As climate change continues, the likelihood of water shortages in our future are a real possibility as rivers and reservoirs start dry up.

However, in an unprecedented discovery that could change our perceptions of our planet forever, researchers from Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico have discovered the possibility of oceans of water beneath our feet.

Though this water is not, at present, in the liquid form we might expect, water’s ingredients are all present at this location deep in the centre of the Earth’s mantle.

H20 is trapped inside a mysterious blue mineral called ‘ringwoodite’.

Using their research on plate tectonics as the basis for their findings, the researchers explained in a statement that they have discovered pockets of magma 400 miles beneath the US.

Why is this relevant to water? Well, as the Steve Jacobsen – a geophysicist at Northwestern and co-author of the study – explains, magma indicates the presence of the ingredients of water, driven deep into the Earth’s mantle due to plate tectonics, ultimately melting rocks and causing these magma pockets:

“Geological processes on the Earth’s surface, such as earthquakes or erupting volcanoes, are an expression of what is going on inside the Earth, out of our sight. I think we are finally seeing evidence for a whole-Earth water cycle, which may help explain the vast amount of liquid water on the surface of our habitable planet. Scientists have been looking for this missing deep water for decades.”

The pair’s coordinated research – which was published in the academic journal Science, proved that the mineral known as ‘ringwoodite’ is key to the process of melting the rocks to cause these magma pockets. Occurring 400 miles under the surface of the earth, in an area known as ‘the transition zone’, the melting happens as a result of H2O stored in mantle rocks that contain ringwoodite.

Ringwoodite, a deep blue mineral, is – among other things – made up of 1% water. In explaining the unique properties of ringwoodite Jacobsen suggests that, 400 miles below the surface of the earth and under the pressure of seismic activity, it would melt, resulting in magma:

“The ringwoodite is like a sponge, soaking up water. There is something very special about the crystal structure of ringwoodite that allows it to attract hydrogen and trap water. This mineral can contain a lot of water under conditions of the deep mantle.”

As Brandon Schmandt, a seismologist at the University of New Mexico and the study’s other co-author explains in the statement, this discovery is huge, since just 1% of the mantle rock in the transition zone comprising of H2O would equate to almost three times the amount of water on the surface of the earth:

“Melting of rock at this depth is remarkable because most melting in the mantle occurs much shallower, in the upper 50 miles. If there is a substantial amount of H2O in the transition zone, then some melting should take place in areas where there is flow into the lower mantle, and that is consistent with what we found.”

The water is not in liquid form – and is buried under extreme pressure and temperatures deep in the earth’s mantle – so is not accessible to us for drinking.

However this discovery, and scientists’ increasing understanding of ringwoodite could be key to our ever-increasing knowledge of our planet, and how we can protect it into the future.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?