A joint research group of Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Kochi University, Ibaraki University, and University of Tsukuba has spread a cobalt-rich crust over the slope of Takuyo No. 3 Seamount near Honshu, and a part of it reaches 13 cm, which is the largest in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. I found that it was growing to a thickness.
Cobalt-rich crusts with a thickness of several mm to a little over 10 cm, mainly minerals, are distributed on the slopes of old seamounts so as to cover the basement rocks, and contain rare metals such as cobalt, nickel, tellurium, platinum, and rare earths. It is attracting attention as a submarine metal resource.
Until now, scientific research on cobalt-rich crusts has been conducted mainly at Takuyo No. 1800 Seamount, which is about 5 km away from the Japanese archipelago, but this time, the joint group is only about 350 km east of the Boso Peninsula. A survey was conducted at the distant Takuyo No. 3 Seamount, and it was confirmed that the entire slope of the seamount at a depth of 1500 m to 5500 m was covered with cobalt-rich crust.This is the first such discovery made in a seamount in the exclusive economic zone near Honshu.
Since Takuyo No. 3 Seamount is a relatively easy-to-access field, it can be used as an experimental sea area for research and development technology, as well as elucidation of the origin and origin of how cobalt-rich crust will be formed in the future. Expected.
