The discovery of the Hidden Sea Locked in Mantel Earth

Earth

SmartSide - Deep in the Earth there are still many mysteries. If in the past we believe, if in layers in the earth, there lives a mystery. And there are few stories as well, if in the earth there is a very beautiful world.

 It inspired several fictional story, which became the movie box office in Hollywood. 

But whether in the earth there are things that are portrayed in the film? Apparently, deep in the Earth's mantle is a rocky, there are oceans of water confined in the type of mineral called ringwoodite.

 It is claimed by a team of scientists, who have done research on the earth. The results of this study will help scientists understand the water cycle on Earth, and how the tectonic plates move in between.

Earth itself consists of several layers, and the top one is the Earth's mantle. Scientists have long suspected that the so-called mantle transition zone, which is located between the upper and lower mantle 255-410 miles (410-660 kilometers) below the earth's surface, can contain trapped water is scarce. However, direct evidence for this water is still lacking, until now.

 To see if the transition zone really is a water reservoir, the researchers conducted experiments on water-rich ringwoodite, analyzing seismic waves traveling through the mantle under the United States, and studied the numerical models. They found that the mantle material beneath flowing, as it crosses the boundary between the transition zone and lower mantle layer.

 "If we see this melt, then there must be water in the transition zone," said Brandon Schmandt, a seismologist at the University of New Mexico.

 "The transition zone can hold a lot of water, and the potential to have the same amount of water in the world's oceans," he added.

 Ringwoodite itself is kind of rare mineral formed from olivine under pressure and very high temperatures, as in the mantle transition zone. Laboratory research has shown that the mineral may contain water, but not as liquid, ice or steam. But, the water is trapped in the molecular structure ringwoodite as hydroxide ions - bonded oxygen and hydrogen atoms.

 The new findings will help scientists better understand the Earth's water cycle. "Surface water we have today comes from the degassing of molten rock. It came from the original stone materials Earth," said Schmandt. (LiveScience)