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

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society

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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
Pages (from-to)	737-739
Number of pages	3
Journal	Nature Geoscience
Volume	17
Issue number	8
Early online date	22 Jul 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01480-8
Publication status	Published - Aug 2024

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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Sweetman, A. K., Smith, A. J., de Jonge, D. S. W., Hahn, T., Schroedl, P., Silverstein, M., Andrade, C., Edwards, R. L., Lough, A. J. M., Woulds, C., Homoky, W. B., Koschinsky, A., Fuchs, S., Kuhn, T., Geiger, F., & Marlow, J. J. (2024). Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor. Nature Geoscience, 17(8), 737-739. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01480-8

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title = "Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor",

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.",

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

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doi = "10.1038/s41561-024-01480-8",

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T1 - Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor

AU - Sweetman, Andrew K.

AU - Smith, Alycia J.

AU - de Jonge, Danielle S. W.

AU - Hahn, Tobias

AU - Schroedl, Peter

AU - Silverstein, Michael

AU - Andrade, Claire

AU - Edwards, R. Lawrence

AU - Lough, Alastair J. M.

AU - Woulds, Clare

AU - Homoky, William B.

AU - Koschinsky, Andrea

AU - Fuchs, Sebastian

AU - Kuhn, Thomas

AU - Geiger, Franz

AU - Marlow, Jeffrey J.

PY - 2024/8

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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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SP - 737

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JO - Nature Geoscience

JF - Nature Geoscience

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Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor

Abstract

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