New discoveries show biological formation of oxygen in soils
Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - 07:30
in Earth & Climate
In the 1930s, the ability of green plants to form oxygen through oxidation of water–photosynthesis was discovered. Since then, no other large-scale biological formation of oxygen has been found, until now. New research results show that down in the dark depths of the soil, a previously unknown biochemical process is under way, in which oxygen is formed and carbon dioxide is reduced to organic material.