Chinese scientists from Hefei University of Technology have discovered that global warming is causing a large amount of silver to form at the bottom of the South China Sea. Similar processes may also occur in the world’s oceans. The research was published in the scientific journal magazine Geophysical Research Letters (GRL).
The amount of silver trapped in marine sediments off the coast of Vietnam has increased significantly since 1850. This coincides with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when humans began releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere on a large scale.
Like other elements, silver originates from the land and enters the oceans through weathering, where rainwater washes the elements from rocks and carries them into rivers.
Certain areas of the ocean are rich in silver due to abundant river runoff, atmospheric dust, human emissions, and hydrothermal vents. Silver in its ionic form (Ag+) is toxic to marine life, but little is known about how it interacts with larger ocean ecosystems.
As core analyses show, metal concentrations in marine sediments have been increasing rapidly over the last 170 years.
Global warming is increasing water temperatures and the strength of coastal winds, which are increasing the intensity of deep-sea upwelling. High levels of dissolved silver could mean organisms are absorbing more of the element. When their life cycle ends, this silver falls to the seafloor with other organic matter, the scientists said.
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Source: Gazeta
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