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Scientists Solve Mystery Of Earth's Tectonic Plates
February 21, 2015 Huffpost Science
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KA-BOOM! Scientists Solve

Mystery Of Earth's Tectonic Plates
The Huffington Post | By Jacqueline Howard
Email
Posted: 02/20/2015 8:21 am EST Updated: 02/20/2015 8:59 am EST
Researchers at the Victoria University of Wellington near the southern part of New Zealand's North
Island. | Victoria University of Wellington

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Scientists have long known that the Earth's crust consists of at least 15 tectonic
plates--continent-sized slabs of rock on the surface of the Earth that shift about to
create mountains, volcanoes, and earthquake zones. But the exact mechanism by
which the plates move has remained a mystery.
Until now.

A new study suggests that the plates glide about on a six-mile-thick hidden channel
of "soft" rock located between the base of the plates and the upper portion of the
Earth's mantle (the layer of molten rock above the planet's core), Live Science
reported.
The idea that Earths surface consists of a mosaic of moving plates is a well-
established scientific paradigm, but it had never been clear about what actually
moves the plates around," study co-author Dr. Tim Stern, a professor of geography,
environment and earth sciences at Victoria University of Wellington in New
Zealand, said in a written statement. To work this out requires an understanding of
what happens at the bottom of a tectonic plate."
(Story continues below image.)
This map shows 15 of the largest plates.

To glimpse the underbelly of a tectonic plate, the researchers used dynamite

explosions to generate seismic waves across the southern part of New Zealand's
North Island, which sits above the so-called Pacific Plate. The researchers mapped
the waves as they traveled through the plate and then used the data to create what
Stern called "the most detailed image yet of an oceanic tectonic plate."
The data showed that the seismic waves slowed abruptly at the base of the plate--
which suggests that they must have hit a hidden layer of jelly-like rock, Cosmos
magazine reported.
The researchers hypothesize that the soft rock creates a slippery base upon which
plates drift when they are pushed or pulled--though exactly what is doing the
pushing or pulling is still up for debate.
According to Cosmos magazine, some scientists think that extruding magma or

slowly creeping convection currents may push the plates apart. Others think that as
a thick, heavy plate dives beneath a thinner plate, it pulls on the plate behind it--and
the jelly-like rock found at the base of a tectonic plate may lend support to the
pulling theory.
Understanding this boundary between the base of cold, rigid tectonic plates and the
underlying hot, convecting mantle underneath is central to our knowledge of plate
tectonics and the very formation and evolution of our planet," Stern said in the
statement.
The study was published online Feb. 5, 2015 in the journal Nature.
What else is happening beneath Earth's surface? Take a subterranean

tour in the "Talk Nerdy To Me" video below.
Also on HuffPost:
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Around the Web
Plate Tectonics: How Do Plates Move? - Windows to the Universe
Understanding plate motions [This Dynamic Earth, USGS]
Plate Tectonics - National Geographic
Mystery solved of how Earth's tectonic plates move solved: Plates 'float' on ...
Scientists Have Imaged the Base of a Tectonic Plate
Geologists solve the mystery of what tectonic plates float on
Geophysicists blast their way to the bottom of tectonic plates
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KA-BOOM!

Scientists Solve Mystery Of Earth's Tectonic Plates

February 21, 2015 Huffpost Science

Edition: U.S. Show/Hide

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KA-BOOM! Scientists Solve

Posted: 02/20/2015 8:21 am EST Updated: 02/20/2015 8:59 am EST

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(Story continues below image.)

This map shows 15 of the largest plates.

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To glimpse the underbelly of a tectonic plate, the researchers used dynamite

According to Cosmos magazine, some scientists think that extruding magma or

What else is happening beneath Earth's surface? Take a subterranean

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