Dark Oxygen: a deep sea discovery

Dark Oxygen: a deep sea discovery

From SAMS Ocean Explorer by Scottish Association for Marine Science

February 21, 2025 · 43 min · Season 2 · Episode 6

About this episode

The episode discusses a groundbreaking discovery regarding oxygen production in the deep sea that challenges existing scientific beliefs.

A discovery in the dark depths of the Pacific Ocean has been challenging the scientific consensus of how oxygen is produced and has even called into question how life on Earth began. Photosynthetic organisms like plants and algae use energy from sunlight to create the planet’s oxygen. But new evidence published by Prof. Andrew Sweetman and collaborators, including his former PhD student Dr Danielle de Jonge, has shown how oxygen is also produced in complete darkness at the seafloor 4,000 metr...

Topics covered

  • deep sea discovery
  • oxygen production
  • photosynthesis
  • marine science
  • life origins

Keywords

  • dark oxygen
  • deep sea
  • Pacific Ocean
  • photosynthetic organisms
  • marine science

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Pacific Ocean

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