Copper-binding ligands in deep-sea pore waters of the Pacific Ocean and potential impacts of polymetallic nodule mining on the copper cycle

Abstract The release of potentially toxic metals, such as copper (Cu), into the water column is of concern during polymetallic nodule mining. The bioavailability and thus toxicity of Cu is strongly influenced by its speciation which is dominated by organic ligand (L) complexation in seawater, with L...

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Autores principales:	Sophie A. L. Paul, Rebecca Zitoun, Ann Noowong, Mythili Manirajah, Andrea Koschinsky
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4fbbeec419994754839978f4d60cbc60
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4fbbeec419994754839978f4d60cbc602021-12-02T15:15:44ZCopper-binding ligands in deep-sea pore waters of the Pacific Ocean and potential impacts of polymetallic nodule mining on the copper cycle10.1038/s41598-021-97813-32045-2322https://doaj.org/article/4fbbeec419994754839978f4d60cbc602021-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97813-3https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The release of potentially toxic metals, such as copper (Cu), into the water column is of concern during polymetallic nodule mining. The bioavailability and thus toxicity of Cu is strongly influenced by its speciation which is dominated by organic ligand (L) complexation in seawater, with L-complexes being considered less bioavailable than free Cu2+. The presence of CuL-complexes in deep-sea sediments has, however, not been systematically studied in the context of deep-sea mining. We thus analyzed the Cu-binding L concentration ([L]) in deep-sea pore waters of two polymetallic nodule provinces in the Pacific Ocean, the Peru Basin and the Clarion-Clipperton-Zone, using competitive ligand equilibration–adsorptive stripping voltammetry. The pore-water dissolved Cu concentration ([dCu]) ranged from 3 to 96 nM, generally exceeding bottom water concentrations (4–44 nM). Based on fitting results from ProMCC and Excel, Cu was predominantly complexed by L (3–313 nM) in bottom waters and undisturbed pore waters. We conclude that processes like deep-sea mining are unlikely to cause a release of toxic Cu2+ concentrations ([Cu2+]) to the seawater as > 99% Cu was organically complexed in pore waters and the [Cu2+] was < 6 pM for 8 of 9 samples. Moreover, the excess of L found especially in shallow pore waters implied that even with a Cu release through mining activities, Cu2+ likely remains beneath toxic thresholds.Sophie A. L. PaulRebecca ZitounAnn NoowongMythili ManirajahAndrea KoschinskyNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-17 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Sophie A. L. Paul Rebecca Zitoun Ann Noowong Mythili Manirajah Andrea Koschinsky Copper-binding ligands in deep-sea pore waters of the Pacific Ocean and potential impacts of polymetallic nodule mining on the copper cycle
description	Abstract The release of potentially toxic metals, such as copper (Cu), into the water column is of concern during polymetallic nodule mining. The bioavailability and thus toxicity of Cu is strongly influenced by its speciation which is dominated by organic ligand (L) complexation in seawater, with L-complexes being considered less bioavailable than free Cu2+. The presence of CuL-complexes in deep-sea sediments has, however, not been systematically studied in the context of deep-sea mining. We thus analyzed the Cu-binding L concentration ([L]) in deep-sea pore waters of two polymetallic nodule provinces in the Pacific Ocean, the Peru Basin and the Clarion-Clipperton-Zone, using competitive ligand equilibration–adsorptive stripping voltammetry. The pore-water dissolved Cu concentration ([dCu]) ranged from 3 to 96 nM, generally exceeding bottom water concentrations (4–44 nM). Based on fitting results from ProMCC and Excel, Cu was predominantly complexed by L (3–313 nM) in bottom waters and undisturbed pore waters. We conclude that processes like deep-sea mining are unlikely to cause a release of toxic Cu2+ concentrations ([Cu2+]) to the seawater as > 99% Cu was organically complexed in pore waters and the [Cu2+] was < 6 pM for 8 of 9 samples. Moreover, the excess of L found especially in shallow pore waters implied that even with a Cu release through mining activities, Cu2+ likely remains beneath toxic thresholds.
format	article
author	Sophie A. L. Paul Rebecca Zitoun Ann Noowong Mythili Manirajah Andrea Koschinsky
author_facet	Sophie A. L. Paul Rebecca Zitoun Ann Noowong Mythili Manirajah Andrea Koschinsky
author_sort	Sophie A. L. Paul
title	Copper-binding ligands in deep-sea pore waters of the Pacific Ocean and potential impacts of polymetallic nodule mining on the copper cycle
title_short	Copper-binding ligands in deep-sea pore waters of the Pacific Ocean and potential impacts of polymetallic nodule mining on the copper cycle
title_full	Copper-binding ligands in deep-sea pore waters of the Pacific Ocean and potential impacts of polymetallic nodule mining on the copper cycle
title_fullStr	Copper-binding ligands in deep-sea pore waters of the Pacific Ocean and potential impacts of polymetallic nodule mining on the copper cycle
title_full_unstemmed	Copper-binding ligands in deep-sea pore waters of the Pacific Ocean and potential impacts of polymetallic nodule mining on the copper cycle
title_sort	copper-binding ligands in deep-sea pore waters of the pacific ocean and potential impacts of polymetallic nodule mining on the copper cycle
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/4fbbeec419994754839978f4d60cbc60
work_keys_str_mv	AT sophiealpaul copperbindingligandsindeepseaporewatersofthepacificoceanandpotentialimpactsofpolymetallicnoduleminingonthecoppercycle AT rebeccazitoun copperbindingligandsindeepseaporewatersofthepacificoceanandpotentialimpactsofpolymetallicnoduleminingonthecoppercycle AT annnoowong copperbindingligandsindeepseaporewatersofthepacificoceanandpotentialimpactsofpolymetallicnoduleminingonthecoppercycle AT mythilimanirajah copperbindingligandsindeepseaporewatersofthepacificoceanandpotentialimpactsofpolymetallicnoduleminingonthecoppercycle AT andreakoschinsky copperbindingligandsindeepseaporewatersofthepacificoceanandpotentialimpactsofpolymetallicnoduleminingonthecoppercycle
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Copper-binding ligands in deep-sea pore waters of the Pacific Ocean and potential impacts of polymetallic nodule mining on the copper cycle

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