dark oxygen Archives - Astrobiology

A team of geomicrobiologists walking to a sampling site in a South African gold mine. At this site almost 3 km deep beneath the surface, the researchers can access one of the deepest and oldest ecosystems on Earth. Credit: Emil Ruff

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Journey to the Center of the Earth: The Search for Dark Oxygen

by Keith CowingJanuary 8, 2025January 8, 2025

By Emily Greenhalgh – The elevator ride down was quicker than he expected. South Africa has the deepest active mines on Earth. And MBL scientist Emil Ruff and an international […]

Polymetallic nodules on the seafloor -- NOAA

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Dwellers In The Deep: Biological Consequences Of Dark Oxygen

by Keith CowingAugust 15, 2024August 15, 2024

The striking recent putative detection of “dark oxygen” (dark O2) sources on the abyssal ocean floor in the Pacific at ∼4 km depth raises the intriguing scenario that complex (i.e., […]

Polymetallic nodule. CREDIT Franz Geiger/Northwestern University

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The Deep-ocean Floor Produces Its Own Oxygen

by Keith CowingJuly 22, 2024July 22, 2024

An international team of researchers, including a Northwestern University chemist, has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen — 13,000 feet below the surface.