Two world-first landers that can withstand 1,200 times the pressure on earth’s surface will help answer one of the ocean’s deepest mysteries – where does Dark Oxygen come from?Professor Andrew Sweetman of
Two world-first landers that can withstand 1,200 times the pressure on earth’s surface will help answer one of the ocean’s deepest mysteries – where does Dark Oxygen come from?
Professor Andrew Sweetman of the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) made waves in 2024 when his team discovered metallic nodules in the deep sea appeared to be producing oxygen. These nodules, which contain highly sought-after metals, could clarify how animal life is distributed thousands of meters beneath the waves, where sunlight cannot penetrate, calling into question the prevailing scientific understanding that oxygen production is linked to sunlight, through processes such as photosynthesis.
But exactly how this oxygen is produced in the darkness of the deep ocean is still unclear. The Nippon Foundation has funded a three-year research project that convenes Professor Sweetman alongside geobiologist and Mars Rover veteran Professor Jeffrey Marlow from Boston University, and renowned chemist Professor Franz M Geiger, of Northwestern University, to answer this question.
To find the answer the team of leading experts, known as The Nippon Foundation - Dark Oxygen Research Initiative (DORI), has designed two highly specialised landers that resemble equipment more often associated with space exploration. Named Alisa and Kaia after Professor Sweetman’s daughters,
Content Original Link:
" target="_blank">
