Jakarta –
Ecologists have discovered new evidence that the Pacific Ocean plate is riddled with major faults. This condition is caused by the plate slowly drifting westward and diving into the Earth’s mantle.
The researchers believe that their findings, if accurate, have the potential to redefine what we previously understood about how our planet works.
From a human perspective, the Earth appears to be an immutable solid object. However, the geological structure of the planet is in a constant state of change, albeit very slowly.
To illustrate, imagine the Earth’s crust as puzzle pieces floating on a hot, sticky layer. The pieces of the puzzle are plate tectonics in the form of large slabs of solid rock that slowly float above the liquid mantle. Oceanic plates are plates that are mostly under the ocean, while continental plates form continental land.
It is currently assumed that oceanic plates are mostly rigid and only deform near subduction zones along plate boundaries. However, this new research shows that this is not necessarily the case.
The discovery of damaged faults in the middle of the Pacific Ocean plate, including cracks thousands of meters deep and hundreds of kilometers long, shows that the oceanic plate is not as rigid and strong as expected.
“We knew that geological deformation such as faults occurred in the interior of continental plates far from plate boundaries, but we didn’t know the same thing happened in oceanic plates,” said Erkan Gün, first author of the study from the University of Toronto, quoted from IFL Science.
“What we did was refine plate tectonics, the theory that explains how our planet works, and show that the plates are actually not as pure as we previously thought,” added Professor Russell Pysklywec, also from the University of Toronto.
To reach these findings, the team used supercomputer models and existing data to study four plateaus in the western Pacific Ocean, covering a wide area between Japan, Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia.
Researchers say the Pacific Ocean plate is being pulled westward much like a tablecloth being pulled off a table. When a tablecloth is pulled, certain parts of the fabric that are weaker are more susceptible to tearing. This weak point is a plateau where there is extensive fault damage.
More research is needed before this theory is confirmed. These researchers hope their research will draw attention to the plateau and inspire researchers to collect more data.
“The theory has not yet been etched into the surface and we are still discovering new things. Now we know that this fault rupture tore through the center of the oceanic plate, and this may be related to seismic activity and volcanism,” explains Pysklywec.
“New discoveries like these overturn what we have always understood and taught about an active Earth. And they show that there are still radical mysteries even about our planet’s major evolutionary processes,” he concluded.
Watch the video “Pacific Ocean makes strange sounds, scientists are confused”
(rns/rns)
2024-02-16 09:34:18
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