Planetary Waters – Sea Futures
Lecture Series Winter 2023/24
Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Baltic Sea Region
Thursday, 18.15–19.45
University of Greifswald
Domstraße 9a, Lecture Hall 2.05
“Investigating the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining.” / "What Lies Beneath? Technological Imaging Frontiers in Underwater Exploration"
Dialogic talk by Matthias Haeckel (Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel) and Immo Trinks (University of Vienna) in the Joint Lecture Series “Planetary Waters – Sea Futures. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Baltic Sea Region” (Winter 2023/24)
With this lecture, we want to initiate a dialogue between the disciplines to foster our understandings of the challenges of economic and scientific exploration and heritage of Sea Futures. Therefore, in the first part, Matthias Haeckel will speak about the demand for critical metals and their underwater minning. An increasing interest in these commodities has been rising over the past decade. To date, the International Seabed Authority, which manages the seabed outside the jurisdiction of states, has issued 30 contracts to explore these mineral resources. The talk will investigate the potential impacts of future deep-sea mining activities on the marine environment and shed light on testing technologies and concepts for environmental monitoring to transfer the results into concrete recommendations for appropriate environmental standards and guidelines of the Mining Code of the ISA.
In the second part, Immo Trinks focuses on technologies of image production of underwater sites. The presentation delves into the latest advancements in sonar technology – specifically, side-scan-, multibeam-, and sediment-sonar – and their pivotal role in underwater archaeological prospection. It focuses on the efficient high-resolution mapping of shallow water environments, exemplified by the UNESCO World Heritage “Prehistoric Lake Dwellings around the Alps.” The presentation will address techniques, potential, and first discoveries from recent surveys, showcasing how technology is reshaping underwater archaeology, and offering exciting new opportunities for future explorations of lakes and seas.
Chair: Wibke Müller and Torsten Veit
The lecture will take place as a hybrid event. If you want to follow the lecture online via Zoom, please contact us at balticsea-events@uni-greifswald.de
Joint Program: Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research (IFZO); DFG International Research Training Group Baltic Peripeties – Narratives of Reformations, Revolutions and Catastrophes; Research Centre for Manors in the Baltic Sea Region; Interdisciplinary Centre; Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies (IZfG).
Organisation:
Antje Kempe
Wibke Müller