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Huge 'Ocean' Discovered Inside Earth

M

michaels

Banned
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/200...ideearth;_ylt=AjZEYgrWpWR7amCxmc.sw4gD
Scientists scanning the deep interior of Earth have found evidence of a vast water reservoir beneath eastern Asia that is at least the volume of the Arctic Ocean.
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The discovery marks the first time such a large body of water has found in the planet?s deep mantle.

The finding, made by Michael Wysession, a seismologist at Washington State University in St. Louis, and his former graduate student Jesse Lawrence, now at the University of California, San Diego, will be detailed in a forthcoming monograph to be published by the American Geophysical Union.

Looking down deep

The pair analyzed more than 600,000 seismograms?records of waves generated by earthquakes traveling through the Earth?collected from instruments scattered around the planet.

They noticed a region beneath Asia where seismic waves appeared to dampen, or ?attenuate,? and also slow down slightly. ?Water slows the speed of waves a little,? Wysession explained. ?Lots of damping and a little slowing match the predictions for water very well.?

Previous predictions calculated that if a cold slab of the ocean floor were to sink thousands of miles into the Earth?s mantle, the hot temperatures would cause water stored inside the rock to evaporate out.

?That is exactly what we show here,? Wysession said. ?Water inside the rock goes down with the sinking slab and it?s quite cold, but it heats up the deeper it goes, and the rock eventually becomes unstable and loses its water.?

The water then rises up into the overlying region, which becomes saturated with water [image]. ?It would still look like solid rock to you,? Wysession told LiveScience. ?You would have to put it in the lab to find the water in it.?

Although they appear solid, the composition of some ocean floor rocks is up to 15 percent water. ?The water molecules are actually stuck in the mineral structure of the rock,? Wysession explained. ?As you heat this up, it eventually dehydrates. It?s like taking clay and firing it to get all the water out.?

The researchers estimate that up to 0.1 percent of the rock sinking down into the Earth?s mantle in that part of the world is water, which works out to about an Arctic Ocean?s worth of water.

?That?s a real back of the envelope type calculation,? Wysession said. ?That?s the best that we can do at this point.?

The Beijing anomaly

Wysession has dubbed the new underground feature the ?Beijing anomaly,? because seismic wave attenuation was found to be highest beneath the Chinese capital city. Wysession first used the moniker during a presentation of his work at the University of Beijing.

?They thought it was very, very interesting,? Wysession said. ?China is under greater seismic risk than just about any country in the world, so they are very interested in seismology.?

Water covers 70 percent of Earth?s surface and one of its many functions is to act like a lubricant for the movement of continental plates.

?Look at our sister planet, Venus,? Wysession said. ?It is very hot and dry inside Venus, and Venus has no plate tectonics. All the water probably boiled off, and without water, there are no plates. The system is locked up, like a rusty Tin Man with no oil.?
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Reminds me of the underwater ocean in the old "Journey to the Center of the Earth" movie. Pretty cool. I'd like to see it explored someday.

Fern
 
Originally posted by: Fern
Reminds me of the underwater ocean in the old "Journey to the Center of the Earth" movie. Pretty cool. I'd like to see it explored someday.

Fern
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Considering that it's mostly rock with some water molecules trapped inside, I doubt there will be much "exploring" going on.
 
i blame the misleading title on stupid reporters who don't realize that what is being discussed is a rock saturated with water.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
i blame the misleading title on stupid reporters who don't realize that what is being discussed is a rock saturated with water.
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Yeah after reading it I was like, "uh where's the ocean then?"
 
Good! Now all we need to do is drill a tunnel large enough for a mini sub to fit through. That we can learn about ways of exploiting it's resources.
 
Originally posted by: bignateyk
Did anyone actually read it? All they are talking about is water molecules trapped inside of rock.
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I read it, but the thought of an actual underground ocean is much more cooler.
 
Originally posted by: AdamK47
Originally posted by: bignateyk
Did anyone actually read it? All they are talking about is water molecules trapped inside of rock.
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I read it, but the thought of an actual underground ocean is much more cooler.
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agreed. let's forget what the article said and discuss what life would be like with an actual ocean underground.
 
Originally posted by: daveymark
Originally posted by: AdamK47
Originally posted by: bignateyk
Did anyone actually read it? All they are talking about is water molecules trapped inside of rock.
Click to expand...

I read it, but the thought of an actual underground ocean is much more cooler.
Click to expand...

agreed. let's forget what the article said and discuss what life would be like with an actual ocean underground.
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I wonder if the crab people like to vacation there.
 
Originally posted by: jjones
Any chance that's beer and not just plain water?
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I'm waiting for them to announce its really an atlantic ocean full of OIL! That would send all the enviromnetalsits crazy 😛.
 
Tonight at 11 - Godzilla's Crib has been discovered - asked for comment, Mr. Zilla replied: "RRRHHHAWWWW!!!!"

Tune in tonight at 11 for the full story!
 
Originally posted by: bignateyk
Did anyone actually read it? All they are talking about is water molecules trapped inside of rock.
Click to expand...

Damned, this "science" is destroying the fun!:|
Where's the big ocean, where's the 300 ft. pleiosaurus, where's the party???
 
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