2.) The seafloor holds promise as a source of many natural resources, including valuable metals. As demand for natural marine resources increases, mining these resources from the seafloor also increases. One concern of seafloor mining is the disruption of the seafloor habitat. Which of the following describes the most likely impact of seafloor mining on the surrounding marine environment?

A.) Alteration in seafloor sediments rich in carbon would cause loss of species and an unbalanced population in marine food webs.

B.) Increased levels of metals in the ocean would result in decrease of marine bivalves due to weakened shells.

C.) Methane gas would pollute the marine environment and cause an overabundance of bacteria that feed on it.

D.) Nonrenewable resources in the marine environment would become depleted and affect the balance of the ecosystem.

The answer would be A. it would not be D because marine life does not concern metals and other resources like that. It would be A because life needs carbon, it already does, but it needs to be well balanced and not disrupted.

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VestaHofman VestaHofman · Answer 2 · 2019-04-17T12:23:01+02:00

Answer: A.) Alteration in seafloor sediments rich in carbon would cause loss of species and an unbalanced population in marine food webs.

Explanation:

The seafloor mining will have a drastic impact over the sea ecosystem. The mining process will expose the partially decomposed organic matter to the sea water. This will result in the increase in abundance of the organic carbon in the sea water. This will readily absorbed by the aquatic plants but the increase in abundance will likely to kill sea animals because carbon is the waste material discharged by the organisms and oxygen is the basic requirement for all the cells of the body. This will negatively influence the populations of the marine food webs.