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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.
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 ...
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.
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 ...
Dark oxygen production refers to the generation of molecular oxygen (O 2) through processes that do not involve light-dependent oxygenic photosynthesis.The name therefore uses a different sense of 'dark' than that used in the phrase "biological dark matter" (for example) which indicates obscurity to scientific assessment rather than the photometric meaning.
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 ...