British and American geophysicists have discovered a conserved ocean of water in the deep bowels of the Earth. The research is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and reported by Florida State University.
Vast volumes of water are located at a depth of 400-600 kilometers from the surface of the planet and are conserved in hydrated minerals, in particular in brucite. Research by scientists has shown that this mineral, which includes water, is thermodynamically stable at high pressures.
Geophysicists came to their conclusions, having carried out many computer quantum-mechanical calculations, which make it possible to understand the properties of brucite at high pressures.
Scientists note that the presence of water in the deep bowels of the Earth plays an important role in the geological activity of the planet and climatic changes. In the future, scientists plan to conduct an accurate estimate of the amount of water associated with hydrated minerals inside the planet.
In March, geochemists from Russia, France and Germany also discovered an ocean of the Archean period (2.7 billion years old) at a depth of 410-660 kilometers below the Earth's surface, the volume of which is several times larger than the size of the World Ocean. The scientists' research was published in the journal Nature.