Textbooks to the Trash. All because of an unusual “potato”
Remember biology lessons where we were taught how oxygen is created? When we were told that if it weren’t for photosynthesis, things would be fragile? Well, it turns out that’s not entirely true. A certain “potato” straight from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean proves it.
The new source of this vital gas is more than 4,000 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, in the area between Mexico and Hawaii, in the so-called Clarion-Clipperton zone. This area is huge, and its surface is larger than India. This is where the gas is produced, which due to its unique specificity is called “dark oxygen”. All because of the unusual place and source of its creation.
Oxygen to electricity
Life-giving gas is produced by polymetallic nodules rich in – indicates the naukawpolsce.pl portal, citing the results published in “Nature Geoscience”. They are created when metals dissolved in sea water accumulate, for example, on shell fragments. There you can find such valuable substances as lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper, used for example in the production of solar panels or batteries.
Due to the uniqueness of this phenomenon Initially, they were even omitted because it was not in line with textbook knowledge. But after repeating the measurements using an alternative technique, the hypothesis of a reading error was ruled out. The researchers were therefore certain that Even though there is a lack of sunlight in such deep ocean waters, the process of oxygen production still takes place there by decomposition of water with the participation of nodules.
Importantly, this is another piece of the world’s oxygen puzzle. Huge amounts of this gas are produced in the oceans.but in much shallower places, where photosynthesis takes place with the help of algae. Now, however, researchers could take a closer look at an alternative source of oxygen. For this purpose, laboratory tests were carried out on a nodule the size of a medium potato. The result was literally electrifying, because the voltage on its surface was almost equal to that of an AA battery (“big finger”). This makes it possible to generate electric currents strong enough to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen.
