Scientists Say they Found Oxygen Where it Shouldn鈥檛 Be. The Hunt is On for More Answers | CNN

Barons, Alberta, Canada, one of the groundwater sampling sites for Ruff et al., Nature Communications, 2023, which reported detection of dark oxygen deep below the Canadian prairie. Photo courtesy of Emil Ruff

MBLscientist Emil Ruff is quoted in this article on dark oxygen. Ruff and colleagues detected oxygen in freshwater samples tens to hundreds of meters beneath the Canadian prairie, which they reported in a .

A startling discovery made public in July that on the Pacific Ocean鈥檚 seabed, where no light can penetrate, was a scientific bombshell.

Initial research suggested potato-size nodules rich in metals, predominantly found 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) below the surface in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, released an electrical charge, splitting seawater into oxygen and hydrogen through electrolysis. The unprecedented natural phenomenon challenges the idea that oxygen can only be made from sunlight via photosynthesis.

Andrew Sweetman, a professor at the UK鈥檚 Scottish Association for Marine Science who was behind the find, is embarking on a three-year project to investigate the production of 鈥渄ark鈥 oxygen further.