The extensive data gathered from our 22 offshore campaigns forms one of the largest deep-sea datasets ever compiled.

Data

Since 2012, we have partnered with leading marine research institutions and expert industry contractors to define the resource, develop a rigorous environmental baseline and test our pilot collection system in the field.

We are committed to the responsible and transparent development of this industry and share all our data through various open-source databases, including the International Seabed Authority’s DeepData catalogue and UNESCO’s Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS), the world’s largest marine biodiversity database.

To date, we have submitted two batches of data from our environmental baseline campaigns to DeepData, adding over 344,000 biological occurrences to its records for the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ).

This first batch of data was also published to the OBIS platform in 2023, making us the single largest contributor to the OBIS-ISA node, accounting for over 50% of all records.

TMC’s dataset is generating significant interest among researchers. The OBIS dataset alone has been downloaded thousands of times over, with individual taxa downloads in the hundreds of millions.

Published papers

Our data is providing new insights into deep-sea ecosystems, resulting in 43 peer-reviewed papers published so far and more anticipated in the near future.


2026
  1. Ellis, G.N., Kersten, O., et al. Along the Benthic to Holoplanktonic Continuum: Seafloor Affinity Increases Distance‐Decay Rates Among Abyssal Communities Global Ecology and Biogeography.
  2. Laroche, O., Downes, P., et al. Development and validation of a ddPCR & viability PCR assay for enhancing eDNA benthic surveys: A deep-sea case study Marine Environmental Research 220, 108186.
  3. Assad, V.E., Perelman, J.N., et al. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone mesopelagic micronekton community: Vertical distributions and diel vertical migration patterns Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene (14) 1.
  4. Assad, V.E., Perelman, J.N., et al. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone mesopelagic micronekton community: Mesoscale and temporal variability in depth-integrated abundance, biomass, and community composition Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene (14) 1.
  5. Freitas, F.S., Downes, P., et al. A Multi-Year Organic Matter Dynamics and Biogeochemical Baseline in the Southeast Clarion-Clipperton Zone Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 14, 1019.
  6. Jażdżewska, A.M., Horton, T. New deep-sea Amphipoda from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone: 24 new species described under the Sustainable Seabed Knowledge Initiative: One Thousand Reasons campaign ZooKeys (1274).
  7. Peart, R.A., Stewart, E. Two new species from two genera of the family Ampeliscidae Krøyer, 1842 (Crustacea, Amphipoda) from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Pacific Ocean ZooKeys 1274, 229–253.
  8. Horton, T., Valls Domedel, G., et al. A new superfamily and family of the infraorder Hadziida (Amphipoda, Senticaudata) based on a new genus and species from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Pacific Ocean ZooKeys 1274: 271–291.
  9. Horton, T., Valls Domedel, G., et al. Description of a new species of the genus Eperopeus Mills, 1967 (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Pardaliscidae) from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Central Pacific Ocean ZooKeys 1274: 201–213.
  10. Timm, R., Stewart, E., et al. Two new species of Liljeborgia Spence Bate, 1863 (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Liljeborgiidae) from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Pacific Ocean ZooKeys 1274: 79–102.
  11. Horton, T., Valls Domedel, G., et al. A new species of Thrombasia J.L. Barnard, 1966 (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Tryphosidae) from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Central Pacific Ocean ZooKeys 1274: 161–174.
  12. Horton, T., Valls Domedel, G., et al. A revision of the genus Elimedon J.L. Barnard, 1962 (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Tryphosidae) with the addition of two new species from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Central Pacific Ocean ZooKeys 1274, 119–140.
  13. Horton, T., Lörz, A. A new genus and species of the family Lepechinellidae Schellenberg, 1926 (Crustacea, Amphipoda) from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Central Pacific Ocean ZooKeys 1274, 185–199.
  14. Iannotta, I.A., Schwing, P.T., et al. Spatiotemporal characterization of sedimentary phytopigments in the southeastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone: Baseline time series and effects of a deep-sea mining test Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene (14) 1.
2025
  1. Anderson, D., Jonge, D., et al. Species-specific patterns of metal accumulation in deep-sea grenadiers Coryphaenoides armatus and C. yaquinae from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 13 (1).
  2. Downes, P., Cuesta, A., et al. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence: Evaluating nodule-associated dark oxygen production Frontiers in Marine Science 12.
  3. Stewart, E., Wiklund, H., et al. Impacts of an industrial deep-sea mining trial on macrofaunal biodiversity Nature Ecology & Evolution.
  4. O’Malley, B.J., Schwing, P.T., et al. Thorium-234 as a tracer for deep-sea mining sediment plume deposition Nat Commun 16.
  5. Drazen, J.C., Assad, V.E., et al. Bathypelagic and abyssopelagic micronekton communities in the eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 13 (1).
  6. Bergman, L.A., Verhaegen, G., et al. Distribution, ecology, and behavior of midwater eels (Anguilliformes: Nemichthyidae and Serrivomeridae) from remotely operated vehicle surveys in the eastern Pacific Clarion-Clipperton Zone Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 13 (1).
  7. Bribiesca-Contreras, G., Santodomingo, N., et al. Hidden gems of the abyss: first species of azooxanthellate scleractinian coral (Scleractinia: Deltocyathidae) attached to polymetallic nodules in the eastern Pacific Ocean Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 205 (3).
  8. Neal, L., Drennan, R., et al. New species of Anguillosyllis Day, 1963 (Annelida, Syllidae) from polymetallic nodule exploration areas, eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone, central Pacific Ocean European Journal of Taxonomy (1026) 1.
  9. Dowd, M.H., Assad, V.E., et al. Deep-sea mining discharge can disrupt midwater food webs Nat Commun 16.
  10. Thomson, C., Lough, A., et al. Ecological Impacts of Deep-Sea Mining Waste on Marine Algae and Copepod Tigriopus californicus Environmental Science & Technology.
  11. Ellis, G.N., Drazen, J.C., et al. Zooplankton community structure in the abyssal benthic boundary layer varies over time due to nonuniform species response to seasonal organic-matter fluxes Limnology and Oceanography (70).
  12. Carolina Ronda, A., Eugenia Adaro, M., et al. Microplastic contamination in deep-sea sediments and polymetallic nodules: Insights from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Pacific Ocean Marine Pollution Bulletin 216, 1–15.
  13. Seid, C.A., Montenegro, J., et al. Deep midwater Annelida from the NORI-D exploration area of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Pacific Ocean Elem Sci Anth.
  14. Drennan, R., Neal, L., et al. On Anguillosyllis cf. hessleri Maciolek, 2020 – A species complex from the Clarion-Clipperton zone, abyssal central Pacific Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 104453.
  15. Fleming, B., Simon-Lledó, E., et al. Influence of seabed heterogeneity on benthic megafaunal community patterns in abyssal nodule fields Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 13 (1).
  16. Bergman, L., Montenegro, J., et al. Checklist of ichthyoplankton of NORI-D polymetallic nodule exploration claim (eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone) during winter 2021 Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e137744.
  17. Perelman, J.N., Assad, V.E., et al. A multi-method assessment of pelagic communities in the remote eastern Pacific Ocean Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene (13).
2024
  1. Sackett, D.K., Anderson, D., et al. Persistent organic pollutant accumulation in Pacific abyssal plain sediments and biota: Implications for sources, transport, and deep-sea mining Elem Sci Anth.
  2. Nilsson, C.L., Wiklund, H., et al. A new species of Erinaceusyllis (Annelida: Syllidae) discovered at a wood-fall in the eastern Clarion-Clipperton zone, central Pacific ocean Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 104415.
  3. Stewart, E., Bribiesca-Contreras, G., et al. Biogeography and phylogeny of the scavenging amphipod genus Valettietta (Amphipoda: Alicelloidea), with descriptions of two new species from the abyssal Pacific Ocean Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 201 (4).
2023
  1. Neal, L., Abrahams, E., et al. Taxonomy, phylogeny, and biodiversity of Lumbrineridae (Annelida, Polychaeta) from the Central Pacific Clarion-Clipperton Zone ZooKeys 1172, 61–100.
  2. Simon-Lledó, E., Amon, D.J., et al. Carbonate compensation depth drives abyssal biogeography in the northeast Pacific Nature Ecology & Evolution 7, 1388–1397.
  3. Bergman, L.A., Fujiwara, Y., et al. Face-down, tail-up: Unusual In situ behavior of the blackchins neoscopelus macrolepidotus, neoscopelus microchir, and scopelengys tristis (Myctophiformes: Neoscopelidae) Diversity 15, 1–7.
  4. Eichsteller, A., Martynov, A., et al. Ophiotholia (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea): A little-known deep-sea genus present in polymetallic nodule fields with the description of a new species Frontiers in Marine Science 10, 1–18.
  5. Perelman, J.N., Ladroit, Y., et al. Eddies and fronts influence pelagic communities across the eastern Pacific ocean Progress in Oceanography 211, 1–15.
  6. Montenegro, J., Collins, A.G., et al. Heterogeneity in diagnostic characters across ecoregions: A case study with Botrynema (Hydrozoa: Trachylina: Halicreatidae) Frontiers in Marine Science 9, 1–17.
2022
  1. Neal, L., Wiklund, H., et al. Abyssal fauna of polymetallic nodule exploration areas, eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone, central Pacific Ocean: Amphinomidae and Euphrosinidae (Annelida, Amphinomida) ZooKeys 1137, 33–74.
  2. Hoving, H., Amon, D., et al. The abyssal voyage of the argonauts: Deep-sea in situ observations reveal the contribution of cephalopod egg cases to the carbon pump Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers (183).
  3. Parianos, J., O’Sullivan, A., et al. Geology of parts of the central and eastern Clarion Clipperton Zone Journal of Maps.

Resource Definition and Offshore Environmental Impact Assessment

Polymetallic Nodule Field

Nodule resource evaluation

Plume monitoring and analysis

Adaptive management of environmental impacts

Pelagic surveys

Studying foraminifera and eDNA

Deploying seafloor lander

Offshore EIA program

Studying benthic & pelagic fauna

Deep MOCNESS sampling

Permitting process

NORI Project Director Grant Lindner

NORI Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Explainer