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A vast water reservoir might be trapped hundreds of miles beneath the surface, according to a new research. The amount might be capable of filling Earth's oceans three times over. 

According to the research, the body of water is located 400 miles (600km) beneath Earth's crust locked in a blue mineral called ringwoodite that lies in the transition zone of hot rock between Earth's surface and core. 

Interestingly, this water is in the unknown form - neither liquid nor ice or vapor. 

"Geological processes on the Earth's surface, such as earthquakes or erupting volcanoes, are an expression of what is going on inside the Earth, out of our sight," said author Steve Jacobsen from Northwestern University in the press release. 

"I think we are finally seeing evidence for a whole-Earth water cycle, which may help explain the vast amount of liquid water on the surface of our habitable planet. Scientists have been looking for this missing deep water for decades."

The study is based on another study of the transition zone - an underground region extending across most of the interior of the United States.

According to The Guardian, Jacobsen said that this trapped, hidden water may explain why Earth's oceans have stayed the same size for billions of years.

"If [the stored water] wasn't there, it would be on the surface of the Earth, and mountaintops would be the only land poking out," he said.

The findings have been published in the journal Science.