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Dark Oxygen

All articles tagged with #dark oxygen

Experts challenge deep-sea 'dark oxygen' claim, call for retracting 2024 study
planet-earth22 days ago

Experts challenge deep-sea 'dark oxygen' claim, call for retracting 2024 study

A 2024 study claimed that deep-sea polymetallic nodules could generate oxygen in total darkness via seawater electrolysis, but a December 2025 opinion article from marine scientists and electrochemists argues the results are flawed and likely artifacts, citing improper chamber ventilation, absence of negative controls, missing hydrogen data, and a thermodynamics violation; the authors defend their work and plan a spring CCZ expedition to test the phenomenon, but many experts say the study should be retracted unless the evidence is revised.

Deep-Sea Mission Set to Verify Dark Oxygen From Ocean Nodules
science2 months ago

Deep-Sea Mission Set to Verify Dark Oxygen From Ocean Nodules

Scientists plan two 11-km-deep landers in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone to test whether metallic seabed nodules emit oxygen, a controversial claim dubbed 'dark oxygen.' The study, which could reshape ideas about life's origins, will measure seafloor respiration and rule out buoyant air artefacts while contending with mining industry skepticism; results are expected within days of deployment, with broader analyses following the ship’s June return.

UK deep-sea landers to crack the mystery of dark oxygen
science2 months ago

UK deep-sea landers to crack the mystery of dark oxygen

Two world‑first deep‑sea landers—Alisa and Kaia—will be deployed in the Pacific’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone to investigate how oxygen forms in complete darkness, testing whether manganese nodules interact with saltwater to produce electricity or if another electrochemical/biochemical process is at work, with an accompanying lander to measure oxygen flux; the three‑year project, backed by UNESCO as a UN Ocean Decade initiative, seeks to uncover the origins of dark oxygen and its implications for life in the deep ocean.