A New Hypothesis on the Origin of Water from Magma

Abstract

Even though primeval-ocean water is generally assumed to be from volcanic outgassing, the author is of the opinion that most terrestrial water has a different origin. On the basis of the structural characteristics of the water molecule and taking into account the known physico-chemical data on the state of supercritical fluids, terrestrial water is interpreted as being directly separated from magma at the liquid state. It is suggested that, in proximity to the gas-liquid transitional state, the hydrogen-bonding formation is responsible for the water-liquid separation from magmatic rest-liquids. Thus, near the critical region, the liquid water initially separates on submicroscopic scale (by forming doublets, triplets and so on) and then collects into larger liquid masses. The different behavior of water in magmas which cool on the Earth's surface and in magmas which cool at depth is emphasized. The author thinks that this process which produces primary magmatic water is still functioning at the present time.