Deep-sea metals could be a source of oxygen for life on the ocean floor

The polymetallic nodules that mining companies hope to harvest from the deep sea floor could provide a source of oxygen for the animals, plants and bacteria that live there, researchers say.

The discovery of this "dark oxygen" could shake up negotiations taking place this month in Jamaica, where a global regulatory body, the International Seabed Authority, is meeting to decide the future of deep-sea mining.

The work was recently published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

"This study is a great example of how limited our knowledge of the deep ocean currently is and how much we can still benefit from ...