In following with the primary objective of investigating and to assessing mineral resources within the U.S. Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ), the Center for Marine Resources and Environmental Technology (CMRET) is establishing a cooperative agreement with the Department of Interior - Bureau of Ocean Energy Management - (BOEM) Marine Mineral Division to investigate the potential of deep sea brine pools to host significant critical mineral accumulation. Brine Pools are also a very unique and fragile ecosystem, hence an accurate ecological characterization of these environments is imperative. Potential brine pool sites at different water depth have already been identified by CMRET.
At CMRET, we harness the power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to revolutionize seafloor mapping. By fusing high-resolution data from bathymetry, backscatter, and sub-bottom profiles collected with AUVs and vessel-mounted sonar, we are building automated tools that can detect features, interpret complex datasets, and generate intuitive visualizations. These cutting-edge methods fuel applications ranging from government decision-making and risk management to environmental conservation, scientific discovery, and industrial exploration. Our workflows embrace open-source Python platforms such as JupyterLab, ensuring transparency, reproducibility, and collaboration across universities, agencies, and industry, while also training the next generation of ocean scientists and engineers.
