The Earth’s shell is separated under California

Under the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, the earth’s crust is gradually separated, Live Science On February 3 reported. This process is called submerged in jelly and not worrying. In fact, this may be the original way of continental formation. The continental crust lies higher and lasts longer than the ocean case because it is less thick. The sinking may be a lighter way in the shell from heavy materials, creating continents that all terrestrial living things are based on.

According to the new research published in the magazine Geophysical Research Lettersunder the southern part of the Sierra Nevada sequence, the jelly – consisting of the upper part of the coating and a part of the Earth’s crust – separated and sinked deep into the coating. Meanwhile, the plans under the central Sierra Nevada are separated. This process has not expanded to the northern part of the mountain range.

“You can stand in Sierra fishing and have a large layer that is separated below without you know,” Vera Schulte-Pelkum, research author, geologist at Colorado Boulder University, said.

There are no signs on the surface that shows this flaking process. However, the previous research team discovered abnormal deep earthquakes under the Sierra Nevada, with intensity vibrations of 1.9 – 3.2 occurred at a depth of more than 40 km. According to Schulte-Pelkum, this is very strange because the stone at that depth is often warm and compressed, meaning they tend to deform without breaking and radiating the seismic wave.

Schulte -Pelkum and Deborah Kilb from the University of California San Diego, co -author of the new study, reviewed the earthquake records in the area of ​​1985 – 2023. Collect information about the deep shell and the upper part of the mountain coating. They focus on mutant measurement, helping to reveal the difference in the way the wave moves according to the direction of them. This can reveal information about the direction of the stone.

The results showed that there was a layer at a depth of 40 – 70 km with stone separated from the upper shell. In the south of the Sierra Nevada range, near the Sequoia National Park, this class disappeared, while in the north, near Tahoe Lake, it was not separated. At the center of Sierra Nevada, under Yosemite National Park, this class is actively sinking into the coating.

The similar continental construction process may be taking place elsewhere in the world, including in New Zealand, Anatolia plateau (Türkiye) and the Carpathian mountain range (Eastern Europe), according to Schulte-Pelkum. “We can search for this in many other places, where people think that the plans have been thicker and are now separated,” she said.