Ocean Floor Resources

Mounds of salt, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Source: Luca Galuzzi

All that sediment at the bottom of the ocean really is worth something. Although oil and natural gas are the most economically significant resources, there are other materials that are still profitable for commercial exploitation. As technological advances reduce the cost of gathering these materials and resource shortages make these materials more valuable, it is likely that more deep sea resources will be mined in the future. The most pressing concern is how we can balance the exploitation of these resources with the environmental impact of these activities.