Earth & climate · the experiment
Make Earth's water
A sky of hydrogen, a sea of molten rock, a skin of magma that keeps sinking. Four questions, from beginner to expert, on how the model gets water out of them.
1 · Find what makes the water
Beginner
In the model, what does the atmosphere's hydrogen react with to make water?
2 · Count the hydrogen swallowed
In the main example, hydrogen flows into the magma at 0.35 N_TO per thousand years on average. One N_TO is as many hydrogen molecules as all of today's seawater holds.
Intermediate
At that rate, how much hydrogen enters the magma in 10,000 years?
3 · Explain the speed
Hydrogen diffuses only very slowly through molten rock. In 70 seconds, it gets less than a millimetre in.
Expert
Why does the flow of hydrogen into the magma still stay high?
4 · Predict the Martian mantle
On Mars, a magma ocean could reach no deeper than the core, at a pressure of 18 to 19 gigapascals. For Earth, how iron-loving elements were shared places the base between 28 and 53 gigapascals.
Expert
What does the model predict for the mantle of Mars?
Water made
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