It’s no secret that the Earth is full of wonders. Sometimes we get too lost in our own lives to see them, but mother nature always has something spectacular for us to explore and discover.
Many nature enthusiasts will tell you they wish to climb Mount Everest, which is known to be the highest mountain in the world. But scientists have recently made a discovery, confusing even to them, about higher mountains than Everest.
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Discovering mountains is unexpected
Part of the Earth’s geology is, of course, mountains. Now you might be thinking that discovering mountains certainly sounds a little bizarre, because they’re big enough to have been noticeable way earlier in our history aren’t they? Well, perhaps not exactly.
These mountains are different
The ones recently discovered by scientists are different, they’re not on the surface of the Earth.
Scientists have found mountains that are over 100 times taller than Mount Everest just under the Earth’s crust, could you even imagine the size?
Scientists found two new peaks
Geologists found two continent-sized peaks under the Earth’s crust that would make mountains like K1 and Everest look like a breeze to climb.
A study conducted by researchers from Utrecht University found two peaks which reach the heights of around 620 miles (1,000 km) in what they describe as “islands.”
They’re both under the Earth’s crust
The two colossal mountains were found 1,200 miles (2,000 km) under the planet’s crust.
The scientists suggest that the peaks could be more significant to our history, dating back to the Earth’s formation around four billion years ago, as they calculated their age to be at least half a billion years old.
They might not exactly be mountains
Despite naming them ‘mountains’ we’re not actually sure what they are.
Lead scientist Dr Arwen Deuss explained this, “Nobody knows what they are, and whether they are only a temporary phenomenon, or if they have been sitting there for millions or perhaps even billions of years.”
They’re under Africa and the Pacific
The two peaks sit between the Earth’s core and the mantle layer and are in the semi-solid area under the crust.
If you wanted to pin them down in terms of the surface map, they are under Africa and the Pacific Ocean.
Shockwaves help map out what’s under
Shockwaves from earthquakes happening inside the planet are slowed and weakened when they pass through structures below the Earth that are dense and hot, so when their ‘tone’ comes up to the surface, scientists can map out what’s under the Earth.
There are two regions known to slow them
Over the years, geology studies have found that there are two big regions where the shockwaves always slow down, which have been named the Large Low Seismic Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs).
“The waves slow down because the LLSVPs are hot, just like you can’t run as fast in hot weather as you can when it’s colder,” explained Dr Deuss.
The found mountains don’t absorb waves
The researchers found that the newly-discovered mountains don’t slow down shockwaves coming from the mantle, which means they are likely made of larger grains than the surrounding slabs.
“Those mineral grains do not grow overnight, which can only mean one thing: LLSVPs are lots and lots older than the surrounding slab graveyards,” co-researcher Dr Talavera-Soza further explained.
This discovery changes what we know
Before discovering these two peaks, the Earth’s mantle was believed to be mixed by the currents of shockwaves.
But if large structures, potentially billions of years old, have not moved or changed by the movement of heat in the mantle, it changes what we know about that layer of the Earth.
