The cooling of planet Earth over time increased the water carrying capacity of the mantle and could have shrunk the oceans.
water
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Subduction May Recycle Less Water Than Thought
A new analysis of seismic data from the Middle America Trench suggests that previous calculations have vastly overestimated the total amount of water transported to the mantle worldwide.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Clearer Look at Lunar Surface Hydration
Independent ground-based observations of the Moon confirm prior spacecraft observations that hydration at the lunar surface varies with temperature.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Globally Variable Water Content in the Mantle Transition Zone
Using electromagnetic waves originating in the ionosphere and magnetosphere, conductivity profiles reaching the deep upper mantle show surprising variability in water content.
Posted inAGU News
Konar, Long, and Madani Receive 2019 Hydrologic Sciences Early Career Award
Megan Konar, Di Long, and Kaveh Madani received the Hydrologic Sciences Early Career Award at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2019, held 9–13 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award recognizes “scientists who demonstrate outstanding contributions to hydrologic sciences, education, or societal impacts and show exceptional promise of continued contributions to hydrology throughout their career.”
Posted inNews
Explosive Volcanic Eruption Powered by Water-Saturated Magma
Little seismic unrest preceded the 2014 eruption of a stratovolcano in Indonesia, which suggests that the eruption was kick-started internally by volatile-triggered overpressure.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Hiding Deep Hydrous Melts at the Core-Mantle Boundary
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.
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.
Posted inNews
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.