In the bowels of our planet, there may be a giant underground ocean. This assumption was put forward by geophysicists after the discovery of a unique mineral. According to scientists, it could have formed only under extremely high pressure, for example, inside the Earth (and at a depth of at least 500 km). Scientists named it ringwoodite. Its age is almost 3 billion years. A careful analysis of the find showed that it contains water. The researchers assure that the liquid could get there only from the transition zone of the mantle. How did the water end up inside the ancient rock? If the version of the existence of an ancient ocean in the bowels of the planet is indeed confirmed, then what does this mean for us? What threatens humanity with a huge underground reservoir?
Ringwoodite.
The excavations in Canada became a real sensation. Western geologists said that there is an ocean in the bowels of the planet and proof of this is the mysterious mineral ringwoodite.
Numerous examinations have shown that it was formed from the more common mineral olivine after being exposed to enormous temperatures and pressures (roughly the same as in the mantle). Scientists have found that the occurrence of ringwooditis would be completely impossible without water.
Chemical analysis of the find confirmed that the ringwoodite contains water (its molecules were included in the crystal lattice of minerals, some of which eventually ended up on the surface of the earth). Where did it come from at a depth of 500-600 km?
After much research, Western geologists came to the conclusion that there is a huge ocean in the bowels of the Earth, which was formed long before the appearance of humans (more than 2 billion years ago).
It’s hard to believe, but according to preliminary estimates, there is 3 times more water in it than in all water bodies of the planet.
According to scientists, deep underground, one of the streams of water crossed with a red-hot mantle. They mixed into one large current and, taking with them molten rocks, moved upward for millions of years. In the end, all this gradually came to the surface during the volcanic eruptions.
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Surprisingly, Russian geochemists who have carefully studied the mysterious mineral are in no hurry to support the version of their foreign colleagues. They believe that ringwoodite may have a different origin and be the remnant of a meteorite that once fell to Earth. However, if this hypothesis is not confirmed and Western scientists turn out to be right, then this will mean only one thing - there are billions of tons of water inside our planet and it’s scary to imagine what would happen if they ever burst out at once.