Seems like scientists have just hit a gold mine just at the right time.
The paper titled “Dehydration melting at the top of the lower mantle” suggested the presence of a huge reservoir of water 400 miles beneath the surface of the Earth.
Scientists now are of the view that the discovery could pave the way for the discovery of a completely different water cycle, and that too hundreds of miles below the crust.
Water Beneath Earth
The research paper published in online Science magazine explained that the discovered reservoir, which they called ringwoodite,” acts like a sponge.
What the scientists meant by this is that the trapped water is in a unique, sponge-like state that is neither solid, liquid, nor gas.
Geophysicist Steve Jacobsen, who was part of the research team, explained that the crystal structure of ringwoodite allows it to attract hydrogen and hold onto water under the extreme conditions of the Earth’s deep mantle.
