Strange Rock Formation Hidden in Earth’s Depths Investigated by Scientists

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Strange Rock Formation Hidden in Earth’s Depths Investigated by Scientists
Strange Rock Formation Hidden in Earth’s Depths Investigated by Scientists

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Researchers used “the latest numerical modelling methods” in order to properly examine a massive underground structure hidden deep beneath Hawaii. A detailed image of a particular ultra low velocity zone – a rock area that has extremely low seismic velocity and is located at the boundary between Earth’s core and mantle – has been procured for the first time thanks to the efforts of a study led by the University of Cambridge.

The ultra low velocity zone in question is located approximately below Hawaii, about three thousand kilometres beneath the surface. As the media outlet points out, images of structures at the core-mantle boundary that scientists obtain by using seismic waves from earthquakes “have been grainy and difficult to interpret”, so the research team employed “the latest numerical modeling methods to reveal kilometer-scale structures” that sit at the aforementioned boundary.

The results obtained by the team led them to suspect that the zone contains much more iron than the rocks nearby, with project lead Dr Sanne Cottaar from Cambridge Earth Sciences mentioning the possibility that “this iron-rich material is a remnant of ancient rocks from Earth’s early history or even that iron might be leaking from the core by an unknown means”.

The new study may also help shed light on “what sits beneath and gives rise to volcanic chains like the Hawaiian Islands”, as the media outlet put it.

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