Something is broken inside the Earth? Scientists explore why a millennial process has stagnated

Something is broken inside the Earth? Scientists explore blockage of millennia-old process Scientists have diagnosed a strange geological condition called "stagnant slab" on the Earth, which means that tectonic rocks beneath the burning mantle are mysteriously trapped at hundreds kilometers below the surface.

Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder believe they have discovered the reason for what appears to be a problem in the Earth's internal mechanism.

Using computer simulations of seismic activity in the Pacific Ocean, scientists have found that rocky tectonic plate plates can be temporarily prevented from falling continuously into the subduction, fusion and convection routine of the Earth's mantle by a layer of "thin and weak" material.

The hypothesis emanates from the researchers Wei Mao and Shijie Zhong, whose study is now published in Nature.

The presence of stagnant flagstones has intrigued scientists for years and the latest study on the subject indicates that a "slippery" horizontal movement of subducted plates beneath the Pacific Ocean has been observed between mantle boundaries upper and lower.

"Although we are seeing these slabs stagnate, it is a fairly recent phenomenon, which probably occurs in the last 20 million years," Zhong said. "The slabs are deflected and can continue to move a long distance horizontally."

The existence of rocks moving more slowly than usual in the mantle should not be very worrying. However, this could have an impact on the way we study volcanoes, earthquakes and other seismic activities associated with Earth's tectonic composition.

It's almost as if a little problem has been discovered in the so-called "engine" of the planet.

"You can think of this mantle convection as a big engine that drives everything we see on Earth's surface: earthquakes, mountain building, plate tectonics, volcanoes and even the earth's magnetic field." Zhong added.

The co-author of the study indicated that he suspected that, over a long enough period, the troublesome slabs would break the mantle and continue falling into the Earth's core.

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