The “transition zone” in the Earth’s mantle earlier suspected to contain water trapped in rare minerals has been proven to have water trapped between the upper and lower mantle layers. A recent study conducted by scientists in the U.S. confirmed direct evidence of water trapped inside a water-rich mineral called ringwoodite between 410 and 660 kilometers underneath the surface of the Earth.

It has finally been validated that the world’s comprising many deep and spread out oceans conceals its largest ocean 400 to 600 kilometers beneath our feet.

Seismic waves travelling through the mantle were analyzed in the experiments as a result of which it was discovered that downward-flowing mantle material is melting at the area where it crosses the demarcation between the transition zone and the lower layer of mantle.

The researchers concluded that there has to be water in the transition zone because of the melting of the upper layer of the mantle. Melting is a way of getting rid of water, which is unstable under conditions in the Earth’s lower mantle, said the researchers.

Instead of being present in the form of liquid, ice or water, water is trapped in the molecular structure of ringwoodite as hydroxide ions or bonded oxygen and hydrogen atoms. Ringwoodite is a rare type of mineral that forms under very high pressures and temperatures such as those present in the mantle’s transition zone from a mineral called olivine. Olivine, also called peridot or chrysolite, is a magnesium iron silicate mineral common in the Earth’s sub-surface.

Scientists have earlier resorted to many approaches so as to unearth evidence of water under the Earth’s surface. However, this is the first time scientists have focused on the potential water-induced melting at the bottom of the transition zone.

Courtesy of this study, it is now known that the water in the Earth’s mantle comes from degassing of molten rock. What now needs to be understood is the amount of water inside the Earth as compared to that on the surface.

52 Responses

  1. KingathaRoad

    Sounds to me like a plausible explanation of where hydrocarbons could come from instead of dead dinosaurs. Just saying.

    Reply
  2. TheTruthAsIKnowIt

    Wow it looks like that?
    Can we did a hole to it instead of China?

    Reply
  3. Frank Lipsky

    If you do not have a scientific education;expressing an opinion about a scientific matter is literally foolish!
    Fools should publish on twitter using hashtag kardashian

    Reply
    • iRick

      OMG Frank…..you are so right……..NOT Do you believe we should just be good little sheep and buy into the largest future tax that will ever be….just cuz the smart brains and Obama say so?

      Reply
      • frank milton lipsky

        SO NOW YOU CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE.YOU JUST PROVED MY POINT

  4. Rudolph

    The headline is misleading and the article is so badly written it’s hard to know what it’s describing or what the conclusions are.

    Reply
  5. my2centz

    Calling it water or even water reserves is is misleading since there would be no practical way to extract it for human use.

    Reply
    • Andrew Collins

      It is good enough for focks news audience, who will believe, that any future water shortages are due to government conspiracy.

      Reply
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  9. PinprickSociety

    It would be convenient to have the name of one of those scientists, their study’s title, or the institution(s) involved in this research.

    Reply
  10. nick572

    Someone is telling a lie. All these “findings” are just a guess. They have no, NO actual evidence of what is that far down or deeper. NONE. this is just an educated guesses, but a guess none the less. I wish articles like this one would clarify that a guess is a guess , a theory is a theory and only a fact is a fact. Might as well say the moon is made of cheese.

    Reply
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    Reply
  15. rudy hodges

    so this water is trpped in minerals- and while there must be alot of water the question is does this water eventually migrate upward and feed aquifers which are less than 200 feet below the surface, or is this deep water destined to stay deep and therefore not available ?

    Reply
  16. Study: Vast Underground 'Ocean' Discovered Near Earth's Core – Mashable | Internet News 247

    […] the volume of all …World’s largest ocean may lie below the ocean floorPBS NewsHourLargest Ocean of the Earth Found 400 to 600 Kilometers Below its SurfaceThe Westside StoryHuge oceans may lie beneath the U.S.; Could there be life there, too?Science […]

    Reply
  17. mitchellvii

    In defense of this articles terminology, there are also no vast lakes of oil beneath the earth. It is embedded in rock. The headline was hyperbole.

    Reply
  18. 99rider

    The headline and picture are misleading. A lot people won’t read the entire article and will forever believe no matter what that there is an actual ocean underground and not water trapped in rock at the molecular level.

    Reply
  19. Raymond Shell

    hmmmmmm……………..? so………………..,no ocean then?

    Reply
    • 99rider

      Science gives a lot of a trouble to certain a type of person. That’s okay I’m sure there are other things you are good at.

      Reply
      • mitchellvii

        Lol OK wait. Are you one of those guys who claims that anyone who doesn’t accept that mankind if the chief cause of global warming is anti-science?

        Manmade Global Warming theory is not science, it is religion. How do I know with 100% certainty? Because for something to be scientific it must be falsifiable. That means there must be a state in which the evidence would prove the theory false. In the case of AGW there is no such state. To its proponents literally every weather event confirms it. And it is not based upon a study of the facts but upon models which cannot be verified for decades or centuries. Those AGW models which have existed long enough to actually be tested against the facts have proven incorrect with remarkable consistency. Models are not evidence friend.

        AGW evangelists are not scientists but evangelists. AGW is not science but religion. Consensus does not constitute fact and in real science the debate is never over.

        BTW my initial comment was meant as a snark as AGW warmists seem to attribute all natural phenomenon to climate change.

      • mitchellvii

        How can you tell when a Liberal has lost the argument?

        When their only comeback is an insult.

        P.S., I’m not kidding. This really is how you can tell.

      • va_22033

        well at least when George Bush was the President he did not claim that his opposition, liberal Americans, was the enemy. Unfortunately with the reckless, incompetent street agitator currently in the White House leading the liberal agenda in America we see that political insults start at the top and do not simply trickle down, rather the insults spew forth as a means to deflect the truth:

        the only good liberal is a dead liberal because dead liberals can no longer lie.

      • Fred

        Ah yes, another closed mind brought to you by the right wing conservatives. How do you annoy a conservative? Ask them to think for themselves!

      • Andrew Collins

        If Obama was a liberal, he would have jailed banksters and closed focks news. Apparently he did not do that. Too bad. Brainless people still have their lifeline at focks.

      • Andrew Collins

        Since when is focks news a liberal station?

      • Comic BookGuy

        I believe Earth is getting warmer but not neccesarily JUST bc of man and you made some good points. However, burning coal 24/7 isn’t helping and the president isn’t the only one championing the cause. Once you made this political you kind of lost my interest. Science doesn’t care about politics and the fact you are still calling it man-made global warming (scientists call it climate change) shows you’re not really up to date on the topic. Anyone that didn’t get your sarcasm, though, is pretty obtuse.

      • iRick

        A long time ago the world burned a lot of coal for heating (think London, with buildings stained with soot). These last 30 years +/- not so much coal.

      • my2centz

        Please go back to your cave. This article has nothing to do with “global warming”.

      • Andrew Collins

        Judging by the number of hoboes that up voted your rant, this country is indeed destined to go down to illiteracy soon.

  20. Marhti

    !@#$%^&* WTF is with the headline?
    It is maddening to read such irresponsible reporting of valid scientific news with bogus, attention-seeking, headlines.

    There is no “ocean” beneath the surface (lithosphere) of the earth – at all, in any way, shape, or form. The facts are that there is a lot (perhaps oceans’ worth) of OH and H, the components of H20, aka water, incorporated into the mineral ringwoodite (and olivine) within certain areas and zones of the mantle. That does not *at all* constitute an “ocean”.

    Christ, please assign someone who is at least a little scientifically literate to write on science topics. Also, the author’s syntax and word choices are a little strange – many useless words and odd phrasing… is English a second language with her?

    Reply
    • frediano

      I think you answered your own question; imagine trying to find an English speaking person with any scientific background these days? For decades, a decided minority. Entertainment Tonight, no problem. “Financial Engineering” is as close as it’s going to get, maybe for a few years more, until China and India figure out they can do all that at least as well as our downhill running shed risk carcass carvers. You should be thinking more along the line of “honey boo boo” when it comes to English speaking competence.

      Reply
    • 99rider

      If you had read the entire article you would have seen information that explains the water is not an actual ocean. I also objected to the headline and picture because I know people would not read the entire article and be confused about the nature of this so-called ocean.

      Reply

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