Scientists May Have Found the Location of Earth’s First Ocean.
Deep within the Earth, 3,000 kilometers beneath our feet, lies a mysterious band of material known as “Layer D,” which has long fascinated scientists.
Layer D is uneven, with thin and thick patches interspersed, resembling the ocean floor. New research suggests it may be an ocean that humanity has never known.
This ocean once existed on the surface billions of years ago, similar to the five oceans we have today.
The primordial Earth as a molten sphere – (Graphic: SCITECH DAILY).
According to Science Alert, the research team led by data scientist Qingyang Hu from the High-Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research Center (HPSTAR) in Beijing, this ancient ocean does not contain water but rather hydrous magma.
It may be Earth’s first ocean, a “ocean of death” from the Hadean Eon, a time when the Earth was still a fiery sphere devoid of life.
The chemical processes within this ocean led to the accumulation of iron-rich materials, causing the ocean floor to become as uneven as Layer D suggests.
This ocean could have originated from the hypothetical collision between primordial Earth and the planet Theia 4.5 billion years ago, which also resulted in the formation of the Moon.
Of course, looking back to such a distant past is not easy, and there is still much scientific debate about what lies beneath the Earth’s surface and how it got there.
Scientists hope that new techniques in the future will help clarify these mysteries, allowing us to visualize primordial Earth and understand the changes that led to the emergence of life.
