Arabia Weather - It seems that there is a series of amazing scientific stories that appear regularly recently, and these stories have amazed our minds, and the first of these discoveries was the discovery of a terrifying black hole heading directly towards us, and after that a huge hole was found in the surface of the sun. Then came another surprise when a lost continent was found hundreds of years after its disappearance.
Now, another discovery comes that reveals the existence of a huge ocean hidden under the Earth's crust. It seems that there is a huge water reservoir located 400 miles underground, and this reservoir that stores water in a rock known as "Ringodite" .
This discovery is of great importance, as it could contribute to better elucidating the origin of water on Earth. Specifically, it could provide explanations for the source of the oceans and seas, and perhaps contribute to a deeper understanding of life on our planet.
It was previously discovered that water is stored inside what is known as “mantle rock,” which is one of the Earth’s layers, in an unconventional, sponge-like state, where it is neither liquid, solid, nor gaseous, but rather represents a unique physical state that is considered the fourth in addition to the three main states. Known for the substance, a study on this strange state of water was published in 2014.
Scientists were able to make these discoveries by studying earthquakes and sensing shock waves that extend beneath the surface of the Earth. It was later confirmed that water was trapped inside the rock known as "ringwoodite."
The study indicated that the enormous water storage capacity in the Earth's mantle region (which extends from a depth of 410 to 660 kilometers) indicates the presence of a huge store of water. According to geophysicist Steve Jacobsen, who participated in this study,
“Ringwoodite exhibits a sponge-like behavior toward water, absorbing it in large quantities due to its unique crystalline structure that allows it to attract hydrogen and hold water within it.”
Jacobsen, who was a member of the team that made the discovery, noted the importance of rocks of this type and said:
“It seems that this type of rock has a large capacity for water in the deep mantle,” he added, “It seems that we finally have evidence that sheds light on the complete water cycle on Earth, which may contribute to explaining the presence of this huge amount of liquid water on the surface of our planet.” “Scientists have been searching for these deep waters for decades.”
There are varying theories among scientists regarding the origin of water on Earth, and one of the currently popular theories indicates that water may have come from asteroids or comets . This understanding shows that the solar system in its infancy was not suitable for the presence of water in large quantities, especially with the sun in that era being exposed to huge amounts. From intense ultraviolet rays that can break down water molecules by removing hydrogen from them, according to the NDTV website.
Based on this perception, it is believed that ice may have formed in distant regions of the solar system, and then objects carrying this ice (such as comets or asteroids) collided with the Earth at a later time, and over thousands of millions of years, this water collected inside the rocks in The mantle layer, and then slowly graduated towards the surface thanks to the movement of tectonic plates, forming seas and oceans, according to what geophysicist Steve Jacobsen, who was one of the participants in this discovery, explained.
Based on this study, the possibility that rocks contain only 1% of the total water found on the surface of the Earth means that the volume of undulating water inside these rocks in the mantle layer is three times the amount of water found in the oceans , due to the enormous size of those rocks deep in the Earth. .
Finally, scientists believe that this discovery may contribute to our understanding of the large amount of liquid water that exists on the surface of the planet, as they have long been searching for that deep water that has disappeared for decades.
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Sources:
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