A recent survey has discovered mountains deep within the Earth whose peaks may be four to five times higher than Everest.
As we know, the Earth’s core is too deep to be explored directly, however, Samantha Hansen, geophysicist and researcher at the University of Alabama, with colleagues at Arizona State University, explored the interior of the Antarctic region using instruments to record seismic waves and seismic signals. The result revealed a series of strikes mountain ranges deep within the Earth.
“Some of the energy from these earthquakes traveled deep inside our planet and was reflected (bounced) off the core-mantle boundary (CMB), eventually being recorded by our Antarctic stations,” said said Hansen.
The team of researchers studied one of the strangest parts of the Earth more than 2900 km below our feet, called “core-mantle boundary”. Place that marks the transition between the layer located under the thin planetary crust on which we live, and the core, the deepest part of our Earth.
Thanks to large-scale seismic images, researchers were able to discover structures of variable size up to 40 km in the mantle, which equals 4.5 times the height of Everest; others were only 3 km high.
Using seismic waves from earthquakes in the southern hemisphere, the thin layer surrounding the Earth’s core has been studied. Credit: Edward Garnero/MingMing Li/Arizona State University.
These structures are called “ultra low speed zones” (ULVZ). And luckily for the investigation, they found evidence of them “everywhere”.
For example, similar mountains have been found in scattered locations around the core. Some, particularly large, like the one that stretches about 910 km under Hawaii.
How did these mountains form inside the Earth?
So far, scientists aren’t sure how they got there or what these mountains are made of. One theory is that they are part of the lower mantle that have overheated due to their proximity to the Earth’s glowing core.
One possible explanation given by scientists is that these ancient formations were created when oceanic crusts were forced inland from Earth. There significant presence of ULVZ at the core-mantle boundary suggests that these areas are ancient seabed that was pushed into the mantle by subduction about 200 million years agoa finding also supported by geodynamic models.
According to the researchers, it could have started with tectonic plates sliding through the Earth’s mantle and sinking down to the core-mantle boundary.
These then slowly expanded to form a variety of structures, leaving a trail of mountains and drops. Which would mean that both are made up of ancient oceanic crust: a combination of basalt rock and ocean floor sedimentsalthough transformed by intense heat and pressure.
What does discovery involve?
The study seeks to argue that these subterranean spikes may play a critical role in how heat escapes from the Earth’s core, as the core is responsible for generating the Earth’s magnetic field and some of the material may even be ejected. In the ground. eruptions.
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“Our research provides important connections between the Earth’s surface and deep structure and the global processes that drive our planet,” Hansen said.
The study was published in Scientists progress.
References: BBC / The Nation.
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