- 6 weeks ago
New scientific discoveries are revealing that Earth still hides major secrets beneath its surface. Researchers have found oxygen being produced in complete darkness deep on the ocean floor, challenging long-standing ideas about how oxygen forms and how life may have begun. At the same time, scientists have uncovered Earth’s largest underground ocean, locked deep within the planet and reshaping our understanding of the global water cycle. Together, these findings show that fundamental processes on Earth can occur in places once thought impossible, opening new questions about our planet’s past, present, and potential for life. Animation is created by Bright Side.
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00:00When diving into the icy depths of the Pacific Ocean, 13,000 feet down, something strange happens.
00:08The oxygen levels suddenly spike. It doesn't make sense, since we're surrounded by this terrifying darkness.
00:15That's when researchers figured out they were dealing with something totally new. Dark oxygen.
00:21This special kind of oxygen, formed in the cold depths of the ocean, could change our understanding of the origins of life on Earth.
00:28It might even bring us closer to finding life on distant planets, and it was all discovered by accident.
00:37Our adventure begins in the Clarion-Clipperton zone, a vast area in Pacific waters that is larger than Mexico.
00:45When we dive to the very bottom here, we stumble upon these peculiar potato-shaped mounds scattered across the ocean floor.
00:53These are officially called polymetallic modules.
00:56They might not look like much, but these little mounds are like hidden treasure chests.
01:02Over millions of years, metals dissolved in seawater slowly collect around tiny bits of shell or debris, forming these nodules.
01:11Inside them, you'll find valuable metals like manganese, nickel, copper, and cobalt.
01:17These elements are crucial for making batteries, like the ones that power your cell phone and electric vehicles.
01:22That's why the Clarion-Clipperton zone has become a hotspot for deep-sea mining.
01:30Today, 16 deep-sea mining contractors have permission to explore around 20% of its seafloor.
01:37This rush to the depths has made researchers curious to find out what's down there.
01:42So, they've used some advanced machines to collect sediment from the sea bottom.
01:47And then, things got strange.
01:50The instrument started showing something impossible.
01:54Massive amounts of oxygen produced on the seafloor, in complete total darkness.
02:00Now wait, that is not supposed to happen.
02:03You see, the deeper you go into the ocean, the less oxygen you find in the water.
02:08By the time you're about 3,000 feet down, there is barely any left.
02:12The water is too far from the surface for any atmospheric exchange.
02:17And to make matters worse, oxygen is constantly being used up by the deep-sea organisms that live there,
02:23and by bacteria breaking down organic matter.
02:26So, oxygen production this far down is supposed to be impossible.
02:31At first, researchers didn't believe their eyes.
02:36They thought the sensors were broken or faulty,
02:39because every study ever done in the deep-sea has only shown oxygen being consumed, not produced.
02:46But they kept seeing the same results repeatedly.
02:49For 10 years, this mysterious oxygen kept showing up.
02:53Finally, they realized the numbers might not be wrong.
02:57Turns out those metal nodules could be producing oxygen, working like batteries.
03:04When you drop a battery into seawater, you would see bubbles and hear fizzing,
03:08because the electric current splits seawater into oxygen and hydrogen,
03:13in a process known as electrolysis.
03:15So, the researchers' theory was that these nodules were doing the same thing,
03:20but in their natural state.
03:21And they were right.
03:24The nodules were, in fact, electrically charged, carrying about 0.95 volts.
03:30That's not enough to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen.
03:34We would need about 1.5 volts for that, the power of a AA battery.
03:38But when these nodules cluster together, much higher voltages can be observed,
03:43enough to trigger the reaction and produce oxygen.
03:46So, in a way, these nodules were generating electric currents
03:51strong enough to split molecules of seawater and produce oxygen,
03:55even in the complete absence of light.
03:59This discovery is fascinating,
04:01because it completely flips our understanding of how oxygen can be produced.
04:06Up until now, we have always thought oxygen was produced by photosynthesis.
04:11You know, that process where plants and algae
04:13convert sunlight into energy and release oxygen.
04:17But in this pitch-black deep-sea environment,
04:19oxygen was being produced purely through electrolysis.
04:23No sunlight was needed.
04:25That's why people started calling it dark oxygen.
04:30This finding makes us rethink how life might have started on Earth
04:33more than 3 billion years ago.
04:36Think about it.
04:37Plants need oxygen to survive.
04:39But they're the ones that produce oxygen.
04:42So, where did the first oxygen come from?
04:45This complex issue sounds a bit like a chicken-and-egg situation.
04:49But it might have an answer,
04:51now that we know oxygen can be made in ways
04:53that don't need sunlight or photosynthesis.
04:57It's possible there was another mysterious source of oxygen back then,
05:01which could have allowed oxygen-breathing lifeforms to exist
05:04even before photosynthesis became a thing.
05:07The dark oxygen doesn't just change our understanding of Earth's past.
05:14It also opens up new possibilities for life elsewhere in the universe.
05:18If this process is happening here on Earth,
05:21it might also be happening on other planets or moons.
05:24Take Saturn's moon in Cetalus,
05:26or Jupiter's moon Europa, for example.
05:28Both appear to have salty liquid oceans hidden beneath thick layers of ice.
05:34Could dark oxygen be creating oxygen-rich environments in these oceans, too?
05:40The implications go beyond our solar system.
05:44This discovery makes us rethink how we define potential habitats for life.
05:48As we explore exoplanets orbiting distant stars,
05:53understanding dark oxygen production
05:55could help us identify places where life might exist
05:58under conditions completely different from those on Earth.
06:02Instead of only looking for planets with sunlight,
06:05scientists might need to search for signs of chemical reactions
06:08that could support life even in complete darkness.
06:11This is all exciting news.
06:14But let's not forget how our story started with deep-sea mining.
06:17This is how this process usually works.
06:20Companies send down a remote-controlled underwater vehicle,
06:23like a tractor, to crawl along the ocean floor.
06:27This vehicle picks up the metallic nodules and sediment
06:30and pulls them through a pipe up to a ship on the surface.
06:34Once they have the nodules,
06:35the crew sends the leftover sediment back into the ocean at mid-depth.
06:40The sediment eventually settles back down to the ocean floor.
06:44So is deep-sea mining good or bad?
06:47It's hard to say.
06:49On one hand, we've found a massive and exciting deposits of metals
06:53that are essential for creating new, clean technologies
06:56like solar panels and electric vehicles.
06:59With the demand for these critical materials skyrocketing,
07:02and it could grow by up to 600% in the coming decades,
07:06deep-sea mining could be a game-changer.
07:08Some studies even argue that this activity might be less harmful than traditional mining.
07:16Since it happens far out at sea,
07:18it might help us avoid destroying forests or polluting water supplies.
07:22Plus, because it's so hard to reach these minerals,
07:26it might be easier to monitor this activity,
07:28keeping things under control and regulating the process.
07:31On the other hand,
07:34there is this current fear that looking for valuable minerals in the ocean
07:39could disrupt the dark oxygen process.
07:42Those metal-rich nodules aren't just sitting there doing nothing.
07:46I mean, they're actively participating in the chemical processes that shape our planet.
07:51So they could be playing a key role in everything,
07:54from nutrient cycles to the formation of new life.
07:57Scientists believe that mining could eventually damage marine life
08:01and seabed habitats that depend on dark oxygen.
08:06Despite its remote location and extreme conditions,
08:10the Clarion-Clipperton zone is home to a surprisingly diverse
08:13and mysterious range of deep-sea creatures,
08:16from ghostly white sea anemones and deep purple sea cucumbers
08:20to tiny marine isopods, the distant cousins of the pill bug.
08:25But we know little about what's down there.
08:27It's believed that 90% of the creatures that live in the deep waters
08:31of the Clarion-Clipperton zone are unknown to science.
08:35I mean, we do know about their existence,
08:37but they don't have an official name,
08:39and the species can't be identified.
08:42Since the eerie creatures that live in pitch-black depths
08:45are still pretty much a mystery,
08:48it's hard to say if they or their environment
08:50would be really at risk if deep-sea mining continues at full speed.
08:54What experts do know is that we need more studies,
08:58more data, and more understanding.
09:03Scientists discovered the largest water reservoir in the Oregon Cascades.
09:08It's hiding underground,
09:09holding more than twice the water volume of Lake Mead.
09:12Let me specify.
09:14It contains at least 19.4 cubic miles of water,
09:17which is almost 162 trillion bottles of water.
09:21If you drank one bottle a day,
09:24it would take you around 444 billion years to finish your stock.
09:29No wonder this underground aquifer discovery is so awesome.
09:33The Cascade Mountain Range,
09:35which contains the largest aquifer on Earth,
09:38stretches about 700 miles from Northern California to British Columbia.
09:42The High Cascades in Oregon have younger volcanic rocks,
09:46around 8 million years old.
09:49The Western Cascades are much older,
09:5145 million years.
09:53They boast deep canyons and valleys.
09:56Scientists study the transition zone between these two areas
09:59to understand how water moved through volcanic rock
10:03and how volcanic processes had evolved over time.
10:06In the process, researchers measured rock temperatures at different depths.
10:12That's when the underground aquifer discovery happened.
10:16Normally, deeper rocks should be hotter
10:18because it's closer to the Earth's interior.
10:21But, to everyone's surprise,
10:23in several areas,
10:24the temperature stayed the same even at greater depths.
10:28Well, this was a strong clue
10:30that water was flowing through the rock and cooling it down.
10:33In other words,
10:35the Cascades function like a natural water tower,
10:38storing and slowly releasing water into rivers and streams.
10:42These geological water findings are important for two main reasons.
10:47First, it's our potential water source for the future.
10:51Such a massive amount of water stored underground
10:54could be an important resource.
10:56So far, we don't know how long it will remain in its current state
11:00and how resilient it's going to be to changes.
11:03So, we need more research to properly manage its use.
11:08Secondly, it affects volcanic activity.
11:11When water seeps deep underground and reaches magma,
11:15it instantly turns into steam,
11:17creating extreme pressure that can trigger explosive volcanic eruptions.
11:22Understanding how much water is stored in volcanic rock
11:25could help predict future eruptions and the risks they pose.
11:29Now, even though this discovery is exciting,
11:33there are still many unanswered questions.
11:36Like, how does this water move through the volcanic rock?
11:39Or how much of it is actually usable as a water resource?
11:43Since this underground reservoir depends on rain and snow,
11:47a series of dry years could cause big problems
11:50for both water supply and volcanic stability.
11:53Researchers are now working to understand the full impact
11:57of the Cascades Volcanic Water Reservoir
12:00and how to manage it responsibly.
12:02But let's look closely at the geological wonder that is the Cascade Range.
12:07Picture this, a massive mountain range
12:09stretching all the way from Northern California up to British Columbia,
12:14cutting right through the middle of Oregon.
12:16That's the mountain range we're talking about.
12:19In Oregon alone, it's about 260 miles long
12:22and up to 90 miles wide,
12:25covering 17,000 square miles.
12:28Whoa, that's bigger than each of the nine smallest U.S. states.
12:32The coolest thing is that the Oregon part of this mountain range
12:35is basically built by volcanoes
12:37and apparently contains at least one volcanic rock water storage.
12:41The range itself exists because of something called
12:45the Cascadia Subduction Zone,
12:48where the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate,
12:50a chunk of Earth's crust under the Pacific Ocean,
12:53is slowly getting shoved beneath North America.
12:56As it sinks, the intense heat and pressure
12:59force water out of the oceanic rock.
13:02It lowers the melting point of the surrounding mantle
13:05and creates magma.
13:07That magma rises up and fuels the Cascade Volcanoes.
13:10This is part of the Ring of Fire,
13:13the giant belt of volcanoes circling the Pacific.
13:17So, in a way,
13:19the Cascades are part of a much bigger volcanic system
13:22that's constantly shifting and changing.
13:25The Oregon Cascades are actually made up
13:28of two completely different zones,
13:30the Western Cascades and the High Cascades,
13:33and they look nothing alike.
13:35The Western Cascades are the older part.
13:37They formed around 45 million years ago.
13:41These mountains are rugged
13:43and deeply carved up by rivers.
13:46Some canyons are as deep as 3,700 feet.
13:50This part of the range used to be volcanically active,
13:53but over time, erosion has taken over,
13:56reshaping the land.
13:58The High Cascades, on the other hand,
14:00are much younger and way less eroded.
14:03Around 8 million years ago,
14:04the volcanic activity shifted,
14:07and new eruptions filled in old canyons,
14:10smoothing out the landscape.
14:12Eruptions kept piling up fresh lava,
14:14and rivers in this region
14:16didn't have as much time to create deep valleys
14:18like they did in the Western Cascades.
14:21That's why,
14:22if you look at the two regions side by side,
14:25one looks jagged and carved up,
14:27while the other looks smoother
14:28and more built up.
14:30Some of Oregon's most famous volcanoes
14:33are located in the High Cascades.
14:36I'm talking about Mount Hood,
14:38Mount Jefferson,
14:39the Three Sisters,
14:40and Crater Lake,
14:41which actually formed when Mount Mazama
14:44erupted and collapsed in on itself.
14:47Unlike smaller volcanoes that pop up,
14:50erupt for a bit,
14:51and disappear over a few months or years,
14:54these giant volcanic centers
14:56have been active for thousands of years.
14:58And because they've been around for so long,
15:01they have way more complex magma systems.
15:04They produce everything from basalt,
15:07which is a runny, fast-moving lava,
15:09to andesite,
15:10dacite,
15:11and rhyolite.
15:13And rhyolite is the type of magma
15:15that leads to huge explosive eruptions.
15:18So, while some of these volcanoes
15:20might just ooze lava,
15:22others have the potential
15:23for devastating blasts.
15:25Another amazing thing
15:27about these long-lived volcanoes
15:29is that their underground magma chambers
15:31stay hot for a really long time.
15:34That's why the Cascades
15:36are one of the best places
15:37to tap into geothermal energy.
15:39There's a ton of heat
15:40just sitting beneath the surface,
15:42waiting to be used.
15:44Oh, and don't forget about
15:45the Cascades Volcanic Water Reservoir.
15:48Who knows how we will use it in the future?
15:50Now, we already know
15:53that the Cascades
15:54are part of the magnificent
15:55Ring of Fire,
15:56Earth's most explosive zone.
15:58Imagine a massive
15:59horseshoe-shaped belt
16:01wrapping around the Pacific Ocean,
16:03stretching for about 25,000 miles.
16:07It's one of the most
16:07geologically active areas
16:09on the planet.
16:11This is where Earth's
16:12tectonic plates
16:13are constantly shifting,
16:15colliding,
16:16and grinding against each other,
16:18creating some of the world's
16:19most powerful earthquakes,
16:20volcanic eruptions,
16:21and deep ocean trenches.
16:24The Ring of Fire
16:25follows the meeting points
16:27of multiple tectonic plates,
16:29and they all surround
16:30the giant Pacific plate.
16:32These plates
16:33aren't just sitting still.
16:34They're always on the move,
16:36pushing against
16:37or sliding beneath
16:38each other at their boundaries,
16:40known as fault lines.
16:41When this happens,
16:43you get everything
16:43from deep sea trenches
16:44to towering volcanoes
16:46and violent earthquakes.
16:49One of the most
16:50extreme examples
16:51of this activity
16:52is the Mariana Trench,
16:54located east of Guam.
16:56At seven miles deep,
16:58it's the deepest
16:59ocean trench on Earth.
17:01It was formed
17:01by a process called
17:03subduction,
17:04where one tectonic plate
17:05is forced beneath another,
17:08sinking deep
17:08into the Earth's mantle.
17:10The Mariana Trench
17:11is one of the most
17:12mysterious places on Earth.
17:14It's insanely deep,
17:16with crushing pressure
17:17and total darkness.
17:18So for a long time,
17:20people thought
17:20nothing could live down there.
17:22But it turned out
17:23that life existed
17:24even at the very bottom.
17:27In 2005,
17:29scientists found
17:30a tiny single-celled organism
17:32in the Challenger Deep,
17:33the, ahem,
17:34deepest part
17:35of the Mariana Trench.
17:37They also came across
17:38colorful rocky formations
17:40and weird sea cucumbers.
17:43The Mariana Trench
17:44also has hydrothermal vents,
17:46which are basically
17:47underwater hot springs.
17:49Even though the water there
17:51is super hot and acidic,
17:53strange creatures
17:54and microscopic life forms
17:55still manage to survive there.
17:58The Ring of Fire
17:59is also responsible
18:00for 90% of the world's earthquakes.
18:03Some of the most powerful quakes
18:05in history have happened here,
18:06including the 1960
18:08Valdivia earthquake in Chile.
18:10The strongest ever recorded,
18:12which hit a mind-boggling 9.5
18:15on the Richter scale.
18:16But it's not just about earthquakes.
18:18The Ring of Fire
18:19is also home
18:20to about 75%
18:22of the planet's volcanoes.
18:24Some of the most famous eruptions
18:26in history
18:26have come from this region,
18:28like the infamous
18:29Mount Tambora in Indonesia.
18:32In short,
18:33the Ring of Fire
18:33is one of the most dangerous places
18:35on Earth,
18:36but it's also incredibly fascinating.
18:38Who knows what else
18:39scientists might discover
18:40in that region,
18:42like they discovered
18:42the largest water reservoir
18:44in the Cascades.
18:46That's it for today.
18:48So hey,
18:48if you pacified your curiosity,
18:50then give the video a like
18:51and share it with your friends.
18:53Or if you want more,
18:54just click on these videos
18:55and stay on the Bright Side.
18:56And stay on the Bright Side.
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