New research points out that ocean plates have a memory of old variations that affect the way they convert the cloak.
A new published in Nature revealed that old variations in the composition of ocean plates rocks can significantly The way these plates move through the earth’s cloak.
Researchers have found that dense basalt concentrations in a key region of the interior of the Earth – the cloak transition zone (MTZ) – can soften or even stop the descent of subducing oceanic plates.
The subduction, the process by which a tectonic plate dives under another fundamental to the geological engine of the Earth. This process helps to recycle superficial materials and volatile elements into the Earth, playing a vital role in the planet’s climate stability over millions of millions of years. However, what happens to these plates when they reach depths of 410 to 660 kilometers, where the MTZ is located, has been a mystery.
Now, scientists from an international team led by the University of Southampton have provided convincing evidence of layers of unusual basaltic rock in MTZ under the small Antilles. The investigation suggests that entire oceanic crust plates, with up to 100 kilometers thick, can carry substantial quantities of basalt to the depths of the cloak, which then accumulates and delays the descent of the plates.
“This is the First seismic experience Large -scale at the bottom of the Ocean held in an Atlantic subduction zone, ”said Catherine Rychert, who helped lead the Voila (Volatiles in the Lesser Antilles) project.
The team installed 34 seismometers under the sea, discovering a transition zone with a 330 kilometers thickness Under the Caribbean, one of the most substantial ever recorded, reports the.
The main author, Xusong Yang, currently at the University of Miami, explained that this rocky heterogeneity inherited from ocean plates can strongly influence his destiny. “We cannot ignore compositional heterogeneity inherited from subducational ocean plates. It can greatly influence its final destination inside the earth”, Disse Yang.
Nick Harmon, which is also part of the investigation team, added: “It is curious to think that, in a way, the tectonic plates have a ‘memory’ And that this affects the way the plates lead the convection of the cloak and mix the material back to the earth. ”
