Geophysical remote sensing of deep sea mineral deposits using an autonomous underwater vehicle as a platform
PhD project of Solveig Lie Onstad
Main content
Project title
Geophysical remote sensing of deep sea mineral deposits using an autonomous underwater vehicle as a platform
Supervisors
Rolf Birger Pedersen, Thibaut Barreyre, Malte Sommer
Funding
Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, K.G. Jebsen Centre for Deep Sea Research
Project description
In a world with an increasing population and a rising focus on renewable energy, metals are in demand as never before. The deep oceans hold a variety of mineral deposits and due to advancements in subsea technology, many countries are now exploring the feasibility of mining marine mineral resources on the seafloor. However, today there is no effective methods to detect seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposits or ferromanganese crust. The objectives of this PhD project will be to establish a new framework that leverages on combined imagery, acoustic and electro-magnetic datasets to enhance detection and characterization of deep-sea environments such as active and inactive hydrothermal systems (SMS deposits) and ferromanganese crust.
