New International Initiative to Unlock the Mystery of “Dark Oxygen”

 

The Nippon Foundation Dark Oxygen Research Initiative (DORI) aims at leading the way in identifying the source of dark oxygen in the darkest depths of the ocean and closely analyzing the polymetallic nodules and their surrounding deep-sea environment to determine the mechanism by which it is created, it was announced at a press conference in London on January 20.

 

The phenomenon was first discovered 4,000 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean when a team of SAMS researchers, led by Professor Andrew Sweetman, noticed increased oxygen levels despite this occurring on the sunlight-deprived ocean floor.

 

In July 2024, he published the discovery in the journal, Nature Geoscience, calling into question the previously held scientific consensus that oxygen is produced solely from light through photosynthesis.

 

Geobiologist Jeffrey Marlow of Boston University and chemist Franz M. Geiger of Northwestern University, who are globally recognized leaders in their fields, joined the project in late 2025.

 

The scientific world is divided with regard to dark oxygen with some scientists flatly denying its existence.

 

Others hypothesized that ancient polymetallic nodules, found on the ocean floor, were conducting a current that was splitting the water at the ocean floor, producing oxygen and hydrogen.

 

But exactly how this oxygen is produced in the darkness of the deep ocean remains unclear.

 

At the press conference, the scientists unveiled two new landers that are capable of diving to a depth of 11 kilometers and withstanding 1,200 times the pressure on Earth's surface with the aim of finding out how the nodules could be creating oxygen. 

 

Unlike the previous missions, these landers will have sensors specifically designed to "measure seafloor respiration", Mr. Sweetman explained.

 

The landers will be launched from a research ship in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the central Pacific Ocean, a vast region between Hawaii and Mexico, in the spring. The world will probably not know the results until the vessel returns from the expedition in June and further experiments back on dry land could take months, he added.

 

Executive Director Mitsuyuki Unno of The Nippon Foundation, commented: “The ocean’s depths are still a world that is unknown to humans. To use the ocean’s great potential responsibly and ensure that we pass on its bounty for humanity to future generations, we must preserve and use it based on sound science. If the existence of dark oxygen is reconfirmed, we will determine how important it is for deep-sea ecosystems.”

 

Professor Sweetman stated: “This truly is a global research initiative, and one which has global implications. We know there are several areas of the ocean where dark oxygen may have been identified. It is very exciting because whatever the research shows could help us answer some of the biggest mysteries about life on Earth.”

 

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) has endorsed the project as a UN Ocean Decade activity.

The Nippon Foundation is funding the follow-up studies with a grant of U.S. $5.2 million.

 

 

 

 

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