How much do we know about ocean upwelling?

Question

Can ocean upwelling provide minerals to resuscitate the land we have polluted?

Seems like the hydrothermal vents in the ocean floor are not considered to be one of the different types of ocean upwelling - maybe some day all those so-called experts will find a way exploit...

Answer 1

nope wouldnt have anything to do with helping out pollution. ocean water that is upwelling i dont think has a much different mineral composition but it has a much higher concentration of nutrients. dead animals and detritus from animals fall to the bottom of the ocean. since this water is so much colder and the water above it is capped off by warmer water, in most places the nutrient filled water stays at the bottom (cold water-more dense-sinks). sometimes though, for example, there are winds that move the warmer surface water out of the way so this nutrient filled water can rise. that is actually what el nino/la nina refer to--the winds that normally push this water out of the way. when the winds are there, for example, the amount of fish off the coase of S America greatly increases b/c the amount of nutrients increase

Answer 2

You are asking 2 different questions. The ocean minerals really don't relate to the pollution in terms of cleaning it up (they usually cause it). However oceanic minerals can be used to replenish land mineral resources. The issue is CONCENTRATION. You have to be able to extract the minerals economically. That is why they mine some areas of sea floor where metals have concentrated in concretions or layers. The upwelling currents contain mostly dissolved metals so the concentrations are very low. Probably not enough to mine economically.

Answer 3

Up welling stirs the ocean's water temperature layers and provide zones of nutritional enrichment for the planktonic marine life that the rest of the marine ecosystem feeds off of...