Planet Earth: Revealing underground oceans in the Earth’s crust

Seems like, Earth has many water reservoirs spread across the worldespecially in colder regions such as polar caps and glaciers. However, in many places the water is completely frozen.

The truth is that Liquid water covers almost three-quarters of the Earth’s surface and remains one of the most abundant natural resources to this day; But the climate crisis is changing this scenario.

In recent years, dozens of researchers have begun to better understand the extent of the Earth’s crust and what it can offer to humanity. As a result of their in-depth studies, scientists discovered that the outermost layer of planet Earth is a region containing abundant water; these are real underground oceans.

An old study stated that there were approximately 20 million cubic kilometers of groundwater. 4,800 Volume of liquid that could fill the area of ​​the Grand Canyon. Most are safe for consumption, but there are also saltwater reservoirs slightly lower down.

“Global groundwater volumes in the upper 2 km of the Earth’s continental crust (critical for water security) are well estimated. Beyond these depths there is a large body of groundwater, mostly salty and unpotable, for at least 10 km; this volume has not yet been reliably measured on a global scale. Here, by examining the distribution of sedimentary and crystalline rocks at depth and applying porosity-depth relationships, we estimate the amount of groundwater present in the upper 10 km of the Earth’s continental crust,” explains one of the papers on the subject.

How much water is in the earth’s crust

Some studies suggest that large amounts of water are hidden underground on Earth, often held in liquid form underground, in soil or in the pores of rocks. Science states that the ice in Antarctica provides 27 million cubic kilometers of water, but new data shows that: The Earth’s crust contains much more: approximately 43.9 million cubic kilometers of water.

Despite the abundance of water in the Earth’s crust, researchers suggest that Earth’s oceans remain the planet’s largest reservoir, hosting approximately 1.3 billion cubic kilometers of primordial fluid. The study was published in 2021 in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters.

“We identified a volume of groundwater that has not been previously mapped, approximately representing the Earth’s groundwater to a depth of 10 cubic kilometers. Although global oceans remain the largest reservoir of water on the planet at 1.3 billion cubic km, the volume of water in the upper 10 km of continental crust estimated here (43.9 million cubic km) is greater than the amount of water held in ice. The study explains that the layers and glaciers (158 thousand cubic km) in Antarctica (27 million cubic km) and Greenland (3 million cubic km) make groundwater the largest water reservoir in the world, along with the oceans.

In 2015, another article gathered information and Data were presented indicating the existence of 22.6 million cubic kilometers of groundwater in the upper two kilometers of the earth’s crust alone. – the study was published in the journal Nature Geoscience. Just six years later, other scientists examined 10 kilometers of the earth’s crust and noted that there was almost twice as much water in underground reservoirs.

In the not too distant future, we may discover that there is much more water in the earth’s crust; perhaps not exceeding the amount found in the surface oceans.

What is the importance of water tanks in the earth’s crust?

as a large part The water found in the earth’s crust is fresh and can be used for human consumption and irrigation of crops. In deeper regions the liquid tends to become slightly saltier, and its circulation and fluidity capacity towards the planet’s surface is completely limited. However, this feature is not necessarily negative for humanity.

Scientists state that the isolation of salty groundwater may have occurred over a very long period of time. Because it is trapped in these conditions, collecting this water can provide important information about Earth’s past.

There is a possibility that these The waters support past microbial ecosystems that may help unravel mysteries about the evolution of life on Earth. After all, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution suggests that all living things are descended from ancestors that lived in the ancient waters of the planet.

“We know very little about these waters deeper than a few kilometers, making them a frontier zone for science,” study co-author and University of Saskatchewan (Canada) hydrogeologist Grant Ferguson told the website. Live Science. “There is so much more to discover about the waters miles deep on Earth and other planets,” adds Jennifer McIntosh, a University of Arizona Tucson hydrogeochemist and co-author of the study.

Did you like the content? Stay up to date with more curiosities about planet Earth at TecMundo. If you wish, take the opportunity to understand how Mars increases the circulation of Earth’s oceans.