TORONTO – A new study has found that a surge of matter beneath the earth’s crust under the Atlantic Ocean could push the continents of North and South America further from Europe and Africa.
Researchers at the University of Southampton have found evidence of a “mantle surge” from depths of more than 600 kilometers below the Mid-Atlantic ridge, increasing the distance between continents.
“There is a growing distance between North America and Europe, and it is not driven by political or philosophical differences – it is caused by mantle convection,” one of the study’s lead scientists, Nick Harmon, said in a press release. .
The findings were published Wednesday in the British weekly scientific journal Nature.
According to the study, the tectonic plates attached to the Americas move annually by four centimeters from those attached to Europe and Africa. As the plates move, researchers say new plates are being formed to replace them at the central point between the regions known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Researchers have reported that it is generally believed that the displacement of tectonic plates is driven by gravity or that the plates sink back into the earth. However, they say that the cause behind the separation of the Atlantic plates specifically ‘remained a mystery’ because the Atlantic Ocean is not surrounded by ‘dense, sinking plates’.
The authors of the study conducted two research expeditions over ten weeks and deployed 39 seismometers to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The data collected showed that an upward stress in the material between the earth’s crust and its core over 600 kilometers below the Mid-Atlantic ridge could push the plates from below.
According to the study, this depth under the mantle is associated with ‘abrupt changes in mineral phases’. According to researchers, it was generally thought that the bottom of the ridges came from much shallower depths at about 60 kilometers.
“This work is exciting and has long refuted assumptions that ridges in the middle of the ocean may play a passive role in plate tectonics. This suggests that forces on the ridge play an important role in the management of latest plate locations. disintegrated, ”said Mike Kendall, a professor at the University of Southampton, in the release.
According to researchers, the data provide the ‘first large-scale and high-resolution image of the mantle’ below the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Researchers said in the study that their findings provide a greater understanding of plate tectonics, which can cause natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
“The incredible results shed new light on our understanding of how the Earth’s interior is connected to plate tectonics, with observations not seen before,” lead author Matthew Agius said in the release.
In addition to helping scientists develop better warning systems for natural disasters, chief scientist Kate Rychert said in the release that plate tectonics also have an impact on sea level, and that it affects climate change estimates.
“It was completely unexpected. It has broad implications for our understanding of the evolution and habitability of the earth. It also demonstrates how important it is to gather new data from the oceans. There is so much more to explore,” Rychert said. said.