Key points
- DHI Water & Environment is building a numerical model of sediment plume behavior generated as the collector vehicle drives across the seafloor, feeding into TMC’s environmental impact assessment.
- Fixed seafloor instruments, an ROV and AUVs carry CTDs, transmissometers, turbidity sensors, dissolved oxygen sensors and ADCPs, plus camera landers and mid-water moorings queried in real time via modems, to measure suspended sediment using acoustic and optical backscatter.
- The work is conducted at roughly 4,200 meters depth, aiming to reconstruct a three-dimensional picture of the plume and determine where suspended sediment ultimately settles.
