Deep Mantle, Hidden Water: New Iron Minerals Could Store Earth's Ancient Water
TL;DR
A new Nature Geoscience study suggests Earth’s mantle could hide an ancient water reservoir. In lab experiments simulating conditions about 1,800 miles beneath the surface (roughly 2 million atmospheres and 2,500°C), scientists formed two iron oxyhydroxide minerals, Fe5O12Hx and Fe7O12Hx, that can trap water across deep-mantle conditions and may host primordial or recycled water near the core–mantle boundary. While it’s not yet proven these minerals occur naturally, the findings offer a potential deep-Earth water store and shed light on the mantle’s role in Earth’s water cycle and interior structure.
Topics:scienceearth-science#deep-earth#earth-science#high-pressure-experiments#iron-oxyhydroxides#mantle#water
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