Evidence for primordial water in Earth’s deep mantle

• DOI: 10.1126/science.aac4834
• Publication Date: 2015-11-12T19:08:27Z
• Authors: Lydia J. Hallis; Gary R. Huss; Kazuhide Nagashima; G. Jeffrey Taylor; Sæmundur A. Halld...; David R. Hilton; Michael J. Mottl; Karen J. Meech
• Keywords: 13. Climate action; 01 natural sciences; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Shaking out water's dusty origin Where did Earth's water come from? Lavas erupting on Baffin Island, Canada, tap a part of mantle isolated from convective mixing. Hallis et al. studied hydrogen isotopes in the lavas that help to “fingerprint” what could be primordial reservoir. The isotope ratios for Island basalt suggest pre-solar Earth, probably delivered by adsorption onto dust grains. Science , this issue p. 795