New 'Phase' Of Water Found Inside Planets Recreated On Earth By Scientists

Everyone has phases, even the supporter of all life on Earth - water. It was long believed that water exists in three states - liquid, solid, and gas. But now, scientists have found a fourth phase of water called "superionic ice."

According to scientists from the University of Chicago, the "strange black" ice can be found at the centre of planets like Neptune, Uranus, and even Earth.

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How was this ice created?

The study was published in Nature Physics, whereby scientists explained how such ice could be created in extreme conditions. To recreate the extreme conditions required to hold water in this state on Earth, scientists pressed water between two diamonds (considered the hardest material on Earth). During this process, the intense pressure that exists at core of planets was recreated.

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According to the study, scientists then used the Advanced Photon Source to shoot high brightness x-ray beams into the diamonds to heat the water.

In the results, the ice appeared as less dense and black in colour, for it interacted differently with light than regular water or ice.

"A new state of matter"

Vitali Prakapenka, who co-led the study, said that "it's a new state of matter, so it basically acts as a new material, and it may be different from what we thought."

To the scientists' surprise, the superionic water was created in pressure conditions lesser than they'd imagined. It took 20 gigapascals of water pressure to create the new kind of water. Earlier, they believed it would take at least 50 gigapascals of pressure.

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Superionic ice helps maintain the magnetic fields of our planet, which in turn protects Earthlings from space radiation and solar rays. In the absence of a magnetic field, planets (like Mars and Mercury) undergo extreme weather events that are not ideal to host life.

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Citation

Scientists find strange black ¡®superionic ice¡¯ that could exist inside other planets | Argonne National Laboratory. (2021, October 28). Argonne National Laboratory.