itself (Allnut
et al. 2008, He & Hubbell 2011). Despite this, our desire for some acceptable level of habitat preser-
vation has played a role in assessing and managing urban development, including the establishment
of protected areas and species protection.
The impact of humans on earth systems is tracked by our ecological footprint, which is essen-
tially measured by comparing the total biological capacity of a system with the biological capacity
used by humans (Wackernagel & Rees 1996). It is expressed as the area of land (global hectares,
gha) needed to meet human demand whilst having the ability to regenerate and continue providing
the required services. It can be measured at different scales, from the individual level to the global
scale. This is tightly related to the concept of ecosystem services—the benefit people gain from eco-
systems—and their valuation (Daily 1997). Valuing ecosystems is controversial at best (Limburg
et al. 2002), and their capital value is difficult to quantify owing to the scarce knowledge of ecosys-
tems themselves and their changing condition and status (Daily et al. 2000, Armstrong et al. 2012).
The valuation process has to start with identifying the building blocks of the capital being valued.
In the case of complex ecological systems this equates to identifying species, their functions, their
interactions, and the scales of these processes (Limburg et al. 2002). Such knowledge is a luxury
that deep-sea environments, such as those affected by STP operations, do not have.
The deep sea is the most extensive (>60% of the earth’s surface) and least-studied compart-
ment of our oceans, with scientific exploration dating back no more than half a century (McClain
et al. 2009). Of particular relevance to DSTP operations, which appear to favour Pacific Islands, is
that the published literature points to the western Pacific Ocean as the area for which information
is most lacking. This is especially true for the tropical western Pacific—an area that includes the
main biodiversity hotspot globally, the Indo-Australian Archipelago. This region is also the target
of mining ventures using STP or DSTP.
348
The proper functioning of the deep sea is the basis of many global processes and services as it:
• drives and mitigates exchanges of matter and energy at a global scale (e.g., global biogeo-
chemical cycles);
• acts as a carbon sink, a temperature-regulation body, and a buffer against climate change
impacts (Armstrong et al. 2012);
• and provides a source of food and chemical and pharmaceutical resources with potentiali-
ties yet to be fully understood (Dell’Anno & Danovaro 2005, Armstrong et al. 2012).
Yet our knowledge is still poor (Glover & Smith 2003, Armstrong et al. 2012).
Perception underlies our value system. We value ecosystem functions not only because we know
they sustain human life, but also because of cultural and emotional needs (Limburg et al. 2002).
Unfortunately, the deep sea is largely beyond our realm of perception, making the definition of its
boundaries difficult, and without an appropriate spatial definition, the analysis and study of a system
are not readily achievable. Valuing ecological assets requires a standardized reference framework
for assessing ecosystem functions and services that will enable comparative eco-economic analyses
(de Groot et al. 2002) and incorporate the experience gained in other fields.
Following the guidelines set by de Groot et al. (2002), the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
(Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005), Atkins et al. (2011), and Armstrong et al. (2012), we
have summarized the ecosystem services provided by the deep sea, the impacts of STP on them, and
an indication of existing knowledge gaps for each category (Table 6). This summary demonstrates
Table 6 Summary of the ecosystem services provided by the deep sea and associated impacts
of STP operations on each, with an indication of existing knowledge gaps
Ecosystem service Relevance in deep sea Impact of STP Knowledge gaps
Supporting
Habitat & Vastest habitat on earth Localized changes in Limited knowledge of life
biodiversity (>60% of total surface area) diversity and biomass histories, biodiversity, genetic
Presence of very diverse Localized changes in benthic diversity, structure,
habitats (seamounts, cold communities functioning, processes of
seeps, hydrothermal vents) Localized changes in nature deep-sea ecosystems
Very high biodiversity: of the sediment Poor knowledge of
estimated as 500,000 to 10 Increased suspended bioaccumulation and
million species sediment can possibly have biomagnification processes of
High genetic diversity an impact on shallow-water toxins in species and the food
High densities: 90% of communities web
biomass of Archaea and Secondary tailings plumes Poor knowledge of
bacteria Contamination of sediments connectivity and dispersal in
and biota and knock-on the deep sea
effects on species and Unknown extent of external
ecosystem functioning impacts on each of these
supporting services
Nutrient cycling Crucial role in global Reduction in organic content Poor knowledge of cumulative
biogeochemical cycles in sediments impacts
sustaining the biosphere Increased sediment No knowledge of ecosystem
Microbial processes essential compaction resulting in response to impacts
to primary and secondary decreased oxygenation Poor knowledge of the role of
productivity in the ocean Possible alteration of food biodiversity and connectivity
webs with knock-on effects on ecosystem resilience
of nutrient cycling
Continued
349
Table 6 (Continued) Summary of the ecosystem services provided by the deep sea and
associated impacts of STP operations on each, with an indication of existing knowledge gaps
Primary production Chemosynthetic primary No knowledge but possible No knowledge of scaling
production fuelling highly impacts properties of resilience: Are
productive benthic the global buffering
communities properties of the deep sea
Consumption of toxic and affected by threats acting on
climate-relevant substances local scales?
(e.g., methane and sulphide)
CO2 fixation and carbon
sequestration
Resilience Complex ecosystem No knowledge but possible
sustaining r and K strategists impacts
Functions in carbon
sequestration and
temperature regulation
makes it a likely buffer
against global
anthropogenic and climate
change impacts
Provisioning
Food: finfish, Deep-sea and high-seas Reduction in diversity of Poor knowledge of the
shellfish, and commercial fisheries catch biodiversity and biology of
mammals Contamination with deep-sea and highly
mine-derived toxins migratory pelagic fishes,
bioaccumulation and
biomagnification processes of
toxins in species and the food
web, potential impact of
toxins on humans, potential
cumulative effects of different
impacts
Energy: oil, gas, and Oil and gas explorations No direct impacts No understanding of potential
minerals Sulphide-mining cumulative effects of different
explorations impacts
Manganese nodule mining
Mining of methane hydrates
Chemical Huge reservoir of biological No knowledge but potentially Very limited knowledge and
compounds for substances (e.g., proteins) high understanding
industrial and and genetic material
pharmaceutical use
Genetic resources Potentially huge reservoir of No knowledge but potentially Very limited knowledge and
undiscovered genetic high understanding of global
material repercussions of localized
Biggest reservoir of impacts
extracellular DNA
Continued
350
Table 6 (Continued) Summary of the ecosystem services provided by the deep sea and
associated impacts of STP operations on each, with an indication of existing knowledge gaps
Regulating
Gas and climate Important role in global and No knowledge but potentially Very limited knowledge and
regulation local biogeochemical cycles high via depletion of understanding
Biological pump microbial and benthic
Carbon sequestration and diversity and biomass and
reserve provide a service modification of food web
towards climate regulation
Methanotrophic microbes
provide gas regulation
function of global
importance
Waste absorption and Storage, burial, No knowledge but potentially Poor knowledge of
detoxification transformation or regulation high owing to the alteration bioaccumulation and
of waste and toxic of food webs and the biomagnification processes of
materials: bioturbation and introduction of extra waste toxins in species and the food
accumulation Bioaccumulation and web
biomagnification
Biological regulation Storage and recycling of No knowledge but potentially Limited knowledge of life
nutrients high via depletion of histories, biodiversity,
Trophodynamic regulation of microbial and benthic structure, functioning,
populations diversity and biomass and processes of deep-sea
Pest control (e.g., of modification of food web ecosystems
pathogens through benthic
consumption)
Cultural
Recreation Recreational fisheries for No knowledge but potentially Poor knowledge of the
pelagic species high owing to reduced biodiversity and biology of
species diversity; reduced deep-sea and highly
or increased food supply for migratory pelagic fishes
pelagic species, which Poor knowledge of
move away or concentrate; bioaccumulation and
alteration of food webs and biomagnification processes of
contaminated catch toxins in species and the food
web
Science and Archive for climate data No direct impacts Poor knowledge
education Increased investment in
deep-sea research ventures
Spiritual and cultural Spiritual importance for Influence of STP-related land Poor knowledge
indigenous communities operations on local
Fascination with deep sea communities and beliefs
fuelled by TV productions
Note: The table is based on and modified from de Groot, R.S., Wilson, M.A. & Boumans, R.M.J. 2002. A typology for
the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Ecological Economics 41,
393–408, and Armstrong, C.W., Foley, N.S., Tinch, R. & van den Hove, S. 2012. Services from the deep: steps
towards valuation of deep sea goods and services. Ecosystem Services 2, 2–13.
the importance of the services provided by the deep sea and the lack of information and knowl-
edge, not only regarding the system itself, but also of the possible impacts STP may have and the
351
repercussions at different scales, from local to global. Scale appears to be one of the most impor-
tant issues, as is the fact that impacts on deep-sea environments may be far removed, spatially and
temporally, from the source of disturbance itself and the service at hand (Limburg et al. 2002,
Armstrong et al. 2012).
In addition to the dearth of data on the ecosystems in question, the main problem associated
with STP operations relates to environmental evaluations fraught by either poor baseline and
assessment studies carried out by entities with vested interests or poor, cryptic, dissemination of
assessment results. Other activities such as fisheries and dredging may provide useful parallels. In
recent times, fisheries management is increasingly implementing objective assessments that aim to
ensure that the industry achieves demands linked to sustainability. Powerful examples are given by
the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO]
1995), Europe’s Common Fisheries Policy (European Union 2013) and Marine Strategy Framework
Directive (European Commission 2008), and the Australian Environmental Protection Biodiversity
and Conservation (EPBC) Act (http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc). Implementing these manage-
ment practices and associated assessments goes some way towards improving the acceptability of
ongoing resource exploitation.
Strategies adopted by fisheries and other marine industries towards implementing sustainable
and acceptable management include the following:
• Identifying the conspicuous species under threat and their distribution, behaviour, and life-
history characteristics (e.g., International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources [IUCN] Red List, http://www.iucnredlist.org/).
• Defining the value of important and potentially affected marine environments (e.g., fisher-
ies production associated with nursery habitats or value of tourism associated with highly
diverse coral reefs).
• Developing techniques for making robust, quantitative assessments of the impacts of major
industries. Risk assessments (Zhou & Griffiths 2008, Zhou et al. 2012) and management
strategy evaluation (Butterworth & Punt 1999) are two techniques adopted by fisheries; the
marine aggregate dredging industry uses ecological indicators (Bayer et al. 2008).
• Using spatial planning at regional scales to ensure a broad and balanced assessment of
resource exploitation. For example, the UK marine aggregate dredging industry has under-
taken regional environmental assessments to underpin regional-scale impacts and assist
the licensing of new areas (Lloyd Jones et al. 2015).
• Describing and assessing the cumulative impacts of multiple, interacting uses of or impacts
on marine systems or species.
In his review of STP for coastal and island mines, Ellis (2008) highlighted the need for informa-
tion to assist decisions about placing mine tailings in the deep sea away from existing and potential
fisheries. Tailings placement in shallower depths also relies on a premise that self-sustaining benthic
communities can be established on these tailings within 1 to 3 years. Further, one of the preliminary
criteria for potential DSTP sites is the low productivity and ecological importance of the deposition
site (Poling 2002). It seems that, implicit to this approach, is not only a requirement for knowledge,
but also an assumption that deep-sea communities are low-value assets and that potentially signifi-
cant change to deep-sea ecological communities, such as loss of ecosystem function and potential
extinctions, is acceptable. Given the uncertainties created by poor information, we have shown that
these are not acceptable outcomes—at any scale. Further, economic growth has made humans more
dependent on biodiversity and the services provided by ecosystems (Guo et al. 2010).
Current STP activities mostly occur in volcanically active regions of the south-western Pacific.
These include potential biodiversity hotspots and poorly known, species-rich, characteristic fea-
tures such as hydrothermal vents and seamounts. Globally, just over one-third of pristine habitat is
352
estimated to exist within recognized biodiversity hotspots. This now covers 1.4% of our planet com-
pared to a historical 14% (Guo et al. 2010). What effects does changing biodiversity have on ecosys-
tem properties? Worm at al. (2006) showed that there is a positive relationship between biodiversity
and ecosystem functioning and this holds true at all scales: Biodiversity (and conservation) and the
possibility of long-term economic growth have to be considered as mutually reliant. According to
the published literature, the areal extent of the purely physical footprint of STP/DSTP tailings is
not extensive when assessed in global terms. Notwithstanding, not only is it poorly quantified in
terms of affected bottom surface area itself, but also, above all, the more widespread repercussions
(e.g., in terms of deep-sea ecosystem function and biodiversity) have been largely ignored. This fact
acquires significant importance when considering that, owing to its morphology, the deep sea is
characterized by marked connectivity (McClain & Hardy 2010). This highlights the need to define
the real spatial scale of biodiversity loss in this marine environment.
It is apparent that key to all considerations about the impacts of STP operations is a baseline
understanding of ecosystem functioning and its value to a wide range of stakeholders. Relatively
cost-effective approaches are available that can address each of the key issues that we have outlined.
Long-term sustainable development should only continue where there is an appropriate level of
due diligence, knowledge of the receiving environment, and understanding of impacts on local and
broader community expectations.
Conclusions
Although deposition of mine waste into tailings dams is currently considered best practice, DSTP,
in particular, is used and increasingly planned into future mining ventures in a range of countries
throughout the world. However, in contrast to many other industries that have significant impacts on
ecological communities, tailings disposal on to the seafloor appears to be poorly understood com-
pared to the extent of its implementation. Moreover, there are wide differences in its social accept-
ability that led to the practice being banned in many countries, yet multiple ventures are operating
in some others.
Substantial uncertainty remains about the biophysical processes affecting this practice as well
as its impacts on a variety of habitats, including shallow coral reefs, deep-sea canyons, continental
slopes, abyssal plains, and the water column.
Deep-water environments (e.g., canyons and abyssal plains) are recognized as high in biodi-
versity and important for ecosystem function. Here, biota are adapted to stable long-term biophysi-
cal conditions, and their vulnerability to human impacts, as well as their potential for recovery,
remain unknown.
The potential role of vertically migrating species in transporting mine-disposed trace elements
from deeper environments into the diverse shallower surface layers of coastal or offshore realms has
been largely overlooked. Similarly, the nature, extent, and impact of secondary plumes that develop
off the main tailings current are poorly quantified, as is their interaction with migrating biota.
Site- and season-specific studies of mid- and deep-ocean currents and upwelling events are scarce,
preventing the advancement of knowledge on the extent and longevity of the tailings footprint for
many mines practicing DSTP. In addition, redistribution of trace elements into surface layer food
webs that are more likely to be accessed by humans (e.g., via fishing activity) is not adequately char-
acterized. Finally, issues related to bioavailability, biomagnification, and trophic transfer should be
borne in mind and systematically assessed over time in any operation.
Given these uncertainties around the impacts of STP/DSTP, coupled with the enhanced con-
nectivity of both deep-water and pelagic environments, it is imperative that participating countries,
the global scientific community, and managing entities act urgently to bridge these knowledge gaps,
improve management practices, and take a more precautionary approach to the implementation of
STP and DSTP.
353
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Louise Bell for creating the conceptual diagrams included in this work. We are grateful
to Andrew Dale for reviewing and revising the manuscript and to Jo Parr and Stuart Simpson for
their valuable comments. Thanks to Colleen Foelz for reviewing the English language. The CSIRO
Marine and Atmospheric Research Division Capability Development Fund funded a workshop that
marked the start of this work.
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The Ecological Impacts of Submarine Tailings Placement

Chapter · December 2016

Elisabetta B. Morello Michael Donald Edmund Haywood

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David Brewer Gert Asmund

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Arctic marine metal ecotoxicology View project

Environmental monitoring at the cryolite mine, Greenland View project

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THE ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF SUBMARINE

CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere, Ecosciences Precinct,

41 Boggo Rd, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia

Largo Fiera della Pesca 2, Ancona, 60125, Italy

Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark

Definition and history of marine tailings disposal

Up to 33 mines Norway Kvassnes & Iversen 2013, Ramirez-Llodra et al.

River input (natural sediment)

Ice level (winter)

Fine particle suspension

Daily vertical migration

sit > Productivity

• accessibility to the coast (Poling 2002)

Scope of this review

Bioaccumulation Acute and Smothering of Habitat

Pelagic ecosystem Benthic ecosystem

Technological aspects of DSTP

Key issues and processes

‘­thermoclines’, whereas gradients in salinity are

Ocean circulation patterns

Effects of oceanographic features on STP and DSTP operations

The deep sea

Vertical migrations and benthopelagic coupling

Microbiological processes in the oceans

Bioavailability, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification of contaminants

Trophic transfer and biomagnification

The potential impacts of STP on benthic organisms

1. Direct smothering either by tailings material that is moving downslope or as a result of

decreased by up to 55 m during the life of the mine.

Changes to the nature of the habitat

• changing sediment grain size

Increased suspended sediment

b Poling & Ellis (1995).

c NSR Environmental Consultants (2001).

e Salomons & Forstner (1984).

Impacts on pelagic species, food webs,

• local changes in primary productivity and food availability;

Increased turbidity may decrease primary productivity through shading/­light attenuation in

Recolonization and recovery

Table 5 Studies on benthic biota recolonization of dumped mine tailings

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‘thermoclines’, whereas gradients in salinity are

Increased turbidity may decrease primary productivity through shading/light attenuation in