As outlined in my article Cosmic Ray Penetration More Prevalent Than Realized, a new study published July 27th in the journal ‘Science’, identifies mantle plumes – viscous molten rock coming from the Earth’s outer core – as the source heated surfaces which include volcanoes and ocean bottom fissures.
For more than 2 decades, scientists have pondered the nature of these mysterious regions, sometimes called Ultra Low Velocity Zones (ULVZs). Researchers examining one below Iceland at a depth of nearly 3000 kilometers, now have their answer. This discovery shows molten plumes that shoot out as roots of hot rock that slowly rise through the mantle to feeding a system of volcanoes and fissures.
Earth scientists have long suspected that upwellings in these mantle convection currents would manifest themselves as the plumes responsible for Earth’s volcanic hot spots. Now we have started to see them with sophisticated computer models that use the waves from large earthquakes to create CT scan–like tomographic pictures of Earth’s interior; says Barbara Romanowicz, a seismologist at the University of California, Berkeley, and led author of the study.
Thank you for your continued support. We’re now about half way there.
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Coming Next: History of War and Quakes