TORONTO – A new study has found that an increase in matter beneath the earth’s crust beneath the Atlantic Ocean may be pushing the continents of North and South America further away from Europe and Africa.
Researchers at the University of Southampton have found evidence of a “mantle climb” from depths of more than 600 kilometers below the mid-Atlantic ridge, which has led to an increase in 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 the convection of the mantle,” one of the study’s top scientists, Nick Harmon, said in a statement. press.
The findings were published Wednesday in the British scientific journal Nature.
According to the study, tectonic plates attached to the Americas are separating from those in Europe and Africa four centimeters each year. As the plates move, researchers say new plates are formed to replace them at the center point between the regions, known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
The researchers reported that it is commonly believed that the displacement of tectonic plates is driven by gravitational forces or that the plates sink back into the Earth. Still, they say the cause of the separation of the Atlantic plates specifically “has been a mystery” because the Atlantic Ocean is not surrounded by “dense, sunken plates.”
The study authors conducted two research cruises over ten weeks and deployed 39 seismometers to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The data collected showed that an increase in material between the Earth’s crust and its core to more than 600 kilometers below the Mid-Atlantic ridge could push the plates from below.
This depth below the mantle is associated with “sudden changes in the mineral phases,” according to the study. Researchers say it was commonly believed that the swellings under the mountain ranges came from much lower depths at about 60 kilometers.
“This work is exciting and refutes long-held assumptions that mid-ocean ridges could play a passive role in plate tectonics. It suggests that in places like the Middle Atlantic, ridge forces play an important role. in driving they formed separate plates, “said University of Southampton professor Mike Kendall.
Researchers say the data provide the “first large-scale, high-resolution image of the mantle” beneath the mid-Atlantic ridge. The researchers said in the study that their results provide a better 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 that had not been seen before,” the author said in the publication, the lead author Matthew Agius.
In addition to helping scientists develop better natural disaster warning systems, chief scientist Kate Rychert said in the statement that plate tectonics also has an impact on sea level and subsequently affects climate change estimates.
“This was completely unexpected. It has broad implications for our understanding of the evolution and habitability of the Earth. It also demonstrates how crucial it is to gather new data from the oceans. There is so much more to explore,” Rychert said. .