Geophysicists have made a significant breakthrough in understanding the Earth’s interior, revealing unexpected remnants of submerged tectonic plates far from conventional plate boundaries. This groundbreaking research, led by a team from ETH Zurich and the California Institute of Technology, employed advanced seismic imaging to uncover these anomalies, as detailed in a recent publication in Scientific Reports.
Historically, scientists have relied on seismic waves generated by earthquakes to infer the Earth’s internal structure. Similar to how doctors use ultrasound to observe organs, geophysicists study seismic wave patterns to analyze the Earth’s materials. These waves can change direction depending on the material they encounter, providing clues about density, elasticity, and composition.
The team utilized full-waveform inversion, a method that examines all seismic waves rather than just one type. This technique required significant computational power, leading to the use of the Piz Daint supercomputer in Switzerland. The findings revealed unexpected zones of submerged tectonic plates beneath large oceans and within continental interiors—regions where there was previously no evidence of subduction.
One such anomaly was found beneath the western Pacific Ocean, where existing tectonic theories predicted no subducted plates should remain. PhD student Thomas Schouten, part of the research team, expressed surprise at the widespread nature of these findings.
These discoveries challenge existing models of plate tectonics, suggesting that remnants of ancient materials may remain in the Earth’s mantle long after subduction processes have ended, providing valuable insights into Earth’s dynamic interior and its effects on surface processes.
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