© Gonzalo Azumendi/Stone/Getty ImagesSalar de Arizaro in Argentina.
Beneath the Andes mountains in South America, Earth's crust is dripping into the planet's interior.Moreover, this has been occurring for millions of years - a long geological process that has produced telltale wrinkling and other features on the surface that scientists have discerned through modeling and experimentation.
This might help us identify interior geological activity on other planets that don't have plate tectonics, such as Mars and Venus.
It's called lithospheric dripping, and it's only been identified fairly recently here on Earth.As the rocky crust is warmed up to a certain temperature, it starts to thicken and drip down into the mantle. It's a bit like an extreme
pitch drop... but the formation and release of crustal drops has effects on the surrounding surface of the planet.
First, the pull of the drop forming below creates a basin on the surface above. Then, when the drop breaks off, the surface reacts by springing upward, the effects of which spread widely.
"We have confirmed that a deformation on the surface of an area of the Andes Mountains has a large portion of the lithosphere below avalanched away,"
said geology graduate student and lead author Julia Andersen at the University of Toronto in Canada.
"Owing to its high density, it dripped like cold syrup or honey deeper into the planetary interior and is likely responsible for two major tectonic events in the Central Andes - shifting the surface topography of the region by hundreds of kilometers and both crunching and stretching the surface crust itself."
© DeCelles, et al.; Julia Andersen et alA geological map of the Arizaro Basin (left) and the team's experiment (right).
Because scientists have only begun to
understand lithospheric dripping recently, the surface response to the process isn't particularly well resolved.
But there are some features of the Central Andean Plateau that have been challenging to explain.
The plateau itself was
formed by a subduction zone, where the edge of one tectonic plate slides beneath the edge of the plate adjacent. This deforms the crust, pushing it up and creating mountains and other geological features.
However, there has been
evidence to suggest that the formation of the Central Andes was not one long, slow process but occurred in pulses throughout the Cenozoic era, Earth's current geological period, starting around 66 million years ago.
In addition, the timing of uplift isn't consistent across the entire region, as you might expect from subduction. The Puna plateau is higher on average than the Altiplano plateau and contains volcanic centers and isolated basins, such as the Arizaro and Atacama basins.
"Various studies invoke removal of the lithosphere to account for the widespread, non-subduction related surface deformation and evolution of the plateaus,"
said geologist Russell Pysklywec of the University of Toronto.
"Further, crustal shortening in the Arizaro Basin interior is well documented by folding and local thrust faults, but the basin is not bounded by known tectonic plate boundaries, indicating there is a more localized geodynamic process occurring."
Previous studies have suggested that lithospheric dripping might be at play, but the researchers wanted more concrete evidence.
They designed a laboratory experiment in which they constructed models of Earth's crust and upper mantle to observe what happens on the surface when the crust starts to drip.
The model consisted of a tank and layered materials. A thick, viscous silicone polymer fluid called polydimethylsiloxane formed the lower mantle. The solid upper mantle was a mix of polydimethylsiloxane and modeling clay. Finally, a layer of sand-like spheres of silica and ceramic was the analog for Earth's crust.
"It was like creating and destroying tectonic mountain belts in a sandbox, floating on a simulated pool of magma - all under incredibly precise sub-millimeter measured conditions,"
Andersen said.
A drip "seed" was inserted into the upper mantle layer. This was pulled slowly downward by gravity, a process that took hours. Meanwhile, a camera observed the entire process, taking high-resolution images every minute or so to capture the deformation of the crust.
These images were then compared against actual geological features in the Andes.
"We compared our model results to geophysical and geological studies conducted in the Central Andes, particularly in the Arizaro Basin, and found that the changes in elevation of the crust caused by the drip in our models track very well with changes in elevation of the Arizaro Basin,"
Andersen explained.
"We also observed crustal shortening with folds in the model as well as basin-like depressions on the surface, so we're confident that a drip is very likely the cause of the observed deformations in the Andes."
The experiments also showed other ways in which lithospheric dripping may deform Earth's crust. Not all of these were observed in the Andes, suggesting that there may be other regions of the world in which different kinds of dripping may be observed, if we can identify them.
In turn, this also suggests that non-subduction processes may play a more significant role than we realized in shaping the surface of our planet.
The research has been published in
Communications Earth & Environment.
Reader Comments
According to local legend, the Andean mountain range was created in one moment, when the Andean Christ Huiracocha rode the serpent and raised the entire continent out of the sea. The legend goes on to state that he was at Lake Titicaca when he performed this geo-magic. It is widely held that nearby Tiwanaku had an Atlantic sea port... and somehow, it ascended some 4000 metres above sea level, almost as if overnight.
Legends from all over the world also state that the Earth is not filled with liquid magma, but farther inside, it is hollow, with huge caverns, which support ancient civilizations (the legend of Agarthi and Shamballah), and 'inside' the firmament of air, there is also a central sun, which lightens up these cities. Around the Earth, there are purportedly many access points, Tibet for instance, as well as Belo Horizonte in Brazil. Some also say that the Poles have major access points, which huge holes in the planetary body... It may be an explanation for the Aurora Boreales, or Northern Lights.
In addition, legends and myths also warn that a time will come when the Earth will 'crumble away', when the elements will lose their aspect and become mixed up. Essentially, the Earth is currently in a state of dense materialism because it is so far from the galactic centre, and hence, the rocks are solid as if asleep... However, when the Solar System heads back to galactic centre, the rocks will essentially begin to 'wake up' and lose their solidity. What could be a great cosmic event, for our humanity, will be the horror of horrors, because our material science has built itself on the 'rock' of material existence, everything our society depends on is this hard materialistic rock reality, all the parts of the cell mobile phone are made from rocks... It is as if science has built up its reality on the 'ice' of materialism... but when that ice turns to water, "all the guilty will point the finger at one another, and all will be lead in the fire." In other words, it will be 'Judgement Day'.
There are also legends which say that the solar system has a 'rogue' huge planetary body, which does not orbit the Sun traditionally, but instead has a comet-like elliptical orbit, spending most of its cycle way out and far away, and every 2000 years, it comes back for a quick and sudden swing through the planets, usually always causing land-masses to change, as well as moving the Earth and other planets and changing their axis' from time to time.
Known by various names, Hercolobus, The Red Planet, Nibiru, Wormwood in the Bible, Blue Kachina by the Hopi Indians, it is immensely dense, and on some frequency, it is a populated planet, but the inhabitants are not evolved nor advanced, but instead have more of a cave-man type of consciousness.
Some say that the planet is due to come back and come very close to Earth, possibly blocking out the Sun in its trajectory for 3 days (reports say it is larger than Jupiter), possibly knocking the moon out of its orbit, possibly even colliding with Earth... and some say, a lot depends on how our humanity 'develops' between now and then, as to how close it will strike. Whatever the weather, its approach will create a worldwide state of panic like nothing known before... In older humanities and civilizations, such an event would have been prepared for PSYCHOLOGICALLY way in advance... well, with it psychologically comes all the hordes of hell, so to speak.
Being much more denser than Earth, its magnetic frequency incites a much more hellish and denser state of consciousness, and some even consider that the current state of our civilization with 5G and vaccines and all the other signs of hell, are manifestations of the energetic effects of this celestial body approaching our planet "like a thief in the night".
It is also predicted that this rogue planet will attract and suck all the degenerate souls from Planet Earth, cleansing our Earth of so many degenerate souls, who will then incarnate in Hercolobus with its cave-man civilization... So much for science 'reaching the stars'. If it is true, and bearing in the mind that it is larger than Jupiter, the effects of its approach are unstoppable... what could be the greatest 'revelation' of consciousness and life and the solar system, due to humanity being psychologically unprepared, will be its biggest doom and destruction.
A Chilean astronomer in the 20th century did a huge investigation about the planet, and as he was dying in his old-age, with tears in his eyes, lamented that humankind is so completely unprepared to withstand such a cosmic-planetary changing event.
There are still some questions: I live in a country with volcanoes and earthquakes, and there are certain events which accompany these happenings which so far have no scientific explanation: Before a big earthquake, BIRDS and ANTS will swarm, sometimes an hour in advance. I myself have lived through about 5 powerful tremors, however I was only conscious during 3 of them... In my first two experiences, which took place during the day, all of a sudden, before the event, I had an overwhelming fatigue that forced me on both occasions to go to my room and almost instantaneously fall asleep... When I woke up, about 10 minutes later, on both occasions I found my friends standing outdoors in a panic, and worried about where I was. Well, during a quake, one should run outdoors, and not head for one's bedroom!
There are so many legends which say that ancient civilizations are currently on the ocean floors - the continent of Mu in the Pacific, Atlantis in the Atlantic (the ATL can be traced back to ancient languages, meaning Water)... By all accounts, it seems that during some huge 'climate change'-like situation, the continents go under the sea, and the sea-beds come up to land, like some on-going Earth-breathing or stretching.
Some say that during 'The Flood', the physical state of the Earth was different, and that the atmosphere was filled with vapour... By some cosmic alteration of life on the planet, the atmosphere changed, the 'firmament' of water around the Earth came down, and as a consequence, the rainbow was first seen. Legends also say that humanity in the past had something like fins in order to breath, and likewise, some say that there still exists a humanity which lives under the sea.
The truth is stranger than science fiction.