Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – For years scientists have been baffled by two large lumps of rock beneath the earth’s surface whose presence remains a mystery.
Many theories have been created since their discovery in the 1980s, including the claim that they could be large fragments of an alien world.
The clumps of rock beneath the Earth’s crust are each the size of a continent and 100 times higher than Mount Everest. The existence of this stone was found one under Africa, while the other was under the Pacific Ocean, as quoted from the New York Post, Thursday (17/3/2022).
In search of answers, a pair of experts have made a study that resulted in exciting new discoveries about the two giant masses. As expected, it turns out that the plume under Africa is much higher.
In fact, it is twice as high as the one on the other side, measuring about 997 kilometers taller. The scientists also found that African rock clumps were less dense and less stable.
No one has been able to explain specifically about this situation. The existence of these subterranean blobs could be the reason why Africa has had more volcanic eruptions over hundreds of millions of years than similar blobs in the Pacific Ocean.
“This instability can have many implications for surface tectonics, as well as earthquakes and supervolcanic eruptions,” said Qian Yuan, of Arizona State University who led the study.
This thermo-chemical material is officially known as the large low shear velocity region (LLSVP) and has been studied by looking at data from seismic waves and running hundreds of simulations.
Although scientists have received answers that the two have different compositions, they still don’t know how it affects the mantle, which is between the planet’s core and the Earth’s crust.
“And most importantly, we’re no closer to finding out where this mysterious blob came from,” said Qian.
The combination of analysis of seismic results and geodynamic modeling can provide new insights into the nature of Earth’s largest inner structure and its interactions with the surrounding mantle.
“This work has broad implications for scientists trying to understand the current status and evolution of deep mantle structure, and the nature of mantle convection.” he concluded.
(roy/roy)
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