Scientists reported in the journal Nature that they have found evidence that some of the ancient nodules seabed miners want to collect for their minerals may be creating oxygen.
The research, conducted in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, concerned the polymetallic nodule-covered abyssal seafloor that is the area of greatest interest to deep sea miners. This area has been found to have abundant deposits of the potato-sized nodules, which are considered a potential source of copper, nickel, cobalt, iron, manganese and rare earth elements humans use in batteries and electronic devices.
However, the new research may demonstrate that these nodules, which have been on the sea floor for millions of years, actually produce oxygen. According to the article, scientists studied the nodules for two days during which the oxygen increased “more than three times the background concentration, which from ex situ incubations we attribute to the polymetallic nodules.”
The researchers said significant electrical charges coming off the nodules may be splitting the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the water, resulting in dark oxygen production through seawater electrolysis.
Because the area in question is in international waters, it is governed by the International Seabed Authority which is currently weighing the concerns of many nations that we don’t know enough about the ecosystem of the deep sea or the impact of deep sea mining to move forward without risking the health of the ocean. The possibility that the planet’s oxygen is being produced, in part, by these nodules would be one of the concerns that reinforces that argument.
