A group of scientists postulate in a new study that the area near the inner center of the Earth may be composed of what are believed to be remnants and vestiges of the early Earth.
The investigation, carried out at the University of Utah, says that ultra-low speed zones are stratified and that some of them have remained that way since the times when the planet still assumed its current shape.
Ultra-low zones are so called because they are places where seismic waves slow down. In particular, the regions that are mentioned in the study are in one of the limits of the great province of low speed of the Pacific, which extends for 3,000 square kilometers.
Scientists believe that these ultra-low velocity zones are made up of a different type of rock than the rest of the Earth’s mantle. And it is precisely that composition that would be a kind of reminder of what the Earth was like billions of years ago.
The origin of this composition has to do with a great event that occurred when an object the size of Mars collided with the planet. The rise in temperature caused by the collision “formed a large mass of molten material” known as the magma ocean. As it cooled, that ocean was arranged in different zones, among which are the ultra-low speed zones, which are the densest of all.
One of the study scientists explained in a statement to Europa Press that this discovery “changes our view of the origin and dynamics of ultra-low speed zones.” Precisely, the origin of these regions dates back to the “beginning of the Earth’s history”, which 4.5 billion years later have not yet finished moving and mixing.
Editor’s Recommendations
es.digitaltrends.com