TORONTO – A new study has shown that an increase in matter from beneath the Earth’s crust beneath the Atlantic Ocean is pushing the continents of North and South America further apart from Europe and Africa.
Researchers at the University of Southampton have found evidence of a “mantle upwelling” from depths more than 600 kilometers below the Mid-Atlantic ridge, increasing the distance between the continents.
“There is a growing distance between North America and Europe, and it’s not determined by political or philosophical differences – it’s caused by mantle convection,” said one of the study’s lead scientists, Nick Harmon, in a press release.
The findings were published Wednesday in the British weekly Nature.
According to the study, the tectonic plates attached to America move four inches each year from those at 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 reported that it is commonly believed that tectonic plate shifting is driven by gravity or that the plates are sinking back into the Earth. However, they say the cause behind the separation of the Atlantic plates has specifically “remained a mystery” because the Atlantic Ocean is not surrounded by “dense, sinking plates.”
The study authors conducted two research cruises for 10 weeks and deployed 39 seismometers on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The data collected showed that an upwelling in the material between the Earth’s crust and its core could push the plates from below more than 600 kilometers below the Mid-Atlantic ridge.
This depth under the mantle is associated with “abrupt changes in mineral phases,” the study said. Researchers say that upwelling under mountain ridges tended to come from much shallower depths at about 60 kilometers.
“This work is exciting and it refutes long-held assumptions that mid-ocean ridges could play a passive role in plate tectonics. It suggests that in places such as the Mid-Atlantic Ocean, ridge forces play an important role in powering it. of new placed records, ‘said Professor Mike Kendall of the University of Southampton in the publication.
Researchers say the data provides the “first large-scale, high-resolution imaging of the mantle” below the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Researchers said in the study that their findings provide a better understanding of the plate tectonics, which can trigger natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.
“The incredible results shed new light in our understanding of how the Earth’s interior is linked to plate tectonics, with observations not seen before,” said lead author Matthew Agius in the publication.
In addition to helping scientists develop better natural disaster warning systems, lead scientist Kate Rychert said in the publication that plate tectonics also affects sea level and subsequently climate change estimates.
“This was completely unexpected. It has broad implications for our understanding of Earth’s evolution and habitability. It also demonstrates how crucial it is to collect new data from the oceans. There is so much more to discover,” said Rychert.