mantle

2 giant blobs in Earth’s mantle may explain Africa’s weird geology

by

Deep within Earth’s mantle, there are two giant blobs. One sits under Africa, while the other is almost precisely opposite the first, under the Pacific Ocean. But these two blobs are not evenly matched.  New research finds that the blob under Africa extends far closer to the surface — and is more unstable — than … Read more

Geologists Have Closely Analyzed Two Bizarre ‘Blobs’ Detected Deep Inside Earth

by

Earth’s interior is not a uniform stack of layers. Deep in its thick middle layer lie two colossal blobs of thermo-chemical material. To this day, scientists still don’t know where both of these colossal structures came from or why they have such different heights, but a new set of geodynamic models has landed on a possible answer … Read more

The First Explosion of Life on Earth Made an Impact Deep Under The Surface

by

The Cambrian Explosion – around 541 million years ago – was when life and organisms really got going on planet Earth. Now new research has revealed how that explosion of life has left behind traces deep within Earth’s mantle.   For scientists, it shows the connected interplay between Earth’s surface and what lies beneath, as … Read more

Cambrian explosion: First burst of animal evolution altered chemical makeup of Earth’s mantle

by

The Cambrian explosion 500 million years ago saw a huge variety of animals evolve – and also led to carbon being buried in the seabed and ultimately carried into the planet’s mantle Earth 4 March 2022 By Michael Marshall The explosion of new species in the Cambrian period saw the emergence of many familiar groups … Read more

Patagonia Is Rapidly Rising Up in The Largest Glacial Adjustment Ever Recorded

by

Patagonian ice fields are among some of the fastest-melting glaciers on the planet. As these glaciers disappear, the earth that once lay beneath them is rebounding upwards at rates much faster than expected.   Now, scientists have worked out a gap in tectonic plates that began forming some 18 million years ago underneath now-shrinking ice … Read more

Earth’s Insides Are Cooling Faster Than We Thought, And It Will Mess Things Up

by

Earth formed 4.5 billion years or so ago. Ever since then, it’s been slowly cooling on the inside. While the surface and atmosphere temperatures fluctuate over the eons (and yes, those external temperatures are currently warming), the molten interior – the beating heart of our planet – has been cooling this entire time.   That’s … Read more

The moon: Magnetic field may have been disrupted by huge sinking rocks

by

There’s a new explanation for the moon’s former magnetic field, and it involves 60-kilometre-wide slabs of rock sinking through the lunar mantle Space 13 January 2022 By Matthew Sparkes The moon once had a relatively strong magnetic field NASA Moon rocks collected by the Apollo missions sparked a mystery because they showed signs of having formed … Read more

Mysterious Anomalies Deep Within Our Planet May Have Lingered Since Earth’s Creation

by

Chemical leftovers from the very earliest days of our planet could still be present near Earth’s core, according to new research, and the discovery could improve our understanding of plate tectonics phenomena happening today.   The team behind the study compares these leftovers to clumps of flour at the bottom of a bowl of batter … Read more

How a Geological Secret Passageway Under Panama Moves Rocks Thousands of Miles Away

by

A geological secret passage beneath Panama may explain why rocks from Earth’s mantle are found more than 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) from where they originated.  This opening, located some 62 miles below Earth’s surface, may allow a flow of mantle materials to travel all the way from beneath the Galápagos Islands to beneath Panama.    … Read more