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India will soon launch an ambitious ''Deep Ocean Mission'' that envisages exploration of minerals, energy and marine diversity of the underwater world.

Purpose of the mission

• Give a boost to efforts to explore India’s vast Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf.
• Will lead to the designing, development and demonstration of human submersibles.
• Will help explore the possibility of deep-sea mining and developing necessary technologies.
• Will enhance India’s presence in the Indian Ocean.

The mission will also involve developing technologies for different deep ocean initiatives and is expected to cost over ₹4,000 crores.

Departments

• Ministry of Earth Sciences
• Government departments like the Defence Research and Development Organisation
• Department of Biotechnology
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
• Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

Where do these minerals come onto the sea-bed?

• Poly-Metallic Sulphides (PMS), which contain iron, copper, zinc, silver, gold, platinum in variable constitutions, are precipitates of hot fluids from upwelling hot magma from the deep interior of the oceanic crust, discharged through mineralized chimneys.
• PMS in the Ocean Ridges have attracted worldwide attention for their long term commercial as well as strategic values.

Way forward

• Scientists say that only 20% of the seafloor and only 70% of the land surface on Earth has really been explored by man.
• The aim of this planned activity is to be prepared when rules are formalised in this area.
• The deep oceans frontier is yet to be explored.

Source: The Hindu