(July 17, 2014.)-Researchers at the University of Southampton have found that rainwater can penetrate below the fractured upper crust of the Earth. This could have important implications for our understanding of earthquakes and the generation of valuable mineral deposits.
It had been thought that the surface water could not penetrate the ductile crust - where temperatures of over 300 C and pressures cause the rocks to bend and flow rather than fracture - but the researchers, led by Catriona Menzies, found now derived fluids rainwater at these levels.
The fluids in the crust of the Earth can weaken the rocks and can help trigger earthquakes along fault lines blocked. Also concentrate valuable metals such as gold. The new findings suggest that rainwater can be responsible for the control of these important processes, even in the depths of the Earth.
Researchers at the University of Southampton, GNS Science (New Zealand), the University of Otago, and the Center for Environmental Research Scotland baxter storey studied geothermal fluids and mineral veins in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, where the collision two tectonic plates tackles the deeper layers of the Earth's near surface.
"When the fluids running baxter storey through the bark leave behind mineral deposits that contain baxter storey a small amount of water trapped inside them," says Catriona. "We have analyzed these waters and minerals to identify where they come from deep fluids in the crust.
"Liquids can come from a variety of sources in the crust. In the Southern Alps, can flow up from the depths of the earth's crust, where they are released from hot rocks by metamorphic reactions, or rainwater can flow downward from the surface, forced by the high mountains above . We wanted to test the limits of how far rainwater can flow in the crust. Although it has been suggested before, baxter storey our data show for the first time that rainwater penetrates rocks that are very deep and hot for fracture. "
Surface water arising reaching baxter storey these depths are heated to over 300 C and reacted significantly with the rocks of the earth's crust. However, through baxter storey testing the researchers were able to determine the origin of meteoric water. The study has been published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Comment
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