Nature & Environment
Earth’s Massive Underground Oceans Could Be Full Of Aliens
Sam D
First Posted: Dec 01, 2016 03:40 AM EST
There are gigantic oceans hidden 620 miles deep beneath the Earth's surface, scientists have claimed. Furthermore, the huge and mysterious reservoir of water could even have life forms that are so unique that they could be regarded as aliens.
"If it was not down there, we would all be submerged," said Northwestern University's Steve Jacobsen referring to the underground ocean. The researcher discovered a diamond in Brazil at 1,000 kilometers beneath the surface, or one third of the way to the Earth's core. The discovery of the diamond and its analysis suggested that it could have formed only with the presence of water, indicating that the planet had a more massive reservoir of water deep within it than previously thought.
Jacobsen further added that the discovery of a huge reservoir of water present deep beneath planet Earth's surface also indicates the possibility that water could have existed on Earth longer than what was previously thought.
"Water clearly has a role in plate tectonics, and we did not know before how deep these effects could reach. It has implications for the origin of water on the planet," Jacobsen said, as quoted by New Scientist. "Water mixes with ocean crust and gets subducted at convergent plate boundaries. Introducing water into the mantle promotes melting and weakens rock, likely helping out the motions of plates like grease," he added.
The researcher has also suggested that if there are oceans hiding under Earth's surface, then they would not look like our perception of water bodies. These underground oceans would have rocks that behave like sponges and soak up the liquid from the water forms. Furthermore, the presence of oceans in the Earth's mantle means they could be home to microbes and organisms unknown and alien to people.
Previously, an unrelated discovery showed that a single-celled organism called Geogemma barossii was abounding close to the deep-sea hydrothermal vents off the northwest U.S. coast, an environment described by Harvard University researchers as alien because of its temperatures that reached as high as 248 degrees Fahrenheit, and despite that, the organism was able to survive and thrive.
According to the report in the New York Post, if this organism could survive such extreme conditions, then what other such alien life forms can be hiding deep within the depths of the Earth?
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First Posted: Dec 01, 2016 03:40 AM EST
There are gigantic oceans hidden 620 miles deep beneath the Earth's surface, scientists have claimed. Furthermore, the huge and mysterious reservoir of water could even have life forms that are so unique that they could be regarded as aliens.
"If it was not down there, we would all be submerged," said Northwestern University's Steve Jacobsen referring to the underground ocean. The researcher discovered a diamond in Brazil at 1,000 kilometers beneath the surface, or one third of the way to the Earth's core. The discovery of the diamond and its analysis suggested that it could have formed only with the presence of water, indicating that the planet had a more massive reservoir of water deep within it than previously thought.
Jacobsen further added that the discovery of a huge reservoir of water present deep beneath planet Earth's surface also indicates the possibility that water could have existed on Earth longer than what was previously thought.
"Water clearly has a role in plate tectonics, and we did not know before how deep these effects could reach. It has implications for the origin of water on the planet," Jacobsen said, as quoted by New Scientist. "Water mixes with ocean crust and gets subducted at convergent plate boundaries. Introducing water into the mantle promotes melting and weakens rock, likely helping out the motions of plates like grease," he added.
The researcher has also suggested that if there are oceans hiding under Earth's surface, then they would not look like our perception of water bodies. These underground oceans would have rocks that behave like sponges and soak up the liquid from the water forms. Furthermore, the presence of oceans in the Earth's mantle means they could be home to microbes and organisms unknown and alien to people.
Previously, an unrelated discovery showed that a single-celled organism called Geogemma barossii was abounding close to the deep-sea hydrothermal vents off the northwest U.S. coast, an environment described by Harvard University researchers as alien because of its temperatures that reached as high as 248 degrees Fahrenheit, and despite that, the organism was able to survive and thrive.
According to the report in the New York Post, if this organism could survive such extreme conditions, then what other such alien life forms can be hiding deep within the depths of the Earth?
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone