Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor

Andrew k. Sweetman; Alycia J. Smith; Danielle S. W. De Jonge; Tobias Hahn; Peter Schroedl; Michael Silverstein; Claire Andrade; R. Lawrence Edwards; Alastair J. M. Lough; Clare Woulds; William B. Homoky; Andrea Koschinsky; Sebastian Fuchs; Thomas Kuhn; Franz Geiger; Jeffrey J. Marlow

doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01480-8

Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor

Andrew k. Sweetman, Alycia J. Smith, Danielle S. W. De Jonge, Tobias Hahn, Peter Schroedl, Michael Silverstein, Claire Andrade, R. Lawrence Edwards, Alastair J. M. Lough, Clare Woulds, William B. Homoky, Andrea Koschinsky, Sebastian Fuchs, Thomas Kuhn, Franz Geiger, Jeffrey J. Marlow

SAMS UHI

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Deep-seafloor organisms consume oxygen, which can be measured by in situ benthic chamber experiments. Here we report such experiments at the polymetallic nodule-covered abyssal seafloor in the Pacific Ocean in which oxygen increased over two days to more than three times the background concentration, which from ex situ incubations we attribute to the polymetallic nodules. Given high voltage potentials (up to 0.95 V) on nodule surfaces, we hypothesize that seawater electrolysis may contribute to this dark oxygen production.

Original language	English
Number of pages	16
Journal	Nature Geoscience
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01480-8
Publication status	Published - 22 Jul 2024

Keywords

element cycles
environmental chemistry
environmental impact
marine biology
marine chemistry

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/s41561-024-01480-8Licence: CC BY

Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor
© The Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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Cite this

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AU - Smith, Alycia J.

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AU - Schroedl, Peter

AU - Silverstein, Michael

AU - Andrade, Claire

AU - Edwards, R. Lawrence

AU - Lough, Alastair J. M.

AU - Woulds, Clare

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AU - Koschinsky, Andrea

AU - Fuchs, Sebastian

AU - Kuhn, Thomas

AU - Geiger, Franz

AU - Marlow, Jeffrey J.

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N2 - Deep-seafloor organisms consume oxygen, which can be measured by in situ benthic chamber experiments. Here we report such experiments at the polymetallic nodule-covered abyssal seafloor in the Pacific Ocean in which oxygen increased over two days to more than three times the background concentration, which from ex situ incubations we attribute to the polymetallic nodules. Given high voltage potentials (up to 0.95 V) on nodule surfaces, we hypothesize that seawater electrolysis may contribute to this dark oxygen production.

AB - Deep-seafloor organisms consume oxygen, which can be measured by in situ benthic chamber experiments. Here we report such experiments at the polymetallic nodule-covered abyssal seafloor in the Pacific Ocean in which oxygen increased over two days to more than three times the background concentration, which from ex situ incubations we attribute to the polymetallic nodules. Given high voltage potentials (up to 0.95 V) on nodule surfaces, we hypothesize that seawater electrolysis may contribute to this dark oxygen production.

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KW - environmental impact

KW - marine biology

KW - marine chemistry

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M3 - Article

SN - 1752-0894

JO - Nature Geoscience

JF - Nature Geoscience

ER -

Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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