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A recent study hypothesizes that the nodules are a source of "dark oxygen", oxygen produced without light, which provides the seafloor in the deep ocean with oxygen. [36] However, this study contrasts with many other studies conducted over decades in the deep sea that did not detect oxygen production - and in fact showed only oxygen consumption.
The production of oxygen at the seafloor by polymetallic nodules is a new ecosystem function that needs to be considered when assessing the impact of deep-sea mining.
To investigate dark oxygen further, Ruff and his team traveled to a 3-kilometer-deep (9,500-foot-deep) mine in South Africa in August to sample water that had been trapped in the rock for 1.2 ...
They have found that manganese nodules on the deep sea floor produce free oxygen from water molecules. [ 11 ] The manganese nodules act as a kind of battery as they contain different metals, and they release oxygen into the environment.
The discovery that abyssal, or deep-sea, nodules are producing oxygen is “an amazing and unexpected finding,” said Daniel Jones, a professor and head of ocean biogeosciences at the National ...
Organisms, both microbial and multicellular, use oxygen in respiration throughout the entire depth of the ocean, so when the supply of oxygen from the surface is less than the utilization of oxygen in deep water, oxygen loss occurs. This phenomenon is natural, but is exacerbated with increased stratification and increasing ocean temperature.
Polymetallic nodules on the deep seabed in the CCZ Example of manganese nodule that can be found on the sea floor. Polymetallic nodules are found at depths of 4–6 km (2.5–3.7 mi) in all major oceans, but also in shallow waters like the Baltic Sea and in freshwater lakes. [23] [24] They are the most readily minable type of deep sea ore. [25]
New research shows that potato-sized rocks called polymetallic nodules may be creating the "dark oxygen" of the deep sea. How will this affect current negotiations on the future of the mining ...