Scientists plan deep-sea expedition to probe ‘dark oxygen’
The existence of a previously unknown source of oxygen would call into question long-held assumptions about the origins of life on Earth
A team of scientists announced on Tuesday that they had developed new deep-sea landers specifically to test their contentious discovery that metallic rocks at the bottom of the ocean were producing “dark oxygen”.
If a previously unknown source of oxygen has always been lurking in Earth’s depths, it would represent a remarkable revelation that would call into question long-held assumptions about the origins of life on our planet.
But the deep-sea mining industry – which is keen to extract precious metals from these potato-sized polymetallic nodules – and some researchers have expressed doubts about the claim.
So British marine ecologist Andrew Sweetman, who led the 2024 research that revealed the possible existence of dark oxygen, is planning a new underwater expedition in the coming months.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Sweetman and his team unveiled two new landers capable of diving to a depth of 11km with the aim of finding out how the nodules could be creating oxygen.
Unlike previous missions, these landers will have sensors specifically designed to “measure sea floor respiration”, Sweetman explained.