6 Most Surprising Facts About Earth You Probably Didn’t Know

In 2023, it seems like a mind-blowing scientific story breaks every other day. the development of new artificial intelligence, the close encounters of asteroids with Earth, and the hunt for extraterrestrial life. But the stories that are a little closer to home are the ones that have most piqued our curiosity.

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In 2023, it seems like we’re learning more about Earth and the natural world than ever before, and our perspectives of the world have frequently altered. These are the top six astounding Earth-related facts that have surfaced this year that you most likely were unaware of.

1. Massive Ocean Discovered Beneath the Earth’s Crust

It turns out that 400 miles below the surface, in a rock known as “ringwoodite,” is a vast reservoir of water. Scientists have previously shown that water exists in a fourth state—one that resembles a sponge—inside mantle rock instead of in the liquid, solid, or gas states.

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Seismometers were picking up shockwaves beneath the Earth’s surface, which led scientists to make the discoveries at the time they studied earthquakes. They were able to determine from that that the ringwoodite rock was holding the water.

The amount of water beneath the Earth’s surface is three times more than that of the surface oceans, even if the rock only contained 1% water.

2. After 375 Years, a Vanished Continent Has Been Found

It has taken nearly 375 years for geoscientists to uncover a continent that has been absent for almost that long. Te Riu-a-Māui, or Zealandia in Māori, has historically generated conjecture over the existence of a continent.

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Zealandia is 1.89 million square miles in size, according to TN News. More than 500 million years ago, it was a member of the supercontinent Gondwana, which also encompassed much of Western Antarctica and Eastern Australia.

According to legend, Dutch sailor and trader Abel Tasman made the initial discovery in 1642 while on a mission to find the “Great Southern Continent.” Geologists didn’t realize the continent had been hiding in plain sight the entire time until 2017.

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There is no doubt among scientists about the existence of Zealandia, which began to “pull apart” from Gondwana for reasons that remain unclear. Geologists from the Zealand Crown Research Institute GNS Science have used the majority of the newly discovered continent—which is underwater—as an example of how something “quite evident” might take some time to find.

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3. Bleeding Waterfalls in the Arctic

This year, there has been a resurgence of the truth online regarding the enigma surrounding the “bleeding waterfall” in the Arctic that has captivated scientists for decades. For those who are unaware, Blood Falls is an odd geographical formation in the continent’s McMurdo Dry Valleys region.

As the name implies, a blood-colored stream of water is visible dripping into the ocean from a glacier. Since geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor discovered it in 1911, the structure has captivated viewers with its stunning contrast to the white countryside.

At first, Taylor, the person who discovered it, thought that the presence of red algae in the water might be the cause. It was just one of several hypotheses put forth regarding the actual nature of Blood Falls, none of which held much weight.

Not only was the hue of the water confusing people, though. Given that the area’s normal temperature is close to -19 degrees Celsius, it was equally unexpected that the water was flowing rather than frozen solid.

But the real story came to light in 2003 when the University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers, including National Geographic explorer Erin C. Pettit, presented the conclusive solution.

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With the use of radio-echo equipment, they discovered that the amount of salt in the running water was double that of the local saltwater. The reason water is still liquid at such low temperatures is that the high salt component raises the freezing point of the substance.

4. There’s a Huge Dent in the Earth’s Magnetic Field

Scientists are concerned because of a significant dent in the Earth’s magnetic field. The Earth’s magnetic field is essential for shielding the globe from solar radiation, but scientists are concerned about a weak spot in the field that they have found.

NASA has been studying the South Atlantic Anomaly, which is a weak area, in recent years. A “pothole in space” is how ScienceAlert characterizes the region in the field that is between South America and Africa.

Although there isn’t a direct hazard to human life in the area, it might have a significant effect on artificial structures in our orbit. As a result of the decreased shielding from the sun’s rays, spacecraft and satellites that remain in Earth’s magnetic field during their orbit may experience technological issues. Long-term exposure in this manner may result in serious harm.

5. The Age-old Structure Encircled the Center of Earth

This year, another study that looks at the geology beneath our feet in similar detail was published. It reveals that there is a whole old formation hidden beneath the earth that has just recently been discovered by experts.

There is evidence in the recently released article in Science Advances that the ocean floor extends all the way around the core. This layer, which is located about 1,800 miles below the Earth’s surface, is comparatively thin where the core and mantle meet.

This ancient deposit may shed more light on the composition of the earth under our feet. Leading the research were geologists Samantha Hansen and her colleagues at the University of Alabama. They used fifteen monitoring stations beneath Antarctic ice to map the waves caused by earthquakes in order to observe the structure.