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Podcasts Take Two
Scientists discover evidence of vast reservoir of water deep below Earth's surface
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Jun 16, 2014
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Scientists discover evidence of vast reservoir of water deep below Earth's surface
After decades of searching, scientists have discovered evidence of a vast underground reservoir, with three times the water of all the Earth's oceans combined.
Viewed from space, the most striking feature of our planet is the water. In both liquid and frozen form, it covers 75% of the Earth’s surface. It fills the sky with clouds. Water is practically everywhere on Earth, from inside the rocky crust to inside our cells.
Viewed from space, the most striking feature of our planet is the water. In both liquid and frozen form, it covers 75% of the Earth’s surface. It fills the sky with clouds. Water is practically everywhere on Earth, from inside the rocky crust to inside our cells.
(
NASA/Robert Simmon and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen
)

After decades of searching, scientists have discovered evidence of a vast underground reservoir, with three times the water of all the Earth's oceans combined.

Scientists from Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico have discovered evidence of a vast underground reservoir with three times the volume of all the oceans combined.

The water is locked in a mineral called ringwoodite and located in a layer of hot rock 400 miles beneath the Earth's surface. Researchers believe the hidden water could be the source of the Earth's oceans, and contradict prevailing theories about how water arrived on Earth.

The new evidence, published last week in the journal Science, could change what we know about the composition of the Earth and how the planet evolved.

Geophysicist Steve Jacobsen, one of the co-authors of the study, joins Take Two to explain the findings of the study.