Scientists have traced past pathways of tectonic plates back a billion years using computer models, with intriguing results. Incorporating geologic data as a check on model output, however, has proven tricky.
Earth's mantle
Posted inResearch Spotlights
New Map of Proposed Mantle-Driven Topography Stirs the Pot
The role the deep Earth plays in creating topography is hotly debated. A new study uses subtle elevation changes around the globe as evidence that the mantle plays a key role in building topography.
Posted inNews
Earth’s Lower Mantle Is Drier Than Previously Thought
Scientists have long known that the two layers of Earth’s mantle have different chemical compositions. Now, modeling shows that different water concentrations may keep them from mixing.
Posted inNews
Million or Billion? Narrowing Down the Age of Mantle Processes in New Guinea
Mantle rocks in Papua New Guinea contain curious geochemical signatures that scientists have traditionally interpreted as evidence of billions-year-old melting. New evidence suggests otherwise.
Posted inNews
How a Newly Discovered Mineral Might Explain Weird Mantle Behavior
Scientists not only synthesized davemaoite but deformed it at lower mantle conditions. They found its strength and viscosity to be substantially lower than those of other minerals that make up the lower mantle.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Transient Mantle Flow Triggers Morphotectonic Activity in Asia
Changes in mantle dynamics following the Australian collision in southeast Asia triggered fast and intense morphotectonic activity at the surface.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Recovering Mantle Memories from River Profiles
Researchers use a closed-loop modeling strategy to validate regional uplift patterns recorded in river profiles across the African continent.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Processes in Earth’s Mantle and Surface Connections
A new AGU book presents a multidisciplinary perspective on the dynamic processes occurring in Earth’s mantle.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
A Novel Thermobarometer to Infer Mantle Melting Conditions
The algorithm RevPET automatically reverses the complex multi-phase fractional crystallization path of oceanic basalts and offers new perspectives for advancing mantle thermobarometry.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
First Report of Seismicity That Initiated in the Lower Mantle
A 4D back-projection method revealed that aftershocks of the 2015 earthquake beneath the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands occurred as deep as about 750 kilometers.