Scientists found it Part of the Earth’s crust, in a United States region, is dripping Inside the planet. According to the recent discovery, this Without risks For those who live there. But it opens possibilities to understand the geological processes of the Earth.
The research, published in the scientific journal GeocienceIt was directed by Seismologist Junlin Hua. He is currently working at the University of Science and Technology of China. At the time of research, he worked at Texas University. The study used data collected by the Earthscope Consortium.
When they took “x -ray” from Earth, researchers noticed the crust “melted”
The phenomenon in question is known as a Scurry lithospheric. The bottom of the earth’s crust is slowly melting, forming large bubbles of molten rock. When they are heavy enough, they take off and sink into the upper mantle of the earth, which gradually adjusts to the crust.
In some cases, this process may create wrinkles on the planet’s surface revealing the activity below. This is what happened in the Andes and the plateau of Anatolia, Turkey, for example.
In the case of the study in question, the Researchers used advanced computational model to take a kind of “x -ray” of the Earth’s crust. This method has made it possible to detect where the lithosphere is thinner and identify the most affected regions of running.
“Thanks to the use of this complete wave -shaped method, we have a better representation of this important area between the deep mantle and the deepest lithosphere,” said the Geophysician Thorsten Becker at the University of Texas. “We look forward to finding clues about what’s going on in the lithosphere.”
It The observed phenomenon occurs in a structure called CratonStable and old part of the Earth’s crust. Cratons are considered the nuclei around which the continents are formed.
The survey led by seismologist Hua revealed that the American Craton is in tune mainly under the central region of the United States.
Cause of lithospheric suppression
According to researchers, the The probable cause is related to an ancient tectonic process. It Farallon tectonic platethis Millions ofThe currents of molten rocks may be changing to the earth’s mantle.
This The movement weakens the basis of the Craton, which facilitates the Lithospheric Scurry. “This type of phenomenon is important if we want to understand how a planet has evolved over time,” said Becker.
Read -Ne More:
This helps us understand how continents are formed, how they are fragmented and how they are recycled.
Thorsten Becker, University of Texas, Austin (USA)
Although impressive, this process occurs very slowly: for millions or billions of years. Therefore, it is not immediate danger to residents of the region.
