The Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ) stocks high concentrations of polymetallic nodules which contain essential minerals for modern and green technologies. Governments and commercial companies have shown interest in exploiting them due to the high demand, potential economic benefits, and since the remaining minerals are getting too expensive to retrieve. Exploration will impact the environment. Deep-sea metazoan meiofauna are an important group to study the impacts of deep-seabed mining since they make up a large part of benthic metazoan biomass in these abyssal depths, and due to ease of sampling. In 2021, test mining was conducted using a pre-prototype nodule collector “Patania II” in the GSR contract area in CCFZ. Samples were collected 2 years before, immediately after and 1.5 years after the test mining to investigate temporal and spatial variations of meiofauna. This study investigates the alterations of meiofaunal abundance and diversity patterns along the Patania track and the adjacent areas which were subjected to impact by the sediment plume generated. A significant difference in meiofauna abundance and diversity between the different types of impacts of the disturbance were observed. Continuous studies in a timely manner are recommended to monitor meiofauna composition before giving permission to commercial deep-seabed mining.
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