Did you know there’s a massive underground ocean hiding beneath our feet? Scientists just discovered what could be Earth’s largest underground water reservoir, buried hundreds of miles below the surface. This hidden ocean isn’t like the ones we see—it’s trapped inside a special type of rock called ringwoodite, which holds water like a giant sponge. In fact, there might be three times more water down there than in all the oceans on the surface combined! This mind-blowing find could change what we know about Earth’s water cycle and where our planet’s water originally came from. Who knows—maybe there are even more hidden oceans waiting to be found deep below! Credit:
Lake Mead: by NASA, USGS, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_Mead_in_July_2022_by_Landsat.jpg, https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/
plate tectonics: by Surachit, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cascade_Range_plate_tectonics-en.svg
CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/:
Was ist die Südsee?: by ZDF/Terra X/Spiegel TV/C. Moroni/B. Lindenblatt/Maximilian Mohr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Was_ist_die_S%C3%BCdsee%3F.webm
Circum-pacific belt: by Gemini1980, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Circum-pacific_belt.png
mantle-interaction: by Chang S, Ferreira A, Faccenda M, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Upper--and-mid-mantle-interaction-between-the-Samoan-plume-and-the-Tonga–Kermadec-slabs-ncomms10799-s3.ogv
Tectonic plate: by Andrew Merdith, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tectonic_plate_model_1Ga.webm
So entsteht ein Erdbeben: by ZDF/Terra X/Julia Kammerer/Martin Schaaf/Maximilian Mohr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:So_entsteht_ein_Erdbeben.webm
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
Lake Mead: by NASA, USGS, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_Mead_in_July_2022_by_Landsat.jpg, https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/
plate tectonics: by Surachit, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cascade_Range_plate_tectonics-en.svg
CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/:
Was ist die Südsee?: by ZDF/Terra X/Spiegel TV/C. Moroni/B. Lindenblatt/Maximilian Mohr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Was_ist_die_S%C3%BCdsee%3F.webm
Circum-pacific belt: by Gemini1980, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Circum-pacific_belt.png
mantle-interaction: by Chang S, Ferreira A, Faccenda M, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Upper--and-mid-mantle-interaction-between-the-Samoan-plume-and-the-Tonga–Kermadec-slabs-ncomms10799-s3.ogv
Tectonic plate: by Andrew Merdith, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tectonic_plate_model_1Ga.webm
So entsteht ein Erdbeben: by ZDF/Terra X/Julia Kammerer/Martin Schaaf/Maximilian Mohr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:So_entsteht_ein_Erdbeben.webm
Animation is created by Bright Side.
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Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz
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Stock materials (photos, footages and other):
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https://www.shutterstock.com
https://www.eastnews.ru
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For more videos and articles visit:
http://www.brightside.me
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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FunTranscript
00:00Scientists discovered the largest water reservoir in the Oregon Cascades.
00:04It's hiding underground, holding more than twice the water volume of Lake Mead.
00:09Let me specify.
00:10It contains at least 19.4 cubic miles of water,
00:14which is almost 162 trillion bottles of water.
00:18If you drank one bottle a day,
00:21it would take you around 444 billion years to finish your stock.
00:26No wonder this underground aquifer discovery is so awesome!
00:30The Cascade Mountain Range, which contains the largest aquifer on Earth,
00:34stretches about 700 miles from Northern California to British Columbia.
00:40The high Cascades in Oregon have younger volcanic rocks,
00:43around 8 million years old.
00:46The western Cascades are much older, 45 million years.
00:50They boast deep canyons and valleys.
00:53Scientists study the transition zone between these two areas
00:57to understand how water moved through volcanic rock
01:00and how volcanic processes had evolved over time.
01:04In the process, researchers measured rock temperatures at different depths.
01:09That's when the underground aquifer discovery happened.
01:12Normally, deeper rocks should be hotter because it's closer to the Earth's interior.
01:18But, to everyone's surprise, in several areas,
01:21the temperature stayed the same even at greater depths.
01:25Well, this was a strong clue that water was flowing through the rock and cooling it down.
01:31In other words, the Cascades function like a natural water tower,
01:35storing and slowly releasing water into rivers and streams.
01:39These geological water findings are important for two main reasons.
01:44First, it's our potential water source for the future.
01:48Such a massive amount of water stored underground could be an important resource.
01:53So far, we don't know how long it will remain in its current state
01:57and how resilient it's going to be to changes.
02:00So, we need more research to properly manage its use.
02:05Secondly, it affects volcanic activity.
02:08When water seeps deep underground and reaches magma,
02:11it instantly turns into steam,
02:14creating extreme pressure that can trigger explosive volcanic eruptions.
02:19Understanding how much water is stored in volcanic rock
02:22could help predict future eruptions and the risks they pose.
02:27Now, even though this discovery is exciting, there are still many unanswered questions.
02:32Like, how does this water move through the volcanic rock?
02:36Or how much of it is actually usable as a water resource?
02:41Since this underground reservoir depends on rain and snow,
02:44a series of dry years could cause big problems for both water supply and volcanic stability.
02:51Researchers are now working to understand the full impact of the Cascades Volcanic Water Reservoir
02:57and how to manage it responsibly.
02:59But let's look closely at the geological wonder that is the Cascade Range.
03:04Picture this, a massive mountain range stretching all the way from Northern California up to British Columbia,
03:11cutting right through the middle of Oregon.
03:14That's the mountain range we're talking about.
03:16In Oregon alone, it's about 260 miles long and up to 90 miles wide,
03:22covering 17,000 square miles.
03:25Whoa, that's bigger than each of the nine smallest U.S. states.
03:30The coolest thing is that the Oregon part of this mountain range is basically built by volcanoes
03:35and apparently contains at least one volcanic rock water storage.
03:40The range itself exists because of something called the Cascadia subduction zone,
03:45where the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, a chunk of Earth's crust under the Pacific Ocean,
03:50is slowly getting shoved beneath North America.
03:54As it sinks, the intense heat and pressure force water out of the oceanic rock.
03:59It lowers the melting point of the surrounding mantle and creates magma.
04:04That magma rises up and fuels the Cascade volcanoes.
04:08This is part of the Ring of Fire, the giant belt of volcanoes circling the Pacific.
04:14So, in a way, the Cascades are part of a much bigger volcanic system that's constantly shifting and changing.
04:22The Oregon Cascades are actually made up of two completely different zones,
04:27the Western Cascades and the High Cascades, and they look nothing alike.
04:32The Western Cascades are the older part.
04:35They formed around 45 million years ago.
04:38These mountains are rugged and deeply carved up by rivers.
04:43Some canyons are as deep as 3,700 feet.
04:47This part of the range used to be volcanically active,
04:50but over time, erosion has taken over, reshaping the land.
04:55The High Cascades, on the other hand, are much younger and way less eroded.
05:00Around 8 million years ago, the volcanic activity shifted,
05:04and new eruptions filled in old canyons, smoothing out the landscape.
05:09Eruptions kept piling up fresh lava,
05:11and rivers in this region didn't have as much time to create deep valleys like they did in the Western Cascades.
05:18That's why if you look at the two regions side by side,
05:22one looks jagged and carved up, while the other looks smoother and more built up.
05:28Some of Oregon's most famous volcanoes are located in the High Cascades.
05:33I'm talking about Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, the Three Sisters, and Crater Lake,
05:38which actually formed when Mount Mazama erupted and collapsed in on itself.
05:44Unlike smaller volcanoes that pop up, erupt for a bit, and disappear over a few months or years,
05:51these giant volcanic centers have been active for thousands of years,
05:56and because they've been around for so long, they have way more complex magma systems.
06:01They produce everything from basalt, which is a runny, fast-moving lava,
06:06to andesite, dacite, and rhyolite.
06:10And rhyolite is the type of magma that leads to huge, explosive eruptions.
06:15So while some of these volcanoes might just ooze lava,
06:19others have the potential for devastating blasts.
06:23Another amazing thing about these long-lived volcanoes
06:26is that their underground magma chambers stay hot for a really long time.
06:31That's why the Cascades are one of the best places to tap into geothermal energy.
06:36There's a ton of heat just sitting beneath the surface, waiting to be used.
06:41Oh, and don't forget about the Cascades Volcanic Water Reservoir.
06:45Who knows how we will use it in the future?
06:48Now, we already know that the Cascades are part of the magnificent Ring of Fire,
06:53Earth's most explosive zone.
06:55Imagine a massive horseshoe-shaped belt wrapping around the Pacific Ocean,
07:00stretching for about 25,000 miles.
07:04It's one of the most geologically active areas on the planet.
07:08This is where Earth's tectonic plates are constantly shifting, colliding,
07:13and grinding against each other,
07:15creating some of the world's most powerful earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,
07:19and deep ocean trenches.
07:22The Ring of Fire follows the meeting points of multiple tectonic plates,
07:26and they all surround the giant Pacific Plate.
07:29These plates aren't just sitting still, they're always on the move,
07:33pushing against or sliding beneath each other at their boundaries,
07:37known as fault lines.
07:39When this happens, you get everything from deep sea trenches
07:42to towering volcanoes and violent earthquakes.
07:46One of the most extreme examples of this activity is the Mariana Trench,
07:51located east of Guam.
07:53At seven miles deep, it's the deepest ocean trench on Earth.
07:58It was formed by a process called subduction,
08:01where one tectonic plate is forced beneath another,
08:04sinking deep into the Earth's mantle.
08:07The Mariana Trench is one of the most mysterious places on Earth.
08:11It's insanely deep, with crushing pressure and total darkness,
08:15so for a long time, people thought nothing could live down there.
08:19But it turned out that life existed even at the very bottom.
08:24In 2005, scientists found a tiny single-celled organism in the Challenger Deep,
08:30the, ahem, deepest part of the Mariana Trench.
08:34They also came across colorful rocky formations and weird sea cucumbers.
08:40The Mariana Trench also has hydrothermal vents,
08:43which are basically underwater hot springs.
08:46Even though the water there is super hot and acidic,
08:50strange creatures and microscopic life forms still manage to survive there.
08:55The Ring of Fire is also responsible for 90% of the world's earthquakes.
09:00Some of the most powerful quakes in history have happened here,
09:03including the 1960 Valdivia earthquake in Chile,
09:07the strongest ever recorded, which hit a mind-boggling 9.5 on the Richter scale.
09:13But it's not just about earthquakes.
09:15The Ring of Fire is also home to about 75% of the planet's volcanoes.
09:21Some of the most famous eruptions in history have come from this region,
09:25like the infamous Mount Tambora in Indonesia.
09:29In short, the Ring of Fire is one of the most dangerous places on Earth,
09:33but it's also incredibly fascinating.
09:35Who knows what else scientists might discover in that region,
09:38like they discovered the largest water reservoir in the Cascades.
09:43That's it for today.
09:44So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity,
09:46then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
09:49Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!