The identification of supersaturated solutions can be used as a tool for marine ecologists to study the activity of organisms and populations. Photosynthetic organisms release O 2 gas into the water. Thus, an area of the ocean supersaturated with O 2 gas can likely determined to be rich with photosynthetic activity. Though some O 2 will naturally be found in the ocean due to simple physical chemical properties, upwards of 70% of all oxygen gas found in supersaturated regions can be attributed to photosynthetic activity.