A new study suggests that the ocean floor might be a large, overlooked source of hydrogen gas. Researchers from Duke University analyzed the quantity of hydrogen gas in places where new oceanic crust forms. They analyzed at what rate and what the total scale of this formation may be. They came to conclusion that previous numbers were underestimated by one or two orders of magnitude.

Web-portal of science news PhysOrg provides more details about the discovery.

Research on origin of hydrogen provides some insight on the formation of the life, which is believed to use hydrogen as an energy source in its primordial stage. But this research is also important because natural hydrogen has potential to diversify current sources of energy.

Earlier this year we published some news about the discovery of natural hydrogen on the land, potentially more easily accessible than on the floor of oceans.

Image: Mid-oceanic ridge, source: Wikipedia