Study suggests mid-mantle holds as much water as Earth's oceans
June 8, 2017 by Bob Yirka report
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Japan and Germany has found evidence that suggests the middle of Earth's mantle holds as much water as the planet's oceans. In their paper published on the open access site Science Advances, the group describes their theory and their experiments to try to prove them correct.
Scientists are convinced that the uppermost part of the mantle and lower part closest to the core are relatively water free. This is because the materials they are made of can't to store water very well. The layer in between (at 410 to 660 kilometers below the surface), however, has been a topic of debate, with some believing it is also nearly water free and others suggesting it could harbor massive amounts of water. This is because the mid-mantle is dominated by the minerals wadsleyite and ringwoodite, which are known to be able to hold a lot of water. In this new effort, the researchers sought to settle the debate by using logic and lab experiments.
Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2017-06-mid-mantle-earth-oceans.html#jCp
