Scientists have made an exciting discovery deep within Earth. They’ve found two massive structures, larger than Mount Everest, right at the boundary between the core and the mantle. These "mountains" lie beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean and are causing researchers to rethink what they know about our planet’s inner workings.
New research from Utrecht University reveals that these colossal formations are around 500 million years old. They could even date back to the very beginning of Earth’s history, which is over four billion years ago. This discovery has opened up new questions about how Earth has evolved over time.
According to a recent study published in the journal Nature, these hidden mountains rise about 1,000 kilometers high—over 100 times the height of Everest, which is roughly 8.8 kilometers into the sky. Surrounding these structures is tectonic debris from a process known as subduction, where one tectonic plate gets pushed beneath another. This research has used seismic shockwaves to uncover the nature of these enormous formations and to create a map of Earth’s interior.
Dr. Arwen Deuss, the lead researcher, is still unsure about the origins of these mountains. Are they temporary features, or have they been around for millions of years? Their discovery has certainly challenged established ideas in geology and offers fresh insights into the dynamics of our planet’s interior.
In another intriguing aspect of their research, scientists studied Large Low Seismic Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs). These are huge areas of unusual material found at the core-mantle boundary beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean. These "islands" are surrounded by a "graveyard" of cold, sunken tectonic plates. The temperatures in these regions are extremely high, affecting how seismic waves travel through the Earth.
Instead of just observing how these waves slowed down, researchers like Arwen Deuss and Sujania Talavera-Soza measured how much energy the waves lost while passing through different materials. Surprisingly, the LLSVPs caused very little damping, meaning seismic waves traveled through them with greater energy and were louder than expected. In contrast, the surrounding cold plates did dampen these waves more than scientists had previously thought, providing new perspectives on Earth’s deep structure.
Overall, the discovery of these ancient mountains and the unusual behavior of seismic waves deep within the Earth continue to raise questions about the planet’s internal dynamics. Scientists are eager to explore these mysteries further and learn more about what lies beneath our feet.
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