Deep 'scars' from ancient geological events play role in current earthquakes

Science Daily ^ | 6/10/2016 | Philip J. Heron, et al

[JimSEA]

Super-computer modelling of Earth's crust and upper-mantle suggests that ancient geologic events may have left deep 'scars' that can come to life to play a role in earthquakes, mountain formation, and other ongoing processes on our planet.

This changes the widespread view that only interactions at the boundaries between continent-sized tectonic plates could be responsible for such events.

A team of researchers from the University of Toronto and the University of Aberdeen have created models indicating that former plate boundaries may stay hidden deep beneath the Earth's surface. These multi-million-year-old structures, situated at sites away from existing plate boundaries, may trigger changes in the structure and properties at the surface in the interior regions of continents.

"This is a potentially major revision to the fundamental idea of plate tectonics," says lead author Philip Heron, a postdoctoral fellow in Russell Pysklywec's research group in U of T's Department of Earth Sciences. Their paper, "Lasting mantle scars lead to perennial plate tectonics," appears in the June 10, 2016 edition of Nature Communications.

[JimSEA]

Books are outdated almost as soon as they are written, however Robert Hazen’s “The Story of Earth” is, to me, by far the best currently. It’s very readable and even entertaining though serious. If you can get a you tube lecture, he is a good speaker. That’s Robert M. Hazen.

Otherwise, consider a current geology text that deals at some length on Plate Tectonics.

Good reading.

[cotton]

Thank you. I will look for these books. You can buy Dr Brown’s book “In The Beginning” for 30 dollars or read it free on line. He has interesting ideas about “plate techtonics” and subduction. His ideas on liquidation are also very interesting.

[SunkenCiv]

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