Deep in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Mexico, scientists have discovered that oxygen does not come from living organisms, but from polymetallic nodules, a type of gravel, which calls into question the theory about the origins of life, according to the American website “Space”. Study.
This strange “black oxygen” is produced by a process other than photosynthesis, more than 4,000 meters deep, in the abyssal plain of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, in the central Pacific Ocean, off the west coast of Mexico.
Polymetallic nodules are mineral concretes rich in metals (manganese, copper, cobalt…), and are highly demanded by the industrial sector for the manufacture of batteries, wind turbines or photovoltaic panels.
A vessel from the Scottish Society for Marine Science (SAMS) was taking samples in the area to assess the impact of mining on an ecosystem that is home to unique animal species that survive without light.
conversion without photosynthesis
“We were trying to measure oxygen consumption” at the bottom of the ocean using so-called benthic chambers, said Andrew Sweatman, first author of the study published in the journal Natural Earth Sciences.
The process consists of depositing these bells on marine sediments, and observing how the concentration of oxygen in the water inside it decreases, as it is absorbed by the respiration of living organisms.
But the opposite happened: “Oxygen increased in the water above the sediment, in complete darkness, without photosynthesis,” explained Sweetman, head of the Seafloor Ecology and Biogeochemistry research group at SAMS.
They exclude errors in measurement.
The surprise was so great that the researchers thought the underwater sensors were returning wrong data.
The experts repeated the experiment on their ship to see if the same thing happened on the surface. And again, they noticed an increase in oxygen in those sediment samples, in complete darkness.
“We found on the surface of the nodules an electrical potential almost as high as that of an AA battery,” described Sweetman, who compared the nodules to “batteries inside rocks.”
These amazing properties could be the origin of the process of electrolysis of water, which separates its molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, using an electric current.
This chemical reaction occurs at a voltage of 1.5 volts, which is typically the charge of an AA battery, which the nodules can reach when they are collected, explains a statement from the SAMS association accompanying the study.
“The discovery that oxygen is produced by a process other than photosynthesis is leading us to rethink how life on Earth emerged,” said Nicholas Owens, director of SAMS.
Interplanetary way?
The scientist explains that the “conventional” view is that oxygen “was first produced about 3 billion years ago by cyanobacteria, which led to the evolution of more complex organisms.”
“Life could have begun somewhere other than Earth and near the ocean surface. Since this process is present on our planet, it is possible that it could generate oxygenated habitats on other ‘ocean worlds’ such as Enceladus or Europe (Saturn’s and Jupiter’s moons, respectively), and create conditions there for extraterrestrial life to emerge, Professor Sweetman suggests.
In his opinion, this study will allow for “better regulation” of deep-sea mining exploitation, based on more accurate environmental information.
(AFP, Natural Earth Sciences)
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