Strange Blobs Discovered Deep Within Earth Defy Scientific Expectations
Scientists have found unexpected blobs deep in Earth’s mantle, raising questions about their origins and implications for geology
Earth, Seismic Waves, ETH Zurich, California Institute of Technology, Pacific Ocean
Zurich: So, there’s this wild discovery that scientists made about our planet. They found these strange blobs deep inside Earth, where they really shouldn’t be. It’s like finding a hidden treasure, but instead of gold, it’s rock!
A team from ETH Zurich and Caltech used seismic waves to figure out what’s going on beneath our feet. You know how sound waves can tell you a lot about a room? Well, seismic waves do the same for Earth. They can show where materials are and how they behave.
For over a century, scientists have been mapping the underground using these waves. But recently, they got a boost from a supercomputer called Piz Daint. This allowed them to analyze all kinds of earthquake waves, giving them a clearer picture of the lower mantle.
What they found was pretty shocking. They discovered big blobs of rock that are cooler and denser than the surrounding material. These blobs are like remnants of tectonic plates that sank into the mantle but ended up way farther from where they should be.
Usually, when tectonic plates collide, the remnants sink down but stay close to the action. But these blobs are scattered all over, especially beneath the western Pacific. It’s like they’ve gone on a little vacation far from home!
Thomas Schouten, one of the scientists, thinks these blobs might not just be from tectonic activity. They could have different origins, which makes this discovery even more intriguing.
He mentioned that the waves they studied only show one aspect of what’s beneath us—the speed at which they travel. But there’s more to the story. They need to dig deeper into what these materials really are.
Some of these blobs could be ancient materials that have been around since the mantle formed billions of years ago. Others might be iron-rich rocks that have built up over time. It’s like a geological mystery waiting to be solved!
As for the blobs under the Pacific, they might be layers that have shed from the base of the plate. It’s fascinating to think about how these shapes got there and what they mean for our understanding of Earth.
More research is definitely needed to uncover the secrets of these mysterious chunks. Each one could tell a unique story about our planet’s history.
This exciting research was published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, and it’s sure to spark more questions and studies in the future.