Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery that could rewrite everything we thought we knew about where Earth’s water came from. A group of researchers has found an underground ocean locked in stone, approximately 700 kilometers below the Earth’s crust. This reservoir is trapped inside a mineral called ringwoodite, a blue rock buried deep in the Earth’s mantle.
The implications are massive. If confirmed, this discovery could mean that Earth’s oceans did not come from comets or asteroids, as some theories suggest. Instead, they might have slowly oozed out from deep inside the planet itself, changing the narrative on Earth’s ancient water cycle.
Scientists made the discovery by analyzing seismic waves generated by over 500 earthquakes across the United States using a network of over 2,000 seismographs. The study, led by geophysicist Steven Jacobsen at Northwestern University, provides the first solid evidence of a deep Earth water reservoir.
This new perspective on the planet’s water cycle suggests that water stored between mineral grains in the mantle might play a more significant role in regulating Earth’s surface water levels than previously thought. Without this internal water storage, the Earth’s surface could be almost entirely covered by water, with only mountain peaks remaining above sea level.
Future research plans include gathering more seismic data globally to see if similar water-rich zones exist elsewhere beneath the Earth’s surface. This finding is just the beginning of unraveling the mysteries of our planet’s watery past and its potential impact on life itself.
Source: https://glassalmanac.com/a-massive-hidden-ocean-was-just-discovered-700-km-beneath-earths-surface