The scientists compared the map of the melt layer with seismic measurements of tectonic movement, but found no connection.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have discovered a new mantle layer in the bowels of the Earth. It has been noted that partially melted rock plays an important role in plate tectonics. This is stated in an article published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The layer is located more than a hundred kilometers from the Earth’s surface. It is part of the asthenosphere, which is located beneath the tectonic plates at the top of the mantle.
According to scientists, the asthenosphere is quite plastic along with the neighboring layers, so it is easier for the lithospheric plates to move through it.
Perhaps, the cause of plasticity lies in the dissolution of the stone.
“The low viscosity of the asthenosphere leads to the fact that the speed of seismic waves in it falls, but the lower boundary of this zone remained poorly understood. We analyzed seismic images of the mantle, obtaining a global map of the asthenosphere, and discovered that at a depth of 150 kilometers there is a positive seismic velocity gradient (velocity begins to increase with depth.) This layer is the base of the asthenosphere, where partial melting is contained,” said of the article.
Remember that early scientists discovered the secret of the formation of modern continents.
Earth’s interior is cooling faster than expected – scientists
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Source: korrespondent
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