He points to hidden water world within the earth

Deep beneath our feet is the geological water cycle. A diamond now gives new insights into the subterranean water world of our earth.

Frankfurt – Water is the elixir of life on earth. After all, 70 percent of the entire planet is covered with it. But what is a little easier to see on the surface is also happening in the depths of our earth. This is a process called the deep water cycle that science is studying. Now the discovery of a diamond has brought revealing insights into the mysterious water world beneath our feet.

Researchers examine the water cycle at depth – diamond offers new insights

The deep water cycle, also known as the geological water cycle, was difficult for researchers to decipher for a long time. After all, the deepest borehole on earth is only around 12 kilometers deep. It is clear that hydrated minerals can transport ocean water deep into the earth before it is released to the surface by a volcanic eruption or other seismic activity. Now a team from the Institute for Geosciences at Goethe University Frankfurt published a study in the journal Nature Geoscience revealing that there is an aqueous environment in the Earth’s lower mantle much deeper than previously thought.

To look for evidence of water at depth, the team examined the so-called transition zone of the earth’s mantle at a depth of around 410 to 660 kilometers. The transition zone would separate the upper from the lower layers of the earth. To do this, the team analyzed a rare diamond that would come from a depth of around 600 kilometers underground. The gem quality diamond was found in the Karowe mine in Botswana.

“Without any expectation”: Researchers find ringwoodite in diamonds – only the second time ever

The team found so-called inclusions within the diamond. These are tiny pieces of other minerals that can hold more water than ringwoodite. Ringwoodite is commonly found in the transition zone but is extremely rare in diamonds. Also surrounding this surprising ringwoodite find were mineral forms typically found in the lower mantle rather than those found in the transition zone.

According to the authors of study ringwoodite may contain much more water than the minerals thought to dominate the lower mantle, such as bridgmanite and ferropericlase. The results would suggest that water may exist deeper in the earth than scientists previously thought. “Without any expectation we found the ringwoodite mineral in this diamond. And this is only the second time ringwoodite has ever been discovered in a diamond,” said study co-author Tingting Gu.

“More importantly, the mineral ringwoodite was found along with two other critical minerals formed deep in the Earth’s interior and accompanied by hydrous phases. Together, they pinpoint the origin of this diamond from around 400 miles (660 km) from Earth, where the environment is still wet,” Gu said. This proves that there is a hidden water world hundreds of kilometers underground, and thus much deeper than assumed.

The knowledge that the inner core of the earth has stopped rotating also hit deep inside the earth.