DARK OXYGEN: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

DARK OXYGEN: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

News: Scientists have recently discovered a strange phenomenon, dubbed “dark oxygen” in the deep sea

 

What’s in the news?

Study conducted

  • Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a part of the ocean floor off Mexico’s west coast.

 

Key findings

  • An process is producing oxygen deep in the world’s oceans, where it is too dark for photosynthesis.
  • At a depth of 4 km, they noticed the oxygen concentration in some places rapidly increased instead of decreasing.
  • Polymetallic nodules are transporting electric charges that split water molecules around them, releasing oxygen.

 

Dark Oxygen and it’s Source

  • Dark Oxygen refers to oxygen produced by minerals in the absence of sunlight.
  • In the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) of the Pacific Ocean, scientists discovered that coal-like mineral rocks, known as polymetallic nodules, generate oxygen without relying on photosynthesis.

 

Formation

  • When they measured the physical characteristics of the nodules, they found their surfaces to have a voltage of up to 0.95 V. Splitting one water molecule requires 1.5 V, but the researchers have suspected the voltage could build up if many nodules are close together, like the cells of a battery.
  • This charge may come from the difference in electric potential that exists between metal ions within the nodules, which leads to a redistribution of electrons.
  • Researchers termed it as “Geobatteries’ Beneath The Sea.
  • A process known as seawater electrolysis allows a charge to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen.
  • Researchers termed it as ‘Dark Oxygen’.
  • The nodules could only produce oxygen as long as they could muster a sufficient voltage.

 

Implication of the findings

  • ‘Dark oxygen’ discovery could ensnarl deep-sea mining.
  • The finding has important implications because oxygen helps support life and the discovery implies the existence of previously unknown ecosystems.
  • This finding suggests that there may be alternative mechanisms for oxygen production on Earth and potentially other planets.

Consequences

  • The oxygen discovery raises questions about how deep-sea mining to extract polymetallic nodules will affect marine ecosystems.
  • The new finding raises the possibility of such mining damaging ecosystems that require ‘dark oxygen’ to survive.