Scientists find massive water trapped in rocks beneath Pacific Ocean
Scientists have found massive amounts of water hidden well beneath the Pacific Ocean, locked inside rocks in the Earth's mantle, hundreds of kilometers down.
Using seismic imaging (basically reading earthquake waves), they discovered this water is not liquid but is bonded with minerals like ringwoodite.
The find could dramatically shift how we think about Earth's water cycle and its effect on our planet.
Subduction drives deep water exchange
This challenges what we thought we knew about where Earth's water comes from and goes.
It turns out, thanks to tectonic plates moving and subduction, there is a constant exchange of water between deep underground and the surface, far more connected than most people realized.
Scientists say there is still a lot to learn about how these "hidden oceans" might shape everything from magmatic formation, tectonic activity, ocean circulation, and climate dynamics in the future.