Deep inside the Earth mantle, hundreds of miles below the surface, lies an enormous reservoir of water trapped inside a rare blue mineral called ringwoodite. In 2014, scientists analyzing a battered diamond from Juina, Brazil, discovered a microscopic inclusion of ringwoodite that contained around one point five percent water by weight.
This transition zone sits between four hundred ten and six hundred sixty kilometers underground. The intense heat and pressure do not create liquid oceans with waves, but instead force hydrogen and oxygen ions into the crystal structure of the rock itself.
Geologists estimate that if the entire mantle transition zone has similar water concentrations, it could hold as much water as all surface oceans combined. This discovery provides crucial evidence about where Earth oceans originated and how deep planetary water cycles operate.
Could deep planetary water have shaped the evolution of life on Earth?
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Disclaimer: This video is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Information is sourced from public scientific records and images serve illustrative purposes.
