They discover a powerful “river of stones” under the Caribbean Sea

Geologists have long believed that tectonic plates move because they are dragged down due to their weight and that a softer, warmer substrate is called The Acinosphere, As a negative lubricant.

But recently, a team of geologists from University of Houston (UH) found that the layer was actually flowing with force, and moving fast enough to drive the motions of the plate.

Researchers from College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics From UH, subtle changes in satellite-detected gravity were observed within the Caribbean and in mantle tomography images, similar to Scan the cat, From its hydrosphere. They found a hot “river of rocks” extending from the Pacific Ocean through a gateway down Central America and into the central Caribbean.

An underground “river of rocks” began to flow Eight million years agoWhen the Central American Gate opened, it raised the covered sea floor by several hundred feet and shifted northeast toward the Lesser Antilles.

Great discoveries in geology

“Without the additional support generated by this flow into the Moorish atmosphere, parts of Central America will remain below sea level. The Atlantic and Pacific oceans will be linked without the need for the Panama Canal,” said study co-author Lorenzo Cooley, co-professor of the study. • Assistant of Geophysics, Geodynamics and Mantle Structure in Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

The discoveries have implications for understanding the shape and evolution of the Earth’s surface over time through the emergence and disappearance of shallow seas, low-lying bridges, and forces that move tectonic plates and cause earthquakes.

Another great find, according to the researchers, Is that the mauri envelope moves six inches a year, which is three times faster than the average plate. You can move independently from the overlapping panels and pull them in a different direction.

“This challenges the top-down notion that subduction is always the driver,” explained Johnny Wu, co-author of the study and assistant professor of skeletal geology, tectonics and mantle structure.

“The boards that move like an air hockey puck are lubricated from the bottom. Instead, what we found is that the air hockey table imposes its own currents on the moving disc, creating movement from below. It’s not well recognized and that’s specific here.”