An ocean’s worth of water is locked deep within the Earth and may influence all sorts of geological processes, including the grinding of tectonic plates, the formation of volcanoes and the movement of Earth’s elements.
Researchers examined the rumbling of seismic waves and performed lab experiments that mimicked the crushing pressures and extreme temperatures of Earth’s mantle, the thick layer of the planet between the crust and core. The results make a strong case that a huge amount of water resides within the planet, says Yale University geophysicist Jennifer Girard, who was not involved with the study. The findings appear in the June 13 Science.