Scientists Find Strange, Unidentified Structure Hidden Under Earth’s Tectonic Plates@TheCosmosNews

#theccosmosnews The new Layer found hidden under the earth’s crust could shed light on tectonic plate movement, according to the researchers. A long-running controversy over how tectonic plates move may finally be resolved thanks to the discovery by scientists of a new layer of partially molten rock under the Earth’s crust. Patches of melt have previously been found by researchers at a comparable depth. However, a recent research headed by The University of Texas at Austin showed the layer’s global size and role in plate tectonics for the first time. The findings were published in the journal Nature Geoscience today. The asthenosphere, which lies in the upper mantle under the Earth’s tectonic plates, contains the molten layer, which is roughly 100 miles from the surface. As a relatively supple border that permits tectonic plates to migrate through the mantle, the asthenosphere is crucial for plate tectonics. However, the causes behind its softness remain unknown. Previously, scientists hypothesized that molten rocks may play a role. But as this research demonstrates, melt really doesn’t seem to have a significant impact on the movement of mantle rocks. “When we think about something melting, we intuitively think that the melt must play a big role in the material’s viscosity,” comments lead author Junlin Hua. However, what they “found is that even where the melt fraction is quite high, its effect on mantle flow is very minor.”