Oxygen is being released at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, a new study revealed yesterday. The discovery has baffled scientists, challenging the long-held belief that only living things can produce oxygen through photosynthesis.
In 2013, researchers were studying the seafloor between Hawaii and Mexico, 2.5 miles below the surface. Upon sequestering a seafloor sample, researchers discovered oxygen concentrations were increasing without access to sunlight. The findings—repeated in later expeditions—have yet to be fully explained. A leading hypothesis posits rocks containing valuable metals like nickel and cobalt are splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen through seawater electrolysis. Elevated voltage in the samples (approaching that of an AA battery) supports the theory, though researchers have not identified a hydrogen byproduct.
The discovery challenges the theory that life originated through ancient microbes conducting photosynthesis. It also raises concerns deep-sea mining (see more, w/video) could disturb ecosystems relying on these rocks for oxygen.
Comments