Deep Underground Oceans

Article #5 on Noah's Flood & Science 

(CREDIT: CC BY-SA 4.0)

​The Subterranean Seas of the Underworld

The Ark was grounded on the mountain of Ararat on Day 150 of the flood when the floodwater reached its peak elevation – 26 feet (15 cubits) above the tallest mountain on earth (Gen. 7:20, 8:4). Apparently, Ararat was the tallest mountain on earth at the time, because the Ark was grounded on it while sitting in the water at a depth of ≈39 feet. Therefore, we can be sure that the flood had reached an elevation of ≈16,971 feet.

Where did the floodwater come from? If our calculations are correct, the flood would have required ≈693 million trillion gallons of water, and there are only ≈348 million trillion gallons of water in the earth’s oceans. Nearly two times the amount of water in our oceans had to be added to the surface of the world to accomplish the flood! According to Genesis 7:11 & Genesis 8:2, the floodwater came from the fountains of the great deep (Gen. 7:11, 8:2).

On Day #3, the fountains of the great deep were created as the springs of the sea (Job 38:16, Ps. 42:7) and the fountains of dryland (Gen. 49:25, Deut. 8:7, 33:13, Ezek. 31:4, Psalm 78:15-16, Hab. 3:10). Water is fed into these places in a divinely balanced water cycle. However, at the flood these fountains were broken up (Gen. 7:11), and this means that the floodwater came from the great depths of the earth. We are talking about somewhere far below the oceans of our world. Until recently this was deemed impossible by science! Through advancements in seismic technology, scientists have stumbled upon a most shocking discovery. 

“A reservoir of water three times the volume of all the oceans has been discovered deep beneath the Earth’s surface.” - New Scientist

“While the vast expanse of our blue planet's oceans, rivers, and lakes have always captivated humanity, it is this concealed ocean, silently resting deep within the Earth's mantle, that is now compelling scientists and curious minds alike to reconsider our understanding of the Earth.” – Brighter Side

Evidently, there is plenty of water down there to accomplish the flood. Science suggests that this water is contained within a transition zone between the upper mantle and lower mantle of the earth, in a range of 400 to 700 km below the surface of our world. 

Now that even secular scientists are believing that the earth’s oceans originated from within the earth rather than from comets, according to their wild theories of macroevolution, implacable theologians should also rethink their own theories about the flood while studying anything Scripture has to offer on the subject of biblical geology. 

“‘It’s good evidence the Earth’s water came from within,’ says Steven Jacobsen of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.” - New Scientist

“I think we are finally witnessing evidence for a whole-Earth water cycle.” – Brighter Side

“This intriguing revelation is reshaping our understanding of the Earth's water cycle and its intricate geophysical processes.” – Brighter Side

Granted, the deep underground ocean of the world is made up of water that is trapped in a mineral called ringwoodite, but this poses no problem to the fact that this water was the source of the flood through the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep. 

“This underground ocean is three times larger than all the surface oceans combined and is believed to be trapped within a blue mineral called ringwoodite.” – Brighter Side
​
“The ringwoodite is like a sponge, soaking up water. There's something very special about the crystal structure of ringwoodite that allows it to attract hydrogen and trap water.” – Steve Jacobsen, Geophysicist (Brighter Side)

Notice how the expert scientists are repeatedly referring to a whole earth water cycle even though the water of the subterranean seas is trapped in ringwoodite. Various scientific experiments have proven that the water of the ringwoodite is fluid – it is “cycling water through the transition zone” (Dehydration Melting at the Top of the Lower Mantle). In other words, olivine and water are converted to ringwoodite, and ringwoodite is converted to olivine and water. 

(Mg, Fe)2SiO4 + H2O   ⇌ (Mg, Fe)2SiO4(H2O)
(Olivine + water ⇌ Ringwoodite)

“Within the water-bearing transition zone, water is held in the lattice structure of ringwoodite, but it is released through dehydration melting as it reaches the lower mantle due to the higher-pressure environment. Approximately three times the amount of water in the earth’s oceans combined is stored within the crystal lattice structure of ringwoodite in the transition zone, and it is released through high pressure to form the compound olivine, which cannot store water in substantial quantity. Additionally, the conversion of olivine and water to ringwoodite and vice versa occurs within the transition zone evidenced by the presence of olivine. Released water can then ascend into the upper mantle to contribute to the deep water Cycle. Superheated water ascending out of the transition zone contributes to the formation of magma in the upper mantle. Rising magma into the oceanic and continental crust feeds into the supply of underground water. Backflow of all these processes, whether through gravitational and/or convection forces, closes the loop of the deep water cycle.” – Preethi Morris, PhD Researcher 

God caused the flood! Period. The supernatural influenced the natural in the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep (Gen. 7:11). This breaking up likely happened through pressure being applied to the fountains from the underworld. Water was surging upwards from the underworld due to a destabilized transition zone of ringwoodite, and it was putting pressure on the “doors” of the fountainheads (Job 38:8, 10; Prov. 8:28). Obviously, with the right ingredients of pressure and heat, the transition zone can become radically destabilized. The fountainheads then broke under mounting pressure, and increasingly eroded over time, as ≈696 trillion gallons of water were being injected into the surface of the world. 

Naturally, the water that came up had to go back down, otherwise the earth would remain flooded and uninhabitable. During the recession, the ≈696 trillion gallons of water that came up from the underworld then went back down to the same place. Obviously, there was no space for all that water on the surface of the world! The LORD suddenly “stopped” the fountains of the great deep, which means that water was no longer being injected into the world by these broken waterspouts (Gen. 8:2; Job 38:16, Ps. 42:7). A stop in the output of water indicates a shift of pressure in the underworld that would in turn cause an intake of water. The fountainheads then became drains! The floodwater was sucked into the underworld, and with it all the organic material of a destroyed world.

"University of Alberta geochemist Graham Pearson holds a diamond used in a previous study that found oceans' worth of water deep inside the Earth. He was a co-author of the new study that provides more evidence of how water is recycled deep within the Earth." - CBC

​Some of the organic material that was flushed deep into the transition zone was then transformed into diamonds, and through the water cycle some of these diamonds made their way back up to the surface of the earth. In the words of Dr. Graham Pearson, a geochemist from Alberta University, the diamond that he is holding with tweezers "went to hell and back".