Author(s): Veronika Saiz; Niklas Eickelberg; Jochen Aberle; Bernhard Vowinckel
Linked Author(s): Jochen Aberle, Bernhard Vowinckel
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: The aftermath of deep-sea mining may cause a blanketing of the ocean floor by stirred up fine-grained sediments. Hence, the near-bed shear stress is a key control parameter for erosion and resuspension to estimate the long-term damage. Using digital elevation models of two seabed samples collected in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in 2018, we combine laboratory shear-plate and PIV measurements with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to (i) validate numerical predictions of bed shear stress over realistic nodule fields (original and blanketed conditions) and (ii) test a two-phase flow modeling framework for fine-sand erosion.
Year: 2026