Earth could be carrying much more water than previously thought, said researchers from University of Liverpool, UK.

A study by the researchers has indicated about the presence of large amount of water present beneath the Earth's mantle. It is the deep sea fault zones that transports water from Earth's oceans to the upper mantle.

The deep sea fault zones penetrating the oceanic plate bend into the subduction zone and that is how the water is carried to the mantle. During this procedure, heating of plates leads to release of some water.

Researcher Tom Garth said, "This water causes melting in the mantle, which leads to arc releasing some of the water back into the atmosphere".

The study published in the journal Geology has led researchers to indicate that massive amounts of water may be pouring down from the oceans to the planet's upper mantle. The vast amount of water that may be pouring down is suggested to be enough for filling entire oceans.

It has also been said that the subducted water is carried deep into the water, which might be stored there. In addition, the researchers have also estimated that the subduction zone off the coast of Japan could have carried as much as three-and-a-half times the water of all the surface oceans to the mantle.

The researchers have used seismic modeling techniques to assess earthquakes that have occurred more than 100 km beneath the Earth's surface. This led researchers to know about seismic waves that occurred along fault zones and traveled through minerals.