Scientists discover massive ‘ocean’ deep beneath Earth’s surface

Another hidden gem that scientists have discovered is a massive one, an ocean beneath the Earth’s crust bigger than all the seas on Earth’s surface.

From uncovering a ‘Super-Earth’ to unearthing a molecule that may have been the source of life on Earth, recent discoveries have revealed  the Earth’s mysteries.

As mind-blowing as these discoveries are, here’s another one humans just realized. A massive ocean is hidden underneath the Earth. 

A vast supply of water was just waiting beneath for humans to discover. This massive body of water is sitting 400 miles underground and stored in a rock called ‘ringwoodite.’

🔔 | Scientists discover massive 'ocean' beneath Earth's surface bigger than all the seas above land

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Scientists discovered that the massive ocean is located inside that rock in a sponge-like condition. The state it is in is neither solid nor liquid or gas. Instead, it is in a fourth state.

In the 2014 paper “Dehydration melting at the top of the lower mantle,” there are explanations of similar findings. Steve Jacobsen, a geophysicist who is part of the discovery team, shared some insights.

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He noted, “The ringwoodite is like a sponge, soaking up water. There is something very special about the crystal structure of ringwoodite that allows it to attract hydrogen and trap water.” 

Jacobsen added, “This mineral can contain a lot of water under conditions of the deep mantle.”

Massive ocean discovered beneath the Earth's crust containing more water than on the surface https://t.co/SjMF7AiJlN

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He continued, “I think we are finally seeing evidence for a whole-Earth water cycle, which may help explain the vast amount of liquid water on the surface of our habitable planet. Scientists have been looking for this missing deep water for decades.”

After their earthquake research, the scientists finalized their findings, knowing that the seismometers were getting shockwaves from the Earth’s surface.

From these discoveries, they were able to conclude that the rock ‘ringwoodite’ holds the massive ocean. Thus, if the rock holds only 1% of the water, it means that there is three times more water beneath the Earth’s surface.

The massive ocean is totaling to more percentage of water than there is on the Earth’s oceans.