Overview
- Researchers report laser-heated diamond-anvil cell experiments at 16–60 GPa and temperatures above 4,000 K showing hydrogen dissolves into silicate melt and reduces iron oxide to produce water.
- The experiments yielded very large amounts of water, reaching up to tens of weight percent with about 18 percent of the initial mass converted in some runs.
- Using pulsed lasers limited hydrogen infiltration that can destroy diamonds, enabling the high-pressure tests despite frequent anvil failures.
- The mechanism offers an in situ explanation for water-rich sub-Neptunes found close to their stars and points to a continuum linking hydrogen-rich, water-rich, and hycean worlds.
- Findings imply major consequences for planetary interiors, core formation, and atmospheres, and they inform hypotheses about contributions to Earth’s earliest water.