Helen Czerski<p>This is a polymetallic nodule, about the size of a potato, formed over ~2 millions years at the seabed. This is what the fuss is about. This environment changes incredibly slowly, and the plumes of sediment thrown up by mining would spread and settle on distant seabed. But these ecosystems only form where the natural sediment from above is utterly minuscule. Most of the creatures found with the nodules are singletons - just one of their species. <a href="https://fediscience.org/tags/ocean" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ocean</span></a> <a href="https://fediscience.org/tags/seabed" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>seabed</span></a> <a href="https://fediscience.org/tags/nodule" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>nodule</span></a></p>