Experts from institutions in the United States and China, meeting at a recent conference, have raised a disturbing hypothesis: Tibet could be experiencing a split in two due to the pressure of the Earth's tectonic plates.
The majestic Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world, are the scene of a titanic clash between two continental plates: the Indian and the Eurasian. This geological phenomenon, which has been occurring for millions of years, has raised questions about the stability of Tibetan soil.
Tectonic plates, those moving pieces of the Earth's puzzle, collide and shift over the Earth's mantle, a layer that can behave as both a solid and a viscous liquid due to extreme pressure.
The exact process that is occurring beneath Tibet is not yet completely clear to scientists, but an emerging theory suggests that the Indian plate could be 'delaminating'. This implies that the top of the plate is grazing the Eurasian plate while the bottom is splitting and sinking toward the mantle, the Earth's layer beneath the crust.
This new perspective on the geology of Tibet could shed light on the formation of the Himalayas and possible seismic risks for the region.
Main point
The identification of a line where mantle rocks meet crustal rocks reinforces the idea of a division in the indian plateas revealed in an interview with Douwe van Hinsbergen, a geodynamicist at Utrecht University.
Although studies propose that the Indian plate, due to its density, should not easily sink into the mantle, the research raises the possibility of a complex distortion in the process.
This discovery, although still in its early stages of understanding, underlines the importance of further research into the geological dynamics of Tibet and how it could impact earthquake risks both in the region and in other parts of the world.
The subterranean world continues to reveal its mysteries, and understanding these geological processes could have significant implications for understanding Earth's geology and its impact on life on the surface.
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