(ORDO NEWS) — American scientists have discovered anomalous regions of LLSVPs in the Earth‘s mantle.
American researchers from Arizona State University have discovered mysterious regions in the Earth’s mantle. The findings of the work are described in the journal Nature Geoscience.
These anomalies are called Large Low Shear Areas (LLSVPs). They are clumps of magma, which has a different density than in other parts of the mantle.
The first one was found under the Pacific Ocean and it is about a hundred times larger than Everest. The second anomaly is located under Africa and is 1000 kilometers higher than the previous one.
It also has a lower density, which makes it less stable and predictable. Scientists believe that both spots have different compositions and origins.
The authors of the work believe that these areas can affect the topography of the earth, its gravity, the movement of tectonic plates, as well as volcanic activity. However, they noted that this does not mean that they carry an immediate danger.
On the contrary, understanding the appearance of these regions, their structure, will help to better understand the history and evolution of the Earth.
Swiss and Australian colleagues, studied the tectonic processes that took place on the early Earth several billion years ago. It turned out that then they were significantly different from modern ones due to the higher temperature of the upper mantle.
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