Jakarta –
A group of scientists discovered a strange leak on the seabed off the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada. It is said that this leak could cause a large earthquake.
This particular feature, which one scientist believes has never been observed before, is called the Pythia Oasis, and is part of the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ), which is a major fault line that stretches from Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada to Vancouver Island, Northern California.
Now, when they observed methane bubbles rising from a mile beneath the sea, researchers from the University of Washington discovered that a fluid much warmer than the surrounding ocean water was seeping out of the sea floor about 50 miles offshore from Newport, Oregon.
They believe that the water leak may have something to do with the CSZ, making it very important to prevent Earthquakes.
Subduction zones are where two plates meet each other, but this fluid may act as a pressure regulator between continental plates and oceanic plates that are colliding with each other about two miles below the ocean.
The temperature of the water coming down the fault is around 150 to 260 degrees Celsius, which explains why the water coming out is warmer. If more water leaks, this can cause increased pressure on the fault, which can cause tension between the two plates.
“If the stress builds up and the plates slip, an earthquake might occur,” said Evan Solomon, University of Washington Oceanographer and co-author of a paper on this phenomenon, quoted by Unilad.
“The fluid coming out of the fault zone is like a lubricant leak. This is bad news for the danger of earthquakes. A lack of lubricant means the pressure can increase, causing a damaging earthquake,” he said.
Foto: University of Washington
In their paper, the authors say they are not sure whether the Pythia Oasis is the only seep of its kind, but argue that there may be other oases around the CSZ.
“The Pythias Oasis provides a rare glimpse into processes occurring deep on the seafloor, and its chemical properties suggest that these fluids originate near plate boundaries,” said co-author and professor of oceanography Deborah Kelley.
“This suggests that nearby faults regulate fluid pressure and megathrust slip behavior along the center of the Cascadia Subduction Zone,” he explained.
Explaining how they discovered the underground water, Solomon added: “They ventured in that direction, and what they saw was not just methane bubbles, but water coming up from the sea floor like a fire hose.”
“It was something I had never seen and, to my knowledge, had never observed before,” he added.
As is often the case in science, observing these things is one thing, but predicting what will happen next is another.
In this case, it could have been a major earthquake off the coast of North America. Even in places that are not unfamiliar with such activities, this can be a major event.
Watch the video “Residents Start Repairing Houses After M 4.8 Sumedang Earthquake”
(rns/rns)
2024-01-27 15:28:03
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