Super-Earth Planets May Have Earthlike Oceans & Continents

WASHINGTON — The alien worlds known as "Super-Earths" may be more like our own planet than previously thought, a new study suggests.

Super-Earths — exoplanets slightly larger than Earth — are common throughout the Milky Way galaxy, but because of their massive gravity, scientists have assumed they should be water worlds. According to a new model, however, tectonically active super-Earths likely store most of their water in the mantle, leaving exposed continents and oceans that could create a stable climate such as that of Earth.

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