London: Earth’s water may have originally been formed by chemical reactions deep within our planet’s mantle, according to new research. This is very exciting and in accord with very recent findings of an ‘ocean’s worth’ of water in the Earth’s mantle,” English added. The simulations revealed that the silica and fluid hydrogen could form water when exposed to temperatures of just over 1400 degrees Celsius and at pressure 20,000 times higher than Earth’s atmospheric pressure. Silica is found in abundance above and below the surface of the Earth in the form of the mineral quartz—the Earth’s crust is 59% silica. They also believe the release of this pressure could be responsible for triggering earthquakes hundreds of kilometres below the Earth’s surface.

Source: Mint February 05, 2017 15:45 UTC