Hidden Threat from the Depths: Anomalous Ocean Deep Water Heating and Geothermal Heat 

The escalating climate crisis on our planet raises increasing concern, and scientists are beginning to acknowledge that there are still unaccounted-for factors contributing to global warming. In 2023 and 2024, record-breaking ocean surface temperatures were recorded. Alarmingly, the ocean has begun warming 450% faster over the past 30 years, requiring an enormous amount of energy — equivalent to the detonation of seven Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs every second for an entire year. However, the ocean surface accounts for only a small portion of Earth's total oceanic volume, raising the critical question: could the X-Factor heating our planet be hidden in the remaining 99% of ocean water?

Anomalous Deep Ocean Heating

Recent research reveals that deep ocean heating is occurring at an unprecedented pace. Over the past 60 years, the average ocean depths have warmed 15 times faster than during the previous 10,000 years — and this trend is accelerating. Heating at such depths, where sunlight cannot penetrate, requires vast amounts of energy.

Examples of this anomalous warming include:

• In the Argentine Basin, at depths over 4,500 meters, a temperature rise of 0.2°C was recorded between 2009 and 2019.

• Off the coast of West Antarctica, unusual warming has been observed in the deep waters of the Weddell Sea, while the upper 700 meters remain relatively unchanged — with deep-layer temperatures steadily increasing.

• The weakening of the thermocline — the water layer with sharp temperature and density gradients — allows heat from bottom waters to rise toward the surface, indicating that heat is entering from below.
  
  

The Role of Geothermal Heat and the “X-Factor”

Traditionally, geothermal heat from Earth’s interior was considered to have minimal impact on ocean temperatures. However, this influence may have been significantly underestimated. New hypotheses within the geological community suggest that geodynamic processes may play a much greater role in the climate system and ocean warming.

Key manifestations of this influence include:

• Methane emissions: Large reserves of methane hydrates lie on the seafloor of the northern seas. When exposed to geothermal heat, these structures melt, releasing methane gas — a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than CO₂. Anomalous methane flares in the Arctic, recorded by NOAA satellites in 2014, align with mid-Arctic rift zones, indicating active magma movement and thermal outflows.

• Rising seismic and volcanic activity: Since 1995, there has been an increase in undersea earthquakes along mid-ocean ridges. This trend closely correlates with the global temperature rise, with a two-year lag, implying that seismic activity may precede oceanic heating. This activity boosts hydrothermal venting, contributing directly to the warming of ocean and atmosphere. Over 10 million geological structures lie on the ocean floor, including underwater volcanoes, fault lines, and hydrothermal vents — all potential major heat sources.
  
  

• Mantle Plumes:

  • A massive mantle plume beneath West Antarctica spans nearly a million square kilometers. It heats the surrounding rock and ice layers with an intensity comparable to the Yellowstone supervolcano, reaching 180 mW per square meter — triple the output of neighboring regions.

  • Similar mantle plumes have been identified beneath central Greenland, accelerating glacial melt from below.

  • The Siberian mantle plume is considered a core element of the X-Factor. It is an enormous column of molten material rising from the deep mantle — possibly from the core-mantle boundary — with a diameter of 2.5–3 km, comparable to an entire continent like Australia. Its reactivation, which previously triggered the largest extinction event on Earth 250 million years ago (Siberian Traps), is now showing signs of renewed activity. The Siberian Arctic is currently warming almost four times faster than the rest of the planet, particularly near the Taimyr Peninsula — the epicenter of plume uplift. This is due to the thinner oceanic crust and water’s high thermal capacity.
    
    

Limited Knowledge of the Deep Ocean

Our understanding of deep ocean processes remains extremely limited. Only around 3–3.5% of the seafloor has been thoroughly explored. Monitoring systems like Argo rely on buoys that dive only halfway down and collect data from just 0.3% of the ocean's surface — far from sufficient for a full picture. Scientists have only recently discovered 19 previously unknown underwater volcanoes, underscoring how little we still know. Without comprehensive ocean monitoring, the influence of geothermal heat on ocean waters remains largely invisible.

Connection to Planetary Internal Changes

The X-Factor is closely tied to internal planetary changes and is a likely driver of the increasing number and severity of cataclysms. Since 1995, worrying global anomalies have been observed: the North Magnetic Pole accelerated its movement and changed course toward Siberia; Earth’s rotation has shifted, and the speed of axial drift has increased. These changes point to disturbances within the Earth’s core — which appears to be heating and falling into disequilibrium. Moreover, in 1997–1998, a remarkable event occurred — a “leap” of the inner core, which shifted northward from West Antarctica to Western Siberia (Taimyr Peninsula). This enormous displacement of the Moon-sized core suggests massive forces at play within the Earth.

Thus, deep ocean heating, driven by growing geothermal energy and the activation of Earth’s internal processes such as mantle plume movement and increased seafloor seismicity, represents a substantial and underappreciated X-Factor in today’s climate crisis. Further research and global collaboration are urgently needed to fully understand and address this hidden threat.