Earth’s core may be covered by an ancient ocean floor, study says

According to research conducted by a team of scientists from the University of Alabama in the United States, it was revealed that the Earth’s core is surrounded by an ancient structure that had not been detected until then. This also ancient ocean floor between the planet’s core and mantleIt was observed approximately 2,900 kilometers below the Earth’s surface.

The study, published in the scientific journal Science Advances, confirms that the oceanic layer is thin and dense, located in the outer core region, where molten metallic fluids meet the rocky mantle above it; The region is known as the core. -mantle boundary (CMB). The discovery was made after scientists observed a high-resolution map of the “underlying geology of Earth’s Southern Hemisphere.”

Map created What is likely a ‘submerged ocean floor’ is revealed through seismic images of the Earth’s interior. Previously, scientists had only observed isolated parts of this formation; but new data suggests that perhaps this ancient ocean floor was responsible for covering the ‘boundary’ between the Earth’s core and the mantle.

“Seismic surveys like ours provide the highest-resolution images of our planet’s interior structure, and we are discovering that this structure is much more complex than previously thought,” University of Alabama geologist Samantha Hansen said when the study was published in April 2023. “It provides important connections between the overall processes that drive it,” he said.

ancient ocean floor

From Data collected from 15 seismological monitoring stations in AntarcticaScientists have managed to map the ocean floor using seismic waves (a type of high-quality ‘x-ray’) from earthquakes that have occurred over the past three years. Researchers noticed that seismic waves were significantly attenuated as they passed through this region and classified them as ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs).

scientists Explain that ULVSz can be explained by ancient ocean floors; They believe this may be the most plausible explanation, but it is not the only hypothesis. Upcoming seismic studies will help explain what the thin, dense structure between the Earth’s core and the mantle is.

“Our high-resolution imaging method, which analyzed thousands of seismic records from Antarctica, found thin regions of anomalous material at the core-mantle boundary (CMB) everywhere we examined. The thickness of this material varies from a few kilometers to tens of kilometers. This is at the center, in some places as high as Mount Everest.” “It shows that we are observing mountains up to 5 times their height,” said study author Dr. Edward Garnero.

Did you like the content? Stay up to date on all the latest geological discoveries at TecMundo and get the opportunity to learn what the relationship is between Antarctic ice and the ancient mud of the Mississippi.