Posts Tagged ‘A stiff new layer in Earth’s mantle’

A stiff new layer in Earth’s mantle

By crushing minerals between diamonds, a University of Utah study suggests the existence of an unknown layer inside Earth: part of the lower mantle where the rock gets three times stiffer. The discovery may explain a mystery: why slabs of Earth’s sinking tectonic plates sometimes stall and thicken 930 miles underground. The findings — published […]