Bioelectrical oscillations and scaling behaviour of sea mud

Mougkogiannis, Panagiotis; Adamatzky, Andrew

Abstract

This study uses a systematic approach to examine the bioelectric dynamics of marine sediments. We used an eight-channel recording system to measure bioelectric potentials. It had Pt/Ir electrodes and high-precision data acquisition (1 Hz sampling, 24-bit resolution). The setup was temperature-controlled (23±1°C). It had optimized electrode placement to capture spatial variations. Our analysis revealed: (1) Channel-specific amplitude variations of 8.82±8.24 mV to 85.11±21.22 mV, indicating varied bioelectric activity; (2) A consistent periodic behaviour with mean intervals of ∼640 seconds across channels; (3) Power-law frequency scaling with exponents α∈[−1.49,−0.84], suggesting critical dynamics; (4) Strong spatial correlations (ρij=0.51−0.85) indicating coordinated network behaviour. The scaling exponents from detrended fluctuation analysis (αDFA=1.17−1.54) strongly support self-organized criticality. These findings suggest marine sediment is a natural info-processing network. It may have uses in unconventional computing and environmental sensing. The observed dynamics and coordination patterns show new, complex capacities. They could inspire bio-inspired computing architectures.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 14, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Feb 28, 2025
• Publication Date: May 31, 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 28, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 4, 2025
• Journal: International Journal of Electrochemical Science
• Print ISSN: 1452-3981
• Electronic ISSN: 1452-3981
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 5
• Article Number: 100972
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijoes.2025.100972
• Keywords: Sea mud, Oscillations of electrical potential, Bioelectronics
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/13828637
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1452398125000471