Earth has hidden massive sixth ocean under its crust

A rock - called 'ringwoodite' - is present 400 miles beneath Earth's crust which has a huge amount of water inside it 

The mysterious structure of Earth and its mantle has kept scientists hooked, and they keep studying it to make new discoveries every day. 

The geography of Earth already felt different from what was taught to many of us in schools, when scientists discovered a missing continent under the crust of the Earth, 375 years after it went missing.

Now, scientists have stumbled upon a massive ocean which remained hidden under the crust of Earth for all these years. The ocean consists of water stored in a crystal structure of the ringwoodite rock. 

How did the ocean form under Earth's crust?

According to scientists, a rock - called 'ringwoodite' - was present 400 miles underground and had a huge supply of water which got stored in it.

Earlier, scientists found that the water was stored in a mantle rock, which was a sponge-like state, that is not solid, liquid, or gas but a fourth state.

The findings were published in a scientific paper titled "Dehydration melting at the top of the lower mantle" in 2014.

"The ringwoodite is like a sponge, soaking up water, there is something very special about the crystal structure of ringwoodite that allows it to attract hydrogen and trap water," stated geophysicist Steve Jacobsen, who was part of the team of scientists.

"This mineral can contain a lot of water under conditions of the deep mantle. I think we are finally seeing evidence for a whole Earth water cycle, which may help explain the vast amount of liquid water on the surface of our habitable planet. Scientists have been looking for this missing deep water for decades," he added.

The discovery was made by scientists after studying earthquakes and finding that seismometers were detecting under the surface of the Earth.

Through the findings, scientists were able to ascertain that the water was present within the rock known as ringwoodite.

The presence of just 1 per cent of water in the ringwoodite rock meant that three times more water was present under the Earth's surface than is present in the five oceans on the surface.

Along with the ocean, the researchers made another significant discovery of an entirely new ecosystem when they checked the volcanic crust using an underwater robot.

Source: WIONnews