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Earth’s deep interior holds vast reservoir of water

Blue mineral offers peek inside the mantle

BOLT FROM THE BLUE  New lab experiments with the blue mineral ringwoodite (shown) that mimicked the intense pressures and temperatures of the Earth’s mantle suggest that its midsection, or transition zone, holds a considerable amount of water.

Steve Jacobsen/Northwestern Univ

By Rachel Ehrenberg

- More than 2 years ago

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.