Molten Magma Surprise

Silicate-rich liquids that geologists call "melt" flow not only through small cracks and fractures as previously believed, but also through the crystalline structure of olivine in the Earth's mantle.

The mineral olivine is magnesium iron silicate and one of the most common minerals on Earth. It has also been identified on the Moon and Mars. Understanding liquid movement within Earth is important to geologists because it is one of the primary ways that mass moves around. Examples include earthquakes and volcanoes. And, iron-rich liquids flowed to the Earth's center formed the core.

This research is detailed in the Nov. 10 issue of the journal Science.

---LiveScience Staff

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Credit: Laboratoire Pierre Sue (91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France)