Scientists Discover Two Hidden Mountains 100 Times The Height Of World's Tallest Everest
Researchers at Utrecht University have made a groundbreaking revelation, suggesting that the Earth’s biggest mountain is no longer Mount Everest. There are two mountains more than 100 times taller, and the research, which was published in the journal Nature, claimed that two peaks were discovered on the boundary between Africa and the Pacific Ocean, reported the New York Post.
The peaks’ heights have been estimated to be around 1,000 km, far bigger than Mount Everest’s 8.8 km height. The study found that the mountains were at least half a billion years old.
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Seismologist and professor of structure and composition of Earth’s deep interior and the head of research, Dr. Arwen Deuss, stated that nobody knew whether the mountains were only a temporary phenomenon or if they had been sitting there for millions or perhaps even billions of years.
The study found that the two monstrous structures sit on the boundary between Earth’s core and the mantle, the semi-solid area beneath the crust, beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean.
For years, there were speculations regarding massive structures hidden deep within the Earth’s mantle. Talking about how they discovered underground mountains, Dr. Deuss said they see seismic waves slow down in the area. The new structures are hotter than their neighbouring tectonic plates, according to the researchers.
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Against the researchers’ expectation, they found little damping in the LLSVPs, which made the tones sound very loud there, but did find a lot of damping in the cold slab graveyard, where the tones sounded very soft.
Stating that this was unlike the upper mantle, which was expectedly “hot” with damped waves, researchers analogised the phenomenon to going for a run in hot weather, explaining, “You don’t only slow down, but you also get more tired than when it is cold outside.”
Thus, the study concluded that the mountains are made up of much larger grains than the surrounding slabs since these wouldn’t absorb so much energy from passing seismic waves.
