New Evidence For Oceans of Water Deep In the Earth 190
techtech (2016646) writes Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico report evidence for potentially oceans worth of water deep beneath the United States. Though not in the familiar liquid form—the ingredients for water are bound up in rock deep in the Earth's mantle—the discovery may represent the planet's largest water reservoir.
This research was published in Science.
Re:Water? (Score:2, Informative)
"This water is not in a form familiar to us—it is not liquid, ice or vapor. This fourth form is water trapped inside the molecular structure of the minerals in the mantle rock. The weight of 250 miles of solid rock creates such high pressure, along with temperatures above 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, that a water molecule splits to form a hydroxyl radical (OH), which can be bound into a mineral's crystal structure."
Seems to me (Score:3, Informative)
It's still easier to get fresh water from the atmosphere. Since it falls down freely, we just have to harvest it. I mean, the deepest hole we've dug is what, five miles? Let's just wait for it to seep out, like the methane and oil do. Besides we are only using about one percent of the water we have on or above the surface. The "crisis" is in management, not supply.
Re:Is there any info that isn't behind paywalls? (Score:5, Informative)
This looks like the original press release: http://news.unm.edu/news/new-evidence-for-oceans-of-water-deep-in-the-earth [unm.edu]
Here's an explanation of what's going on. [realclearscience.com]
The paper is already used as a reference on the Wikipedia page for Ringwoodite [wikipedia.org].
Here are the research pages of the various authors:
Brandon Schmandt [unm.edu], Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of New Mexico
Steven D. "Steve" Jacobsen [northwestern.edu], Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University
Thorsten W. Becker [usc.edu], Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California
Zhenxian Liu [ciw.edu], Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Kenneth G. "Ken" Dueker [uwyo.edu], Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming