Everything we thought we knew about Earth and its oceans is starting to challenge us. There is a hidden ocean found underneath the Earth and its depth is around 700 kilometres, and it is trapped within a mineral layer beneath the Earth’s mantle. This discovery, according to researchers, is bigger than all the oceans of the earth combined.
The Economic Times states that this subterranean ocean is made up of water trapped in the crystalline structure of a blue mineral called ringwoodite rather than liquid water. To find this secret reservoir, the study team, headed by geophysicist Steven Jacobsen, analysed seismic data from roughly 500 earthquakes. Found beneath the continent of North America, it is a discovery puzzling scientists and geologists.
An Earthly ocean that is unlike any other
This earthly ocean is far different from the usual ocean that we are used to, in liquid format. This one does not appear in liquid format, or rather, it is not liquid. Reports state that rather, the water is imprisoned inside the ringwoodite molecular structure, a mineral that forms deep within the Earth under extremely high temperatures and pressures.
In other words, the ocean’s form is not water but hidden in a rock and waiting to be released in the right conditions. Scientists used seismic waves from earthquakes. As the waves were moving at high speed, they reached this part of the continent with a trapped ocean, and it raised curiosity within them. This just shows that we do not know the world or earth as much as we think we do.
How does this affect the water cycle on Earth?
The water cycle processes, that is, evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, infiltration and runoff, are what we know. Now, if geologists and experts are saying to have found something else, what does this mean and how is the water cycle affected? It also raises concerns and questions about the formation and the originality of the water cycle.
Perhaps what this means is that Earth’s ocean did not come from space, as scientists claim. Rather, it’s possible that volcanic activity gradually cycled some of the water we drink today from deep beneath the Earth’s mantle to the surface. At this point, our comprehension of the water cycle has changed and we need further knowledge and explanation to understand how it works.
Might this modify the look for water on other worlds and planets?
One thing is for sure: it will not stop the search for water on other planets, particularly Mars. If we can discover this about Earth, then there is a high chance that other planets, including the moon, might have the same thing going on. In other words, planets that appear rocky and dry could potentially still have some water underneath their surface.
If scientists and geologists can break it down for us how the Earth’s water is stored and cycles, then it will give us an idea of how atmospheres, planets and climates were formed and how they get affected too. Particularly, similar subterranean water systems once existed on planets like Mars and Venus, which may have contributed to their potential for life in the past or present.
In order to perform their investigation, Jacobsen’s team used over 2,000 seismographs located throughout the United States to track seismic waves produced by roughly 500 earthquakes. They discovered water-rich rocks far below the surface and investigated how these waves moved through the Earth. Despite not being an ocean in the conventional sense, this reservoir has important implications. By controlling Earth’s surface oceans, scientists think this hidden water could be vital to their stability.
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