Deep-sea rocks packed with valuable metals may also be making oxygen in the deep, dark ocean—raising new questions about the cost of mining them.
Scattered across the deep ocean floor are trillions of potato-sized black rocks packed with valuable metals such cobalt and copper. Mining companies want to harvest these nodules to get materials for electric vehicle batteries and other clean energy tech. But recent research suggests the rocks might be producing oxygen in the darkness of the deep sea—potentially supporting marine life in ways we’re just beginning to understand.