New study finds water deeper in Earth than scientists previously believed

[etienne_marais]

New study finds water deeper in Earth than scientists previously believed

A mineral far below Earth's surface may hold the key to how much water is stored in the planet, a Florida State University researcher says.

In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, FSU Assistant Professor of Geology Mainak Mookherjee reports that water exists far deeper in Earth than scientists previously thought.

Mookherjee and Andreas Hermann from the University of Edinburgh estimate that in the deep Earth -- roughly 400 to 600 kilometers into the mantle -- water is stored and transported through a high-pressure polymorph of the mineral brucite.

Previously, scientists thought brucite was not thermodynamically stable that deep in Earth. "This opens up a Pandora's Box for us," Mookherjee said.

http://www.geologyin.com/2016/11/new-study-finds-water-deeper-in-earth.html#47Rcr3Xd6gIWqPi4.99

 

[The Trutherizer]

So basically they are saying that H and O are being locked up in large quantities in certain minerals which at some point are likely to release them again causing the H to oxidise.

I mean water = H20 <> Brucite. While the H and the O is in Brucite it is not water. It's a Hydrous Magnesium rich Silicate.

 

[etienne_marais]

So basically they are saying that H and O are being locked up in large quantities in certain minerals which at some point are likely to release them again causing the H to oxidise.

I mean water = H20 <> Brucite. While the H and the O is in Brucite it is not water. It's a Hydrous Magnesium rich Silicate.

Where do you get that ? From the chemical formula for brucite ? I'm sure they would have worded and illustrated the article differently if that was the mechanism. Apart from the actual chemical composition my understanding is that brucite absorbs (and effectively transports) water. Somebody in the know who could clarify ?

 

[Ninja'd]

Jules Verne was right all along.

 

[3WA]

Where do you get that ? From the chemical formula for brucite ? I'm sure they would have worded and illustrated the article differently if that was the mechanism. Apart from the actual chemical composition my understanding is that brucite absorbs (and effectively transports) water. Somebody in the know who could clarify ?

The "water" is actually the hydrated part of brucite, but it is regarded as water because it still acts as a reservoir available for reaction in the right temperature-pressure conditions.

 

[Slamz]

Jules Verne was right all along.

+1000... now to make that journey

 

[etienne_marais]

The "water" is actually the hydrated part of brucite, but it is regarded as water because it still acts as a reservoir available for reaction in the right temperature-pressure conditions.

Seems right then. The Kola borehole in russia that drilled down 12km found:

To scientists, one of the more fascinating findings to emerge from this well is that no transition from granite to basalt was found at the depth of about 7 km (4.3 mi), where the velocity of seismic waves has a discontinuity. Instead the change in the seismic wave velocity is caused by a metamorphic transition in the granite rock. In addition, the rock at that depth had been thoroughly fractured and was saturated with water, which was surprising. This water, unlike surface water, must have come from deep-crust minerals and had been unable to reach the surface because of a layer of impermeable rock.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole