Researchers claim to have discovered compelling proof of an ocean deep within the Earth.
An international team of researchers has concluded in a recently published study that the transition zone, a boundary between our planet’s lower and upper mantle, which lies hundreds of miles below the surface of the Earth, contains much more water and carbon dioxide than previously assumed.
This determination was made by analyzing an extremely rare diamond likely formed at a depth of 410 miles in Botswana.
This research could greatly impact our comprehension of the Earth’s water cycle and how it has progressed into the current oceanic environment over the past 4.5 billion years.
This immense store may be composed of a murky blend of sediment and water-containing rocks, existing at unfathomably high pressures. It has the potential to be exceptionally voluminous in size.
Research suggests that the transition zone could hold up to six times the amount of water present in all of Earth’s oceans combined.
The team scrutinized a diamond from the Earth’s mantle, where ringwoodite is abundant. Ringwoodite, composed of mineral minerals, is most likely to form in extreme temperatures and pressure conditions. Remarkably, the diamond contained ringwoodite and water, which served as crucial evidence for the researchers.
Researchers have long believed that the Earth’s transition zone held a significant amount of water, bolstered by the findings from an analysis of a diamond in 2014. The current study further strengthens this theory.
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