The researchers themselves were amazed at this discovery. After 250 million years, they were able to find remains deep on the ocean floor. What that means.
Maryland, USA – Spectacular There are always finds and discoveries. Times will be within the framework of Archaeological excavations unearthed artifacts from Ancient Egypt or the Roman Empiresometimes there are strange Baltic Sea findswhich encourage plenty of speculation and guesswork. The discovery that researchers from the USA have now made turns out to be something very special.
Sensational find: Researchers discover seabed that was thought to have been lost for 250 million years
As the British Daily Mail reportedresearchers discovered a seabed in the Pacific that was long thought lost. It is said that the remains probably come from a tectonic plate that broke off 250 million years ago. Then it slipped into the depths, namely into the interior of the earth.
What makes this find so special – in addition to the long time it took to discover it – is that, according to the research team, the structure of the soil is both thicker and cooler than the surrounding areas. As a result, this would overturn existing theories and assumptions about the Earth’s internal structure. Nevertheless, the discovery offers new insights into the evolution of the planet’s surface.
19 kilometers thick, 1,930 kilometers long: How researchers discovered the seabed in the Pacific
The researchers led by the geologist Jingchuan Wang from the discovered the lost seabed in the Pacific, which turned out to be an area 19 kilometers thick and 1,930 kilometers long University of Maryland in the USA through seismic education. This is comparable to a CT scan, i.e. a computer tomography, as used in radiology.
“This allowed us to obtain a cross-section of the interior of our planet,” Wang says in one official press release. Specifically, the seabed on the East Pacific floor, which was thought to be lost, was found. This is a tectonic boundary in the southeastern Pacific, an ultimately thickened area “like a fossilized fingerprint of an ancient piece of seafloor,” Wang is quoted as saying.
What the discovery of the lost seabed means
To put it into perspective: Oceanic plates usually sink when they meet continental plates and then melt. The measurements by Wang’s research team now provide new insights into the area off the South American Pacific coast: “The material sank at about half the speed that we had expected,” said the scientist.
What does that mean? That, contrary to previous assumptions, oceanic plates are not melted but can be preserved deep within the Earth. What’s more: they can influence the movements in the Earth’s mantle over hundreds of millions of years. At least it is assumed that this could also explain why seismic waves ultimately move more slowly in this region. Another one also turned out to be spectacular Deep-sea discovery that also questioned a fundamental assumption.
“This is just the beginning”: Research team wants to expand its investigations to other areas
For Wang, the significance of the discovery is already clear. “These findings give us an insight into Earth’s past that we have never had before,” said the enthusiastic geologist. There is also the assumption that the seabed could belong to the so-called Phoenix Plate. As it sank into the Earth’s interior, it released cooler material into the hot mantle. This created a cold thermal signature that Wang’s research team was now able to detect.
But they have not yet reached the end. On the contrary: the Americans’ research should now be expanded to other areas. “This is just the beginning. We believe there are many more ancient structures deep within the Earth waiting to be discovered. “Each of them has the potential to reveal many new insights into our planet’s complex past,” explains Wang. Whether this scope also applies to one discovery on the seabed off Greece resonated? (han)
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