WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR OCEANS?
How THE SEA BREATHES
23.07.2024
By Hattie Doyle
Ouroceanstv.com Staff Writer
OXYGEN IN THE DEEP
At least 50% of our worlds oxygen come from Our Oceans. But what does that mean?
It was previously thought that oxygen coming from our oceans was a waste product from plants using sunlight to create energy (photosynthesis) – the same way they do on land.
For this to happen plants need to have sunlight, but at a whopping 5km deep no sunlight can reach the ocean floor.
A SALTWATER BATTERY
Intriguingly these metal nodules contain chemical elements similar to those found in batteries: lithium, copper and cobalt.
If you put a battery we are familiar with into seawater ,it begins to fizz- producing bubbles of oxygen and hydrogen.
So how is the oxygen produced in the dark ocean?
The answer lies in the tiny metallic nodules that scientists have discovered on the seafloor. In a complex chemical reaction these nodules are able to split seawater and create oxygen!
(Image credit: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2019 Southeastern U.S. Deep-sea Exploration)
The Threat of Deep Sea Mining
These metallic nodules may now have a target on their back