Ocean water is leaking inside the Earth! A mysterious layer above core is forming because of it
Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Manoj Kumar
Mystery of Thin Layer
Scientists have unravelled the mystery of a thin layer, known as the enigmatic E prime layer, located just over a few hundred kilometres thick at the boundary of Earth's core.
Ability of Water to Travel
Led by an international team, a new research published in a peer-reviews scientific journal, Nature Geoscience, reveals that Earth's surface water has the ability to travel to great depths, significantly altering the composition of the outermost part of the planet's liquid metallic core.
Earth's Layer Structure
The Earth consists of three layers: crust, mantle, and core. The Earth's crust is the outermost layer of the planet, consisting of solid rock that forms the Earth's surface. The mantle is the semi-solid layer beneath the Earth's crust, extending to about 2,900 kilometres (1,800 miles) deep. The core is the Earth's innermost layer, composed of a predominantly iron-nickel alloy, divided into a solid inner core and a liquid outer core.
Tectonic Plates Leaking Water Deep into Earth
The study indicates that for billions of years, water has been leaking deep into the Earth's interior through tectonic plates. This process induces a significant chemical reaction with the core materials when it reaches the core-mantle boundary, approximately 3,000 kilometres beneath the surface.
Hydrogen-Rich
Through high-pressure experiments, researchers discovered that the interaction between subducted water and the core results in a hydrogen-rich, silicon-depleted layer. This transformation creates a film-like structure at the top of the outer core and leads to the formation of silica crystals ascending into the mantle.
Core Density and Seismic Velocities
The changes are anticipated to make the liquid metallic layer less dense and alter its seismic velocities, aligning with anomalies previously detected by seismologists.
Lead Researcher Dan Shim
Lead researcher Dan Shim emphasises the significance of the discovery, challenging the long-standing belief about limited interaction between the Earth's core and mantle. The research suggests a dynamic core-mantle relationship with substantial material exchange.
Global Water Cycle Implications
The implications extend beyond the scientific community, proposing a more complex global water cycle and highlighting the interconnectedness of geochemical processes from the surface to the core.
Sophisticated Experimental Techniques
The team employed sophisticated experimental techniques at major facilities in the United States and Germany to replicate extreme conditions found at the core-mantle boundary.
Advancements in Understanding Earth
The study not only unravels the mystery of the E prime layer but also enhances our comprehension of Earth's internal mechanisms, offering a new perspective on the planet's deep-water cycle and its impact on geochemical cycles.