Scientists in Odessa Unable to Explain for Tidal Wave that Rushed Ashore

Ukraine

ITAR-TASS
June 27, 2014

Scientists in the city of Odessa have failed to explain for the causes of an unusually tall tidal wave that rushed ashore Friday in the city’s beach areas and in the neighboring port town of Ilyichevsk.

A tidal wave more than 2 meters tall battered the beaches of Odessa and Ilyichevsk Friday. Eyewitnesses claimed its emergence had been preceded by an obtuse sound of an explosion.




“Measuring equipment didn’t register any tremors of the crust or any other geophysical events that might have triggered a tsunami of this kind,” Dr. Konstantin Yegupov, the chief of a seismic survey station at the Odessa State Academy of Construction told reporters.

He said the researchers had not confirmed the versions of either an underwater blast or the so-called rump wave.

“All the evidence available to us points to a local surge of the sea, presumably in the area of Chernomorka and the wave moved from the northeast to the southwest but we can only theorize about the nature of that surge,” Dr. Yegupov said.

A special commission has been set up by the regional branch of the state service for emergency situations response to establish the causes of the phenomenon.

“A total of six people, including four children, received traumas and were taken to the region’s central hospital,” Dr. Yegupov said.

Along with it, rescue services did not confirm the reports on a child who had allegedly died that went viral in social networks.

 The press office of the emergencies service claimed the number of injured was so small and no one had died owing to the fact that there were too few visiting holidaymakers in Odessa this year because of the tense situation in all the parts of Ukraine.

Giant SUPER RATS spreading across the UK at 'rapid speeds'

Experts believe the rat population could soar from 80 million to 160 million by the end of the year
 

This giant vermin was reportedly found in Gravesend, Kent

UK

Daily Mail
26 June 2014

Deep within our city sewers, a new breed of genetically mutated ‘super rats’, immune to poison, are spreading at alarming speeds.

Scientists have now begun charting their rapid invasion into new communities by monitoring their progress in 17 counties in the UK.
Genetic testing by Huddersfield University has revealed that the rodents have developed a mutation that allows them to survive conventional poisons.

In counties such as Berkshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Kent, all the rats tested were found to have immunity to poison.

A giant, 2ft (0.6 metres) long rat caught in Liverpool.

Places such as Shropshire and South Gloucestershire had slightly less resilient rats with immunity levels at 33 per cent, and 50 per cent respectively.

Around 30 per cent of rats in Kingston are immune to poison, in Sheffield it is 40 per cent, while 75 per cent of rats in Southampton are immune.

While the rats have been changing, humans have been using the same anticoagulant poisons since the 1950s.

Research earlier this year found that the swarm of 'super rats' spotted across the country is expected to outnumber humans two-to-one by next year.

This photo shows a huge rat that was caught in Cornwall earlier this year. It measured 50cm from tail to nose

Figures have revealed that, in some regions of the UK, the number of vermin has already surged by 50 per cent since April last year.

And experts believe the rat population could soar from 80 million to 160 million by the end of the year.

In April, a 2ft (0.6 metres) long rat was captured in Cornwall while other monster rats have been reported in Kent and in Liverpool.

Across the country, councils have reported a rise in the number of rats being reported. Birmingham has the highest number of call-outs with 5,100 in the past year.

Unusual natural phenomenon in Russia : Both Snow and Hail In Late June

Russia

ria56

25 June 2014

Orenburg and surrounding regions were hit with some extreme weather on June 25, as heavy rain, lightning storms and severe hail hit the area.

According to local residents in the Orenburg, several dozen centimeters of Egg-sized hailstones fell on the area in the space of about an hour starting from around 3 p.m. Locals also said that the mix of heavy rain and hail formed whirlpools of ice and water in some places.

 

AIF Smolensk – Hail and snow fell in the Demidov District of Smolensk region on Wednesday, June 25, reported by users of social networks.

Ebola Outbreak is “Totally Out of Control”

West Africa

SENIOR OFFICIAL FOR DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS GIVES GRAVE WARNING ABOUT EBOLA OUTBREAK IN WEST AFRICA.

Intellihub
22 Jun 2014

One of the worst Ebola outbreaks in recorded history has been brewing in West Africa for the past several months, and the international media has been largely silent about the severity of this issue and how far it has spread to other areas of the world.

According to World Health Organization statistics, the highest recorded death toll from an Ebola outbreak was in Congo during the 1976 outbreak, when 280 deaths were reported.  This was the also the first recorded outbreak of Ebola.  Since then, Ebola has still been a serious problem in Africa, but it has not risen to epidemic levels.

However, the most current situation is getting very dangerous.  According to new WHO statistics, Ebola has caused more than 330 deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

On Friday, Bart Janssens, the director of operations for Doctors Without Borders told The Associated Press that,”the reality is clear that the epidemic is now in a second wave, and, for me, it is totally out of control.”

Janssens said that this outbreak is far worse than the international media and world governments are willing to admit.

“This is the highest outbreak on record and has the highest number of deaths, so this is unprecedented so far,” Armand Sprecher, a public health specialist with Doctors Without Borders told The Associated Press.

A few months back, we reported that there have already been two cases that were suspected to have left the country.

One Canadian man traveling from the area became infected and brought the virus home to Canada. When he was sick at a Canadian hospital, health officials insisted that there was nothing to be afraid of, and that his virus was not actually Ebola, but only an “Ebola-like” virus.

However, the fact that this person was recently in an Ebola outbreak area is leaving many to wonder if this is a true Ebola case that is being downplayed by health officials.

Another case appeared in Minnesota, and passed through New York City, according to the CDC.

Preliminary information indicates that the patient flew from West Africa to New York City and caught another flight to Minneapolis. “Given what we know about how Lassa virus is spread to people, the risk to other travelers and members of the public is extremely low,” said Martin Cetron, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine.

The epicenter of this outbreak is near a major regional transport hub, the Guinean city of Gueckedou, meaning the illness has a very high probability of spreading.

Freak Hail Storm Hits Tokyo

Japan
24 June 2014

mainichi

Tokyo and surrounding regions were hit with some extreme weather on June 24, as heavy rain, lightning storms and severe hail hit the area.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has said that the wild weather is being stirred up by extreme temperature differences between warm ground-level air and a cold air mass -- measured at minus 12 degrees Celsius and below -- sitting about 5,500 meters above the national capital region.

SPORTS HOCHI

According to local residents in the Tokyo metropolitan cities of Mitaka and Chofu, several dozen centimeters of 10-yen-coin-sized hailstones fell on the area in the space of about an hour starting from around 3 p.m. Locals also said that the mix of heavy rain and hail formed whirlpools of ice and water in some places.

Mitaka is a city located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan.

According to the Meteorological Agency and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, at the storm's peak rainfall reached 68 millimeters per hour in Chofu, 48.5 in Chikusei, Ibaraki Prefecture, and 32 in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture. Furthermore, the ground floors of at least 28 Tokyo homes were flooded.

Snowpocalypse now : Megablizzard forecast for Australia

Australia

news.com.au
24 June 2014

IT’S here. The megablizzard. Snowpocalypse now. This baby has been on the weather charts all week and it’s howling its way through the Australian Alps as you read this.

Experienced weather watchers are calling it the storm of the century. They’re saying it could snow on and off, but mostly on, for the next 10 days.

And now the megablizzard has arrived. The NSW resorts of Thredbo and Perisher received 40cm and 50cm respectively overnight. Hotham, Falls Creek and Mt Buller in Victoria all reported similar totals.

The official Australian ski season started two weeks ago but up till yesterday then, there had been a desperately thin snow base with only a lift or two turning at the NSW resorts of Perisher and Thredbo. Victorian resorts, which are a little lower than their NSW counterparts, had nothing but grass.

That all started to change yesterday and after a brief lull in the early morning hours, the storm appears to be intensifying now.

There’s bucketloads more snow coming today and by early next week, we could be looking at virtually all lifts spinning at resorts on both sides of the Murray, with a metre or more of cover. Just in time for the school holidays too, the two week window which is vital for our ski industry bottom line.

Norway : Snow in June

Norway

IceNews
June 22, 2014

The northern Norwegian city of Tromso experienced a freak summer snowfall on Monday after freezing wind from the North Pole saw temperatures plummet.

It was the first time since records began that the city had seen snowfall in June.

Local meteorologist Trond Lien said that sleet and snow showers hit the city on 22 June night, and there has even been some snow lying on the ground.


He said that the situation was “very rare”, noting that it must have been a long time since it snowed on 16 June. He added that he had found records showing that Tromso had experienced snowfall in July, but he could find nothing to indicate snow in June.

Motorist Odd Arne Thomassen told reporters that he was driving over roughly four centimetres of snow when he was in Kvaenangsfjellet, in North Troms, early on Monday morning.

nearadio

He explained that it was not bad enough to make him feel he needed his chains on, but that there was certainly about four centimetres lying on the ground.

Yr.no, the weather forecasting venture between the Meteorological Institute and TV station NRK, predicted that other areas of the country would also experience snowfall.

It said that high-lying areas of western and southern Norway would likely see snow, despite the fact that the capital Oslo is lapping up temperatures in excess of 20C.

Sharply increased seismic activity and volcanic eruptions in the Aleutian Islands: the most activity seen in 26 years

Aleutian Islands

MINING

Sharply increased seismic activity and volcanic eruptions in the Aleutian Islands and the far western Brooks Range are being investigated by scientists.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory says the activity over the past few months is the most seen by the station 26 years.

On the Alaska Volcano Observatory three volcanoes are classified with a yellow alert level—signifying signs of elevated unrest above known background levels—and three are at an orange alert level—heightened unrest with increased likelihood of eruption. Orange is the second-highest alert level after red signifying an eruption that is imminent or underway.

Volcano Pavlof photographed by the ISS on May 18, 2013. Credit: NASA.

Pavlof Volcano released an ash plum in May that diverted aircraft. The 8,262-foot (2,518-meter) tall volcano erupted sending ash plumes as high as 30,000 feet (9,144 meters). Aircraft were advised to avoid the area since ash could damage airplane engines.

With heightened activity from all volcanoes, scientists still don't have enough information to point to any larger trend or activity.

The government agency posted news updates on its Facebook page.

ESA revealed that the strength of the earth’s magnetic field is weakening

Earth

ESA

On 19 June 2014, the European Space Agency (ESA) revealed that the strength of the earth’s magnetic field is weakening.

Measurements made over the past six months confirm the general trend of the field’s weakening, with the most dramatic declines over the Western Hemisphere, says European Space Agency.

In an announcement entitled “Swarm reveals Earth’s changing magnetism” ESA announced that “high-resolution results from ESA’s three-satellite Swarm constellation reveals the most recent changes in the magnetic field that protects our planet.”

 “These changes are based on the magnetic signals stemming from Earth’s core. Over the coming months, scientists will analyse the data to unravel the magnetic contributions from other sources, namely the mantle, crust, oceans, ionosphere and magnetosphere.

This will provide new insight into many natural processes, from those occurring deep inside our planet to space weather triggered by solar activity. In turn, this information will yield a better understanding of why the magnetic field is weakening.,” the announcement continues.

“Measurements made over the past six months confirm the general trend of the field’s weakening, with the most dramatic declines over the Western Hemisphere. But in other areas, such as the southern Indian Ocean, the magnetic field has strengthened since January.,” says ESA.

The SWARM project hopes to obtain “a better understanding of why the magnetic field is weakening.”

The new findings were presented on 19 June at the ‘Third Swarm Science Meeting’ in Copenhagen, Denmark.

My concern is that a weakening magnetic field could indicate that we’re headed for the next geomagnetic reversal.

“This is a very unusual situation.“ : Swarm of Earthquakes in Alaska Puzzles Scientists

Alaska

A swarm of identical earthquakes has hit Alaska – taking place in the same low-seismicity area in the northwest, all at the same 5.7 magnitude.

No one in the Inuit Eskimo community in Noatak is used to earthquakes - there are no major active fault lines and the latest such incident took place back in 1981.

The area is about 100km north of the Arctic Circle. The April swarm struck about 30km from Noatak at a depth of about 16km. Just as with previous temblors, there were no injuries, apart from minor structural cracks in Noatak.

The regularity is a little bit offset. While the first two events happened in rapid succession on April 18, the third event did not happen until May 3. But all four were about the same magnitude, which is part of the reason the events are being treated as a group and called a “swarm” by Mike West, with the Earthquake Center.

Each event has since been accompanied by 300 smaller aftershocks, their magnitude reaching 3 at times. A 4.2 foreshock was also present this time, just before the main event hit. It was then followed by no less than 10 aftershocks.

USGS / 30 Days, Magnitude 2.5+ Worldwide

What is worrying to West is that the aftershocks are “unusually vigorous” and that the temblors “all have the same cause; the same fault motion” and “occur in more or less the same place.”

What is strange here is that unlike other strong aftershocks, these ones do not have a tendency to reduce in magnitude – they pulse in the same way.

Scientists so far have no answers as to what could have caused this.

“At this point, we don't really understand the nature of these earthquakes.”

The events are a huge mystery and researchers are on the ready for a larger earthquake; despite there being nothing to suggest it, events like this are usually followed by a much larger temblor.

“It’s a very tricky subject. This is a very unusual situation,” Herbert Walton told the newspaper. RT

Deadly Floods Hit Northeastern Bulgaria

Bulgaria 

novinite

At least 12 people were killed in torrential rains and flooding in northeastern Bulgaria.

In the Black Sea resort city of Varna, heavy rainfall triggered a massive flood wave in the low-lying district of Asparuhovo, Reuters reports.

The rush of water swamped streets and houses with mud and debris and left cars mangled and stacked on top of each other like toys. Roads in and out of the suburb were blocked and tens of thousands were without electricity.

Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev confirmed that ten bodies were recovered from in Varna and two more bodies were found in the northern city of Dobrich, where the River Suha burst its banks, according to the Associated Press.

CNN reports that dozens are still missing.

A state of emergency was declared in Asparuhovo and rescue workers were helping to relocate flood victims to temporary shelters. The Bulgarian Red Cross was on the scene providing providing drinking water, food and essential supplies to victims.

Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, who arrived in Varna early Friday, called the flooding "a huge tragedy." The government declared Monday, June 23, a national day of mourning.

The national meteorological service said rainfall in eastern Bulgaria in the past 24 hours equaled the average amount for a month, and warned that more rain was expected.

In late May, at least 40 people were killed in the neighboring Balkan countries of Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia after the heaviest rainfall since records began 120 years ago triggered flooding.  weather.com

Oxygen Escape from the Earth during Pole Shift

A new study published just ties magnetic reversals to mass extinctions.

The authors maintain that “evolution of life is affected by variations of atmospheric oxygen level and geomagnetic field intensity.’

Entitled “Oxygen escape from the Earth during geomagnetic reversals: Implications to mass extinction,” the new study found that geomagnetic field reversals “substantially” weaken the protection afforded by our atmosphere.

Because our magnetic field weakens during a polarity reversal, the authors propose that more oxygen ions are able to escape our atmosphere, which leads to mass extinctions.

As they put it, “accumulated oxygen escape during an interval of increased reversal rate could have led to the catastrophic drop of oxygen level, which is known to be a cause of mass extinction.”

“Oxygen can escape into interplanetary space as ions after gaining momentum from solar wind, but Earth’s strong dipole field reduces the momentum transfer efficiency and the ion outflow rate, except for the time of geomagnetic polarity reversals when the field is significantly weakened in strength and becomes Mars-like in morphology.

The study, by Yong Wei et al., used a simulated oxygen escape rate on Mars to support their  hypothesis.

“A geomagnetic reversal could enhance the oxygen escape rate by 3–4 orders,” they found, suggesting a possible “correlation between geomagnetic reversals and mass extinction.” Magnetic Reversals and Evolutionary Leaps

What is going on? : Millions of fish are suddenly dying all over the planet

ABC News

May 2014

Pravda 

After several years of alerts about mass bird and fish deaths, in 2014 fish die-offs have reached a peak of unprecedented proportions.

What is happening, and what are the consequences for Humankind?

We are speaking about billions of fish, millions of tonnes of fish, suddenly dying in huge numbers during the last year.

According to Michael Snyder, author of End of the American Dream, fish are dying in unprecedented numbers across the world. For the citizens of the United States of America, the sudden appearance of over six tons of fish floating on the top of the water in Marina del Rey, California, raised the alarm this month.

Last month, also in the USA, half a million carp were found, dead, in Cumberland River, Kentucky.

The cloak of death covers just about every living creature in the sea and rivers, from carp, anchovies, turtles, dolphins, to stingray to octopus.

Minnesota: 35,000 fish dead. "Lack of oxygen". Belmar, New Jersey: Thousands of fish dead. "Oxygen depletion". Menifee, California: thousands of fish appear dead in a lake. The reports are staggering: millions of fish suddenly appeared floating on the surface of waters in Fells Point, in Vermont, in California.

Overseas, Gulf of Mexico: record numbers of turtles and dolphins found dead. Singapore: 160 tons of fish dead. China: Fuhe River had 40 kilometres of dead fish floating on the surface.

Greece: Komotini, ten tons of dead fish. Armenia, India, Canada, Australia, North and South England, UK, Columbia, Costa Rica, Bulgaria, Honduras, Argentina, Denmark, Brazil, Panama, Iran, Ireland, Sri Lanka...

The following are some more examples of mass fish death events from just the past several weeks.

—

17th May 2014 – Masses of fish turn up dead in a marina in Pultneyville, New York, America. Link

16th May 2014 – Mass die off of fish in a river in Aragatsotn, Armenia. Link

15th May 2014 – Hundreds of fish dying off ‘due to pollution’ in the wetlands of Rewalsar, India. Link

14th May 2014 – Thousands of dead fish washing ashore in Cootes Paradise, Hamilton, Canada. Link

13th May 2014 – Tens of thousands of dead fish wash up along coast of Tasmania, Australia. Link

12th May 2014 – Mass death of fish in the river Eden ‘is a mystery’ in Cumbria, England. Link

11th May 2014 – Thousands of dead Puffer Fish, also dead turtles washing up on various beaches in Colombia and Costa Rica. Link and here

11th May 2014 – Hundreds of dead fish found in a pond is ‘a mystery’ in Southborough, England. Link

10th May 2014 – Thousands of fish dead due to pollution in spring in Sikkim, India. Link

9th May 2014 – Die off of Fish ’causes panic’ in the Luda Yana River in Bulgaria. Link

8th May 2014 – Thousands of dead fish appear in a lake ‘shock residents’ in Mangalore, India. Link

8th May 2014 – 12 TONS of dead fish removed from lakes in Chisago County, Minnesota, America. Link

7th May 2014 – Massive die off of fish in reservoirs in Quanzhou, China. Link

7th May 2014 – Thousands of fish found dead on the shores of Roatan, Honduras. Link

5th May 2014 – Hundreds of dead fish wash up on a beach ‘a mystery’ in San Antonio Oeste, Argentina. Link

5th May 2014 – Mass death of fish found in lakes in Almindingen, Denmark. Link

4th May 2014 – Mass die off of fish in a river in Fujian, China. Link

3rd May 2014 – 1,000+ dead fish wash ashore along a lake in Ontario, Canada. Link

2nd May 2014 – 40,000 fish die suddenly in a dam in Piaui, Brazil. Link

30th April 2014 – Mass fish kill ‘worst I’ve seen in 26 years of working here’ in Iowa, America. Link

30th April 2014 – Large amount of dead fish found floating along a river in Xiasha District, China. Link

29th April 2014 – Dozens of sea turtles are washing up dead in South Mississippi, America. Link

29th April 2014 – Thousands of dead fish washing up along the shores of Lakes in Wisconsin, America. Link

28th April 2014 – Turtles and other marine life continue to wash up dead in Bari, Italy. Link

28th April 2014 – Large fish kill found in the Mogi River in Brazil. Link

25th April 2014 – Large fish kill found in a reservoir in Nanchong, China. Link

24th April 2014 – Large amount of fish wash up dead along a river in La Chorrera, Panama. Link

23rd April 2014 – 2 Million fish found dead in a dam in Tehran, Iran. Link

23rd April 2014 – Mass die off of fish in Island lake in Ontario, Canada. Link

23rd April 2014 – Thousands of dead fish appear in a lake in Mudanjiang, China. Link

22nd April 2014 – 1,000 fish found dead in Oona River, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Link

21st April 2014 – Large amounts of fish washing up dead along the Panchganga River in India. Link

19th April 2014 – Millions of dead fish found floating in Thondamanaru Lagoon, Sri Lanka. Link

What is going on?

First snowfall ever reported at this time of year in Tver, Russia.

Russia

RG
18 June 2014

Breaks 60-year-old cold record

Snowfall started on Wednesday morning in the Tver region at 7 am and ended at 9am. Locals captured the unusual natural phenomenon for mid-June on the camera.

loft36

The regional edition of RosHydroMet reports that this is the first time such a phenomenon has been observed in the Tver region at this time of the year.

TVC

Yesterday, the Tver region also set a temperature record, warming to only one degree Celsius. Broken record of 60 years ago.

Forecasters have warned that in the next couple of days warming expect just not worth it: a night in the Tver region will be cold.

In addition to the Tver region, snow also fell in Murmansk and Kostamuksha (for the first time since June ’32). In St. Petersburg, instead of snow was small hail.”

Ebola outbreak spreads as toll reaches 337

"More than 500 suspected or confirmed cases of the virus had been recorded. "

People protest outside a hospital as Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf visits the area after Ebola deaths in Monrovia, Liberia, June 17, 2014. (AP Photo)

West Africa 

Aljazeera

18 Jun 2014

 World Health Organization says "one of most challenging" Ebola outbreaks ever is spreading in West Africa.

An Ebola outbreak continues to spread in three West African countries, and the death toll in the outbreak has risen to 337, the World Health Organization says.

Health officials have struggled to contain the outbreak, which is believed to have begun in Guinea, where the majority of the cases and deaths have been.

It has also touched Sierra Leone and Liberia, where it recently flared again after about two months with no new cases.

 

"This is a complex outbreak involving multiple locations in three countries with a lot of cross-border movement among the communities," Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the UN health agency, wrote in an email.

"This makes this one of the most challenging Ebola outbreaks ever."

In an update published on its website on Wednesday, the agency said that more than 500 suspected or confirmed cases of the virus had been recorded.

This is the first time Ebola has struck three countries at once and the first major outbreak in West Africa. Fear of the disease, for which there is no cure, has hampered efforts to isolate the sick.

Heavy snow, sub-zero temperatures in Estonia – On June 17th !

 

Estonia

focus fen
18 June 2014 

Living with sub-zero temperatures for several months a year, Estonians are no strangers to a little snow, AFP reported.

 But residents of the Baltic nation were baffled on Tuesday when flurries of the white stuff fell in June for the first time in more than three decades.

"We last recorded snow in June 32 years ago and it was on exactly the same date: June 17, 1982," Estonian meteorologist Helve Meitern told AFP.


"Tonight, we could see temperatures fall below zero degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit)," she added.

The wintry weather follows a heatwave over the last month that saw temperatures spike to a toasty 30 degrees Celsius across this EU state of three million, where average June daytime temperatures range from 18-20 degrees Celsius.

The mercury soared to a searing 35.6 Celsius in August 1992, the hottest day ever recorded in Estonia.

Photo: Romania TV

Freak June snowfall in Norway

 "This is very rare." 

Norway

The Local
16 June 2014

A blast of ice-cold wind from the North Pole is sending temperatures plummeting across northern Norway, with the city of Tromsø on Monday seeing June snowfall for the first time in living memory.

"There have been both sleet and snow showers tonight, and people have even observed snow settling on the ground," Trond Lien, a local meteorologist, told the Tromsø-based Nordlys newspaper.

"This is very rare, and I cannot remember the last time it snowed on June 16. It must be a long time ago."

He said he had found reports indicating snowfall in the city during July a century previously, but had yet to find any record of snow in June.

Odd Arne Thomassen, a professional driver, told NRK that he had encountered roughly four inches of snow when driving over Kvænangsfjellet in North Troms on June 16.

Vast Oceans of Water may be Trapped in Earth's Interior , may be Wellspring for World's Oceans

The mineral is thought to exist in the mantle at depths between about 500 and 700 km; these samples were lab grown.
(Photo : Steve Jacobsen / Northwestern University)

Tech Times
 
Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico report evidence for potentially oceans worth of water deep beneath the United States. Though not in the familiar liquid form -- the ingredients for water are bound up in rock deep in the Earth’s mantle -- the discovery may represent the planet’s largest water reservoir.

A reservoir of water lying deep under the Earth's surface may contain triple the volume of every one the world's oceans and may even be the "wellspring" source of them, U.S. researchers say.

Although not in a liquid form most familiar to all of us -- it is instead bound within rocks deep in the Earth's mantle -- it likely represents the largest reservoir of water on Earth, scientists at the University of New Mexico and Northwestern University say.

Writing in the journal Science, they report finding pockets of melted magma 400 miles underneath the North American continent that are likely signatures that water exists at those depths.

Scientists have long questioned whether the mantle, the rocky, hot layer between the Earth's crust and its core, might contain water bound up and trapped within rare minerals.

The new discovery is evidence water can be transported from the surface of the Earth to great depth by plate tectonics, the movement of continents and plates over the Earth's surface.

"Geological processes on the Earth's surface, such as earthquakes or erupting volcanoes, are an expression of what is going on inside the Earth, out of our sight," says geophysicist and study co-author Steve Jacobsen at Northwestern. "I think we are finally seeing evidence for a whole-Earth water cycle, which may help explain the vast amount of liquid water on the surface of our habitable planet."

Movement and partial melting of rocks in the mantle's transition zone -- a region between the mantle's lower and upper layers from around 250 to 400 miles deep -- could allow water to become tightly bound to the minerals there, the researchers said.