#geobatteries

[hlootooart]

SO THE DEEP SEA HAS OXYGEN-PRODUCING GEOBATTERIES

So apparently there’s nodules of “metals like lithium, cobalt and copper” that just so happen to be the main components of batteries. These nodules do what’s called “electrolysis”, which is splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. This means that oxygen is being produced in the DEEP FRIGGIN SEA WITHOUT SUNLIGHT. This is, possibly, the first time an oxygen-making process outside of photosynthesis has ever been recorded.

This is so bizarre that for like 8 years the scientists observed this and thought there were problems with their equipment. But every time they sent the machines to get looked at, they were told that there was nothing wrong with the anything. But as of this year they’ve finally realized the truth.

I’ve considered using electrolysis to make oxygen for creatures before but never thought to make it an actual feature of the environment before! This is so cool! Now underwater fantasy civilizations may look a little less primitive now!

GOD I love the deep sea… 🌊

[walks-the-ages]

To summarize, "Dark Oxygen" is oxygen being produced at the sea floor in almost complete darkness, so photosynthesis has been ruled out. (Hence the "Dark" in the name).

The current theory is:

~

Understanding dark oxygen Through a series of experiments, the researchers ruled out biological processes such as microbes and zoned in on the nodules themselves as the phenomenon’s origin. Perhaps, they reasoned, it was oxygen being released from manganese oxide in the nodule. But such a release wasn’t the cause, Sweetman said. A documentary about deep-sea mining that Sweetman watched in a hotel bar in São Paulo, Brazil, unleashed a breakthrough. “There was someone on it saying, ‘That’s a battery in a rock,’” he recalled. “Watching this, I suddenly thought, could it be electrochemical? These things they want to mine to make batteries, could they actually be batteries themselves?” Electric current, even from an AA battery, when placed into saltwater, can split the water into oxygen and hydrogen — a process known as seawater electrolysis, Sweetman said. Perhaps, the nodule was doing something similar, he reasoned. Sweetman approached Franz Geiger, an electrochemist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and together they investigated further. Using a device called a multimeter to measure tiny voltages and variations in voltages, they recorded readings of 0.95 volts from the surface of the nodules. These readings were less than the voltage of 1.5 required for seawater electrolysis but suggested that significant voltages could occur when nodules are clustered together. “It appears that we discovered a natural ‘geobattery,’” said Geiger, the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, in a news release. “These geobatteries are the basis for a possible explanation of the ocean’s dark oxygen production.”

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

[zara24smit]

"Dark Oxygen": A New Discovery, An Old Problem. ALLATRA

The ocean, holding countless mysteries, has once again astonished us with its grandeur.

Deep beneath the waves, where eternal darkness reigns, scientists have discovered metallic minerals capable of producing oxygen!

This discovery, dubbed "dark oxygen," is revolutionizing our understanding of biological processes.

Amazingly, these polymetallic nodules, ranging in size from tiny particles to the size of an average potato, contain valuable metals like cobalt, nickel, copper, lithium, and manganese, used in batteries.

"It looks like we've discovered a natural 'geobattery,'" said researcher Geiger. "These geobatteries are the basis for a possible explanation of the ocean's dark oxygen production."

An international group of scientists conducting research to study the seabed and its features in the Pacific Ocean, focusing on the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, ultimately discovered polymetallic nodules producing oxygen at the bottom of the ocean.

The minerals were found at the depth of the ocean, living in absolute darkness. Andrew Sweetman of the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) called it "dark oxygen" and discovered the metallic minerals that release oxygen while conducting field research from a ship in the Pacific Ocean.

Oxygen is released from polymetallic nodules, which are described as natural mineral deposits that form on the ocean floor. They are a mixture of various minerals ranging in size from tiny particles to an average potato.

Undoubtedly, our planet holds many more amazing discoveries.

For there to continue to be a place and people to study its secrets, saving the Earth must be a priority for all humanity.

After all, the Earth is now entering a 12,000-year cycle, and climate change and increasing cataclysms are the planet's immune response to changing conditions in space. A unified scientific center for humanity is needed to solve climate problems and for promising new discoveries.

Our planet is entering a 12,000-year cycle, and climate change is its immune response to changing cosmic conditions.

Cataclysms are intensifying, and we need to act!

ALLATRA is an organization that doesn't just talk about the problem, it actively seeks solutions.

We, the volunteers of ALLATRA, understand that saving the Earth means saving humanity.

We need to unite the scientific potential of all countries in a single center to:

Develop comprehensive solutions to combat the climate crisis.

Continue research in all branches of science and technology, so that humanity can survive in the face of the climate crisis.

We must act preemptively!

Only by uniting can we overcome this challenge and save our planet!

Share this information on social media.

Like, share, comment, and applaud. By doing so, you are saving people and the planet.

#ALLATRA #climatecrisis #creativesociety #technology #unifiedsciencecenter

[gizmotemusic]

The basic idea is that a marine scientist named Andrew Sweetman detected oxygen at depths where photosynthesis was impossible, so he assumed it was faulty data until it was repeatedly confirmed. Samples of the oxygen also revealed it wasn't created by microbes. But if it's not photosynthesis or other forms of life, how is there oxygen here? The answer seems to be clumps of metal on the seafloor called nodules.

The nodules form over the course of millions of years through chemical processes that cause metals to precipitate out of water around shell fragments, squid beaks and shark teeth and cover a surprisingly large area of the seafloor. Metals such as cobalt, nickel, copper, lithium and manganese contained in the nodules are in high demand for use in solar panels, electric car batteries and other green technology.

Batteries, you say? Batteries in water can perform electrolysis, which splits H20 into its component hydrogen and oxygen. Is electrolysis the source of this "dark" oxygen? Sure enough, Sweetman and electrochemist Franz Geiger tested a nodule and found it produced a small voltage!

“It appears that we discovered a natural ‘geobattery,’” said Geiger [...]. “These geobatteries are the basis for a possible explanation of the ocean’s dark oxygen production.”

Next steps for this theory include verifying whether the nodule explanation is indeed the correct one through field work and further experiments. And this discovery contributes to the discussion of protecting the seafloor from nodule mining, because undersea ecosystems are harmed by mining. This dark oxygen discovery could help us understand the ecosystems around these nodules better, and maybe even shed light on the origin of life!

So "dark" oxygen just refers to the fact that this oxygen was produced without photosynthesis. So it's chemically indistinguishable from "light" oxygen and wouldn't be any different to breathe (assuming you had the same concentrations of other gases that we have in normal air). But would it be cool to breathe "dark" oxygen produced in the deep ocean by natural "geobatteries" splitting apart water? Absolutely.

I need to breathe this immediately.