Oxygen it is a basic human need to survive. During this time, we learn that oxide made from plants both on land and in the sea that convert carbon dioxide into oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. But recently it is find associated with dark oxygen or dark oxygen. Dark oxygen It is a type of oxygen that is produced at the bottom of the sea, usually found at a depth of 4,000 meters where sunlight cannot penetrate. This phenomenon challenges our belief that oxygen is only produced from the process of photosynthesis by plants or algae that need light.
Dark oxygen is produced by polymetallic nodules, which are a type of mineral formation found on the sea floor. The nodules are usually composed of various metals such as manganese, iron, nickel, and cobalt. The researchers found that these nodules can produce oxygen through an electrochemical process even without light. This process is similar to electrolysis, where the nodules generate an electrical charge that splits water molecules (H₂O) into hydrogen and oxygen.
Search dark oxygen began in 2013 when a team led by Professor Andrew Sweetman from the Scottish Marine Science Association began researching seabed ecosystems in the Clarion-Clipperton zone. They used an automated model designed to study changes in oxygen concentration in seawater trapped in small chambers on the seabed. During observation, they found that the oxygen level in the water was increasing, not decreasing as usual. At first, researchers thought the strange readings were caused by sensory damage. However, this phenomenon continued to repeat itself in subsequent visits in 2021 and 2022, until it was finally confirmed by other methods of measurement.
Researchers discovered that potato-shaped polymetallic nodules found on the sea floor are a source of oxygen. These nodules produce oxygen through a natural process of electrolysis, in which the electric charge generated by the nodules splits the seawater into hydrogen and oxygen. This process takes place without light, so this form of oxygen is called “dark oxygen”.
The discovery of dark oxygen not only contributed to the discovery of new oxygen resources, but also had a profound impact on our understanding of the early history of life on Earth. Before the discovery of dark oxygen, it was believed that oxygen sources on Earth were produced by photosynthesis through organisms such as plants and algae that needed sunlight. However, scientists now claim that aerobic life that requires oxygen existed long before organisms capable of photosynthesis existed.
In addition, the discovery of dark oxygen also raises concerns regarding proposed marine mining practices in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Mining activities could disrupt these poorly understood ecosystems and potentially destroy newly discovered oxygen sources.
Even though the discovery of dark oxygen at first sight surprised the world as a new source of oxygen, in reality dark oxygen cannot contribute significantly to the total oxygen on Earth. According to research published on July 22, 2024 in the journal Nature Geologically, although dark oxygen challenges the general understanding of oxygen production, its contribution to total global oxygen is still considered small and has not been measured in detail. This could be because dark oxygen has only just been discovered and therefore there is still a lack of understanding of how to best use dark oxygen. Therefore, this is a warning for us to continue to protect our nature so that plants both on land and in the sea can continue to produce oxygen which is very important in our lives as humans.
Source:
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/24/what-is-dark-oxygen-found-13000-feet-under-the-sea
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See Nature in its entirety
2024-10-26 17:00:00
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