Scientists in Australia have identified a possible cause of gigantic volcanic eruptions – mysterious ‘blobs’ about 1,200 miles under our feet.
Blobs are three-dimensional regions that span the length of continents and stretch 100 times higher than Mount Everest. They sit at the bottom of Earth’s rocky mantle above the molten outer core – a place so deep that Earth’s elements are squeezed beyond recognition.
These blobs are thought to be hotter and heavier than surrounding rocks, with a connection to giant eruptions via ‘mantle plumes’. The team used computer modeling to simulate ‘mantle convection’ over one billion years, finding that blob locations predict volcanic eruption sites with remarkable accuracy.
Giant volcanic eruptions can have severe impacts, such as sudden climate change and mass extinction events. They can also intensify global warming by adding greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
The researchers warn that future studies aim to explore the chemical nature of blobs, which might be possible with simulations that track their composition. Their findings suggest that the deep Earth is even more dynamic than we realised, shedding light on a previously unknown cause of deadly volcanic eruptions.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14903185/blobs-inside-Earth-volcanic-eruptions.html