Scientists have made an exciting discovery—ancient tectonic plates have been found in places they shouldn’t be. Normally, these plates are thought to be hidden deep beneath the Earth’s surface in subduction zones, where one plate dives under another. But using a new, advanced model, researchers from ETH Zurich and the California Institute of Technology found remnants of these submerged plates in unusual spots, like under oceans and even in the middle of continents—far from any plate boundaries.
This breakthrough is thanks to a technique called full-waveform inversion, which lets scientists use multiple types of earthquake waves to study Earth’s interior. The new high-resolution model they used gave them a much clearer picture of what’s going on below. It’s like a doctor using better ultrasound technology to spot something unusual in the body—only in this case, it’s the Earth revealing its secrets.
What’s even more puzzling is that there’s no evidence of past subduction zones in these new areas, which means the plates shouldn’t be there. The researchers aren’t sure yet what’s causing these strange patterns. Some think it could be ancient, silica-rich material that’s been around since the Earth’s formation, or possibly iron-rich rocks from deep in the mantle.
While they don’t have all the answers yet, these findings are opening up a whole new area of study, and scientists are eager to learn more. With even better models, they hope to get a clearer picture of what’s really going on deep inside our planet.