Massive ‘ocean’ discovered towards Earth’s core

[Alpha One Seven]

By Andy Coghlan

A reservoir of water three times the volume of all the oceans has been discovered deep beneath the Earth’s surface. The finding could help explain where Earth’s seas came from.

The water is hidden inside a blue rock called ringwoodite that lies 700 kilometres underground in the mantle, the layer of hot rock between Earth’s surface and its core.

The huge size of the reservoir throws new light on the origin of Earth’s water. Some geologists think water arrived in comets as they struck the planet, but the new discovery supports an alternative idea that the oceans gradually oozed out of the interior of the early Earth.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25723-massive-ocean-discovered-towards-earths-core/

Not new news, but something not a lot of folks know about.

 

[whm1974]

I read something about this, but that was some time ago.

 

[paperfist]

Is it salt water?

Do the Chinese know about this?

 

[Chaotic42]

Hey, that's enough for a year's worth of farming in California!

 

[IronWing]

I read something about this, but that was some time ago.

Probably this thread:
https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...-400-miles-underground.2387646/#post-36453805

 

[paperfist]

Hey, that's enough for a year's worth of farming in California!

Of almonds...

 

[Skunk-Works]

Old news is old.

 

[dud]

Whether old news or new news, my guess is that the water is still there.

 

[NuclearNed]

Jules Verne knew about this a long time ago

 

[Red Storm]

Considering how deep the oceans are and that they cover most of the surface of our planet, to think there's three times that amount sitting in a rock far under the surface is crazy.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Never knew Sunless Sea was a documentary game.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/304650/SUNLESS_SEA/

 

[Gunbuster]

Deepest we have ever drilled is around 8 miles. I would not exactly call this an iron clad discovery. More like a theory he has and needs to set himself up with enough grants to have a cushy life following this up for years and years. But hey maybe that's just me being a pessimist.

 

[rh71]

It's amazing to me that the Earth's core is 4000 miles deep. Like the distance from NY to Barcelona.

And if there were a hole drilled, it would take someone simply falling through about 20 minutes to reach it. https://www.livescience.com/50312-how-long-to-fall-through-earth.html

 

[rh71]

So how long until we go and discover this reservoir beneath the surface of Mars?

 

[IronWing]

So how long until we go and discover this reservoir beneath the surface of Mars?

That would work if the earth is really flat and Mars is on the flip side. What is on the flip side of the flat earth? <Off to google that.>

 

[Pick2]

OMG ! They discovered that water runs downhill ? What will they come up with next

 

[Alpha One Seven]

So how long until we go and discover this reservoir beneath the surface of Mars?

Not long since it snows there.

 

[SKORPI0]

Rare Diamond Confirms That Earth's Mantle Holds an Ocean's Worth of Water March 2014.

The diamond contains ringwoodite, which is water-rich but only forms naturally under the extreme pressure found in Earth's mantle.

https://www.theguardian.com/science...underground-ocean-three-times-that-on-surface

The water is locked up in a mineral called ringwoodite about 660km (400 miles) beneath the crust of the Earth.
Ringwoodite acts like a sponge due to a crystal structure that makes it attract hydrogen and trap water.
If just 1% of the weight of mantle rock located in the transition zone was water it would be equivalent to nearly three times the amount of water in our oceans.

 

[quikah]

What is on the flip side of the flat earth? <Off to google that.>

Turtles

 

[IronWing]

I wonder if Dansani's stock price will plunge on the news?

 

[paperfist]

Never knew Sunless Sea was a documentary game.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/304650/SUNLESS_SEA/

I thought it was fictional?

Either way that game plays like you're trapped inside a giant, water filled rock.

 

[Kaido]

The Lizard people have to live somewhere, right?

 

[Red Squirrel]

So that's where all the water from Noah's Ark went!

Seriously though, if they found dead organic matter in there that would be a rather interesting discovery. Or heck, new life forms. I imagine that water must be extremely hot though, like past boiling point.

 

[IronWing]

So that's where all the water from Noah's Ark went!

Seriously though, if they found dead organic matter in there that would be a rather interesting discovery. Or heck, new life forms. I imagine that water must be extremely hot though, like past boiling point.

The water is theorized to be locked within the crystal lattice of the ringwoodite.

 

[cbrunny]

does this mean global warming is a hoax?