Scientists from the Nippon Foundation have unveiled two deep-sea robots dedicated to studying "dark oxygen," a rare substance that forms at depths of nearly 4,000 meters.
The two underwater devices withstand pressures more than 1,200 times that of atmospheric pressure. This oxygen was first discovered in 2013 by researcher Andrew Sweetman in the Clarion-Clipperton area of the Pacific Ocean. Scientists have shown that polymetallic compounds on the ocean floor can act as natural batteries, splitting seawater into oxygen and hydrogen.
The project involves Jeffrey Marlow, a geologist at Boston University, and Franz M. Geiger, a chemist at Northwestern University. The researchers plan to investigate how oxygen forms in the dark and what factors influence this process. The polymetallic compounds, containing nickel, cobalt, and manganese, could shed light on the distribution of marine life. Two robots, named Alyssa and Kaya, will study the interaction of these compounds with seawater and the potential role of microorganisms in this process.
The two robots are expected to be deployed in 2026 in the Clarion-Clipperton area to collect water samples and assess the electrical activity around these compounds. The robots will also record signs of electrochemical or biological processes that could illuminate the mechanism of oxygen formation. The results from the Dark Oxygen Research Initiative (DORI) will help shed light on the mystery of the origin of life on Earth and the mechanisms of oxygen formation in the deep ocean.
