Scientists have found that Mariana Trench might be dragging in more water than previously thought. This trench is a region on Earth that is the deepest part of the ocean. It is where two tectonic plates, the Mariana Plate and the Pacific Plate, meet. The Pacific Plate is currently sliding under the Mariana Plate, causing seawater to pour down in between the cracks. The seawater is going deeper into the earth. According to the recent studies, more water is flowing into the cracks than is coming out.
If this dangerous trend continues, one day the Earth’s surface might end up dry. The planet might resemble Mars in a way, which scientists believe was once full of water on its surface.
Earth’s Mariana Trench Is Trapping Water
Researchers from the Washington University of St. Louis found that the Earth’s Mariana Trench is swallowing 4 times more water than previous estimates indicated. The deepest part of the ocean is over 36,000 feet. It is almost 7 miles deep at its lowest point. Because of this depth, previous estimates varied on how much water goes into the Mariana Trench’s tectonic plate cracks.
To figure out how much seawater was going into the Mariana Trench, the researchers used 19 seismographs at the bottom of the ocean. Additionally, the scientists used 7 seismographs on the nearby Mariana Islands. It took the experts about 1 year to properly analyze the data.
There is a slight possibility that the trapped seawater might be coming out of the Earth’s surface later, through volcanos that erupt. But, the scientists are not sure about this. If the water does come out, it will come out hundreds of miles away.
Earth Will Look Like Mars
If it is true that more water is going into the deep Earth than is coming out, Earth has a high probability of looking like Mars one day. From what scientists who are studying the Red Planet gathered, Mars seems to have had riverbeds full of water at some point, just like Earth. But then, all of the liquid vanished from the Red Planet’s surface.
Who knows what happened to make Mars’ surface dry up. The Red Planet still contains remnants of ice and salt. This indicates that water might have been escaping into Mars’ depths. Let us just hope that the Earth’s trenches, such as the Mariana Trench, do not swallow up all of the Earth’s water.
