What would happen if they told you that there is a place in the earth where gravity is weaker? It is not about science fiction or an inexplicable phenomenon, but about a real anomaly that has baffled geologists and physical for decades. The call Indian Ocean Geoid Low (Ilog) (Literally, GEOIDE Bajo of the Indian Ocean) is an immense depression at sea level, caused by a difference in the gravitational attraction of the Earth. But, What really causes it?
The researchers have spent years trying to understand this enigma and, thanks to advanced computer models, they have managed to shed light on the phenomenon. The answer takes us 140 million years ago, when the planet’s map was radically different and the continents were still moving.
A gravitational anomaly discovered in 1948
The phenomenon was first identified in 1948 by the Dutch Geophysicist Felix Andries Vening Meinesz during a gravitational study from a ship. What he found was an anomaly in the Geoidthat is, in the way in which gravity affects the surface of the sea.
Unlike other places on Earth, in this region of the Indian Ocean, gravity is lower than normal, which generates A depression of approximately 100 meters at sea level. This effect has been compared to the image of an irregular potato, since the planet’s surface is not perfectly spherical, but an ellipsoid with variations in the density of its internal mass.
The role of magma feathers in anomaly
One of the main hypotheses that explains this phenomenon is presence of magma feathers ascending from the land mantle. These feathers are molten rock masses that emerge slowly from the depths of the Earth, altering the distribution of density inside the planet.
A team of scientists from the Indian Institute of Science and the German Research Center in Geosciences Hto carried out simulations to understand how this anomaly formed over millions of years. His findings suggest that the disappearance of an old ocean and the displacement of the Indian plaque to the north played a crucial role in the current IoGL configuration.
A lost ocean and the movement of the Indian plaque
To understand the formation of this anomaly, scientists retreated 140 million years in the geological history of the Earth. At that time, India was not linked to Asia, but there was an ocean between the two territories. As the Indian plaque moved north, the ocean disappeared, and its oceanic crust sank into the land mantle.
This process caused materials of different density to be redistributed inside the earth. Over time, Magma feathers ascended from the deep mantle, affecting the distribution of gravity in the region. This change in the inner mass of the planet is what generates the gravitational anomaly observed today in the Indian Ocean.
What implications does this finding have?
The discovery not only solves a geophysical mystery of decades, but also has implications for the understanding of the internal dynamics of the earth. Research on magma feathers and gravitational variations helps improve models of plaque tectonics and the evolution of the terrestrial mantle.
Besides, These findings can be key to predicting other geological phenomena and improving our ability to model the internal structure of the planet. The understanding of these anomalies could even offer clues about how similar processes work in other celestial bodies, such as Mars or the Moon.
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