Mantle plumes are known to be the main channels that transport mineral-rich rocks from the Earth's interior to the surface.

According to a study published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" (PNAS), a team of scientists noticed high levels of two radioactive isotopes of helium, "helium-3" and "helium-4", in samples collected from water springs. In Panama, far from any active volcanoes, the highest elevation was in a sample from a relatively cold 50°C spring, in an area of ​​dormant volcanoes in central Panama.

The team of scientists set out to study the geochemical composition of the region by collecting samples of volcanic rocks, gases and liquids from hot springs. They discovered that these volcanic materials originate from a mantle column in the Galapagos Islands, which are more than 1,448 km away from these hot springs.

The confluence and subduction zone of tectonic plates in Central America (Wikiwand)

According to a report published in the journal "Live Science", the Earth's mantle consists mostly of silica rocks, whose composition may vary from place to place.

Researchers have noted that the geochemical composition of certain regions of Central America, particularly western Panama and beyond the volcanic arc of Costa Rica, is similar to that of the Galapagos Islands.

Unable to explain how the mantle plumes moved from the Galapagos to Panama, the researchers turned to seismic tomography of the mantle.

This technology uses seismic waves and computer simulations to produce three-dimensional images of the Earth's interior.

Mantle plumes are the main channels that transport mineral-rich materials from the Earth's interior to the surface (Shutterstock)

secret path

The researchers discovered that the secret may lie in the tectonic plates below Panama.

On the western coast of Central America, the Cocos tectonic plate pushes the oceanic crust toward the tectonic plates of North America, the Caribbean and Panama, in an area called the "tectonic plate confluence" or subduction, where one tectonic plate subducts one below the other.

This region is capable of causing major earthquakes, such as the 2017 earthquake that struck the state of Chiapas, Mexico.

A hole or hole has formed in the subducting Cocos tectonic plate, as a result of the movement and subduction of tectonic plates.

The sash plumes flow through this port as air flows through an open window.

“The mantle is like the ocean rippling with currents,” Esteban Gazel, assistant professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University in New York State, says in the university’s press release. “There are deep currents that rise up from the mantle edge to form volcanoes and islands in the middle of the ocean, such as Hawaii and the Galapagos.” ,

"We have demonstrated that once they reach the upper mantle, these currents can spread and affect a much larger area than previously thought," Gazel added.

The earthquake that struck Mexico in 2017, killed dozens, and was described as the most violent in decades (Reuters)

convection currents

Scientists have investigated the causes of long-distance mantle plumes flowing through this outlet.

And they came up with two possibilities: first, that convective currents from the mantle move through the fault zone in the Earth's crust that connects the Galapagos Islands with Panama, and the second possibility is that the movement of silica rocks in the mantle in this region pushes convective currents to flow through the outlet in the subduction zone.

The researchers stated that this outlet in the Earth's mantle - which is located at a depth of 100 meters, and a length of up to 1609 km - explains the absence of active volcanoes in Panama.

Water trapped in subducting tectonic plates (which act as water reservoirs) usually lowers the melting point of rocks, which leads to the formation of magma.

But thanks to this outlet in the tectonic plate below Panama, it is difficult to find magma flowing in this region.

This discovery may change scientists' understanding of geological processes that occur underground, as it reveals that hot spots - such as these hot springs in the Galapagos and Hawaii - are not stable in one place, as the rising magma formed by the mantle plumes may flow through the upper parts of the earth's mantle. , and transport rocks and elements for thousands of kilometers.