Clarion-Clipperton Zone

The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) or Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone is an environmental management area of the Pacific Ocean, administered by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). It includes the Clarion Fracture Zone and the Clipperton Fracture Zone, geological submarine fracture zones. Clarion and Clipperton are two of the five major lineations of the northern Pacific floor, and were discovered by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1954. The CCZ is regularly considered for deep-sea mining due to the abundant presence of manganese nodules.

The CCZ extendes around 4,500 miles (7,240 km) East to West and spans approximately 4,500,000 square kilometres (1,700,000 sq mi). The fractures themselves are unusually mountainous topographical features.

In 2016, investigation of the seafloor in the zone was found to contain an abundance and diversity of life – more than half of the species collected were new to science.

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