January 21, 2014

New discoveries show biological formation of oxygen in soils


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.