How deep does Earth ’s water go ? Well , if this latest study is right , middling darn deeply – a third of the way to Earth ’s burden .
That ’s the conclusion of Steve Jacobsen at Northwestern University in Evanston , Illinois and his colleagues . Their study is published inLithos , and was latterly picked up byNew Scientist .
Near the São Luíz river in Juina , Brazil , Jacobsen and his colleagues found a ball field that has a minor imperfection , hollo an cellular inclusion , that hints at a moisture commence 90 million years ago .
Analyzing the diamond , the scientist get hydroxyl ions in its chemistry , which is a compound normally formed by water molecules . Importantly , the team also found evidence of metals that likely originated in Earth ’s lower mantle .
The inclusion itself was mainly made of ferropericlase , a mix of iron and atomic number 12 oxide , which can imbibe other metal such as aluminum and titanium in hot pressurized environments – like Earth ’s lower mantle .
These metals , though , had break within the diamond as it made its way to the aerofoil . Thus , they were able to estimate the depth at which the diamond formed , which seems to have been about 1,000 kilometre ( 620 miles ) deep , suggesting there is a source of pee at this depth .
“ This is the deepest grounds for water recycling on the satellite , ” Jacobsen told New Scientist . “ The braggart take - home message is that the weewee cycle on Earth is large than we ever thought , extending into the deep Mickey Mantle . ”
This is n’t the first time scientists have proposed that water may have been lay in far beneath Earth ’s surface , but it ’s good grounds that this is really the case .
However , it ’s unlikely this water is in the form of a vast subterranean ocean . rather , in Jacobsen ’s own countersign from an article in theSmithsonianback in June , it is more similar to “ Milk River in a patty ” . In other word , the water is “ baked ” into the stone itself .
Where this water come from , well , that ’s another problem altogether . presently , scientist are n’t certain if our planet has always had water , or if it was delivered by objects like asteroid . ascertain the age of this pee could reveal an resolution .
The nearer you get to the 4.6 - billion - year age of our planet , when the surface was mostly molten rock , the more likely it is that our major planet has always been sozzled . And diamonds like this modish discovery could help us get to the bottom of it .
