Silicate melts containing H2O in the lowermost mantle are surprisingly dense and may stagnate there, trapping primordial volatiles and potentially causing some of the ultra-low velocity zones.
water
Posted inNews
Water Found in Small, Habitable Zone Planet’s Atmosphere
K2-18b is warm, has an atmosphere, and has water vapor. But it’s no Earth 2.0.
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Ammonia Ice Deposits on Pluto Hint at Recent Cryovolcanism
This discovery is the latest in a growing stack of evidence pointing to the presence of an ammonia-rich water ocean beneath Pluto’s icy crust.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mapping Subglacial Meltwater Channels
Researchers find that past studies underestimate the friction meltwater channels exert on glaciers by orders of magnitude.
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First Analysis of Asteroid Water Reveals Earth-Like Makeup
Samples returned from the surface of an asteroid show that these small bodies may have more water than previously thought and could have delivered that water to Earth.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Rover and Lasers Unlock Clues to Early Martian Atmosphere
Sediments from the Curiosity rover and experiments using tanks of gas and laser beams helped reveal how water continued to flow on Mars after the planet lost its atmospheric carbon dioxide.
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What Ancient Rivers on Mars Reveal About Its “Great Drying”
Dried-up rivers on Mars suggest that the planet was wet in the not-too-distant past.
Posted inScience Updates
Project VoiLA: Volatile Recycling in the Lesser Antilles
Deep water cycle studies have largely focused on subduction of lithosphere formed at fast spreading ridges. However, oceanic plates are more likely to become hydrated as spreading rate decreases.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Local Heat Source Needed to Form Liquid Water Lake on Mars
Thermal modeling suggests that active magmatism in the past few hundred thousand years could account for the presence of a large lake previously hypothesized beneath the Red Planet’s southern ice cap.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Scientists, Explorers Keen to Locate Water-Bearing Asteroids
Hydrated minerals on near-Earth asteroids offer both scientific revelations and economic incentives for companies looking to refuel satellites with material from nearby space.