Part of North America is slowly dripping deep into the earth. As scientists from the Texan University explained, this process occurs very deeply below the surface, on the border of the shell and the earth's coat. Computer modeling also helped them in determining, which causes the rocks.
A large part of North America lies on the Lauretin Crate – old even on a geological scale, hard part of the earth's shell. The rocks that build it are stable and can survive billions of years in a properly unchanged form. According to a study published in the magazine “Nature Geoscience”, currently there are a number of changes in Kraton, through which he begins to … drip.
Liquid rocks
Researchers from the Texan University in Austin noticed the liquid of the crate as part of the project whose goal was to develop a new model of seismological research for North America. The computer model, using seismic data collected as part of the EarthScope project, revealed the details of geological processes in the crust and coat. Deep under the Central West – an area stretching from the center of the country to the region of the Great Lakes – researchers noticed drops of melted rocks dripping from the crate deep into the coat.
The model also helped scientists discover what drives this process. The reason for leaking is most likely a Farallon album, an ocean tectonic plate that slipped into North America hundreds of millions of years ago. The gigantic rock mass destroys the continent from below, redirecting the flow of hot rocks in the earth's coat so that they cut the bottom of the truss. In addition, the album releases compounds that weaken its base.
As the main author of the Junlin Hua study explained, although dripping concentrates in one area of the crate, the album interacts with the entire structure, which is covered by most of the United States and Canada, as well as Greenland.
Evolution of rocks
Co -author of the analysis Thorsten Becker said that the discovery is the most important for geologists who study continents throughout their existence. “These kinds of issues are important if we want to understand how the planet has evolved for a long time,” said Becker. – “It helps us understand how the continents are created, how they fall apart and what happens again with the material that has lost.”
Crates, although old and extremely durable, also change. Millions of years ago, the deepest layer lost part of the truss under northern China. Scientists emphasized that the discovery under the United States would give us a special opportunity to observe the dripping process itself, not just its effects.
University of Texas – Austin
Source of the main photo: Shutterstock