Oxygen-Producing Minerals Discovered At Bottom Of Pacific Ocean
Date
7/23/2024 3:10:36 PM
(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Alimat Aliyeva
An international team of researchers from Scotland, the USA and
other countries has discovered that metallic minerals on the ocean
floor are capable of producing oxygen. The discovery challenged the
notion that the Earth's hydrosphere is oxygenated only by
photosynthetic organisms (algae and phytoplankton),
Azernews reports.
The gas released by deep rocks has been called "dark oxygen"
because it appears without sunlight at a depth of about four
kilometers.
According to experts, oxygen is produced by polymetallic nodules
- natural mineral deposits on the seabed. They contain cobalt,
nickel, copper, lithium, manganese and other valuable elements.
Scientists accidentally made the discovery while studying the
seabed in the Clarion-Clipperton zone, a mountain underwater ridge
in the northeast Pacific Ocean. When the sensors detected the
appearance of oxygen, the team first assumed that the equipment had
failed. However, the gas content was confirmed during subsequent
inspections.
In the course of further research, it turned out that oxygen is
formed as a result of an electrochemical reaction that occurs when
rust comes into contact with salt water. A voltage of 1.5 volts is
sufficient to split seawater. Individual nodules can reach voltages
up to 0.95 volts. Combining into clusters, they produce a powerful
enough current to decompose the surrounding liquid into oxygen and
hydrogen.
Scientists have noted that an open natural mechanism may be
critically important for oxygenating the depths of the ocean.
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