For ages, Mount Everest stands as the tallest peak in the world at 8849m. Known for its beauty and ever-charming surroundings, the mountain has continued attracting travelers and climbers from all over the globe. However, reports suggest that researchers from the State University of Arizona have a path-breaking discovery for ‘world history’ to change. The team has come across mountains higher than Mount Everest (up to three to four times) lying deep inside the Earth’s surface in Antarctica.
The researchers, after analyzing Antarctica’s seismology centers, came up with the discovery of these vast mountains located in between the mantle & the core of Earth. Further, the team explained that for all these years, these ULVZs (ultra-low velocity zones) in this region had managed to escape the researchers’ eye until the atomic explosions and the earthquakes generated adequate data for them to be captured by seismic waves.
Looking Deeper Into The Mountains Higher Than Mount Everest
The event of uncovering the mountains higher than Mount Everest goes back to 1996. At this time, the scientists did explore the mantle beneath the Pacific Ocean. For a practical understanding, they analyzed the seismic waves as an after-effect of earthquakes caused by the explosion of nuclear bombs.
After comparing 25 such waves from earthquakes, the researchers could see the waves slow down on reaching an uneven patch at the boundary of the mantle and the core. Looking further, they found these vast mountainous peaks located beneath the Earth’s surface quite uneven. Certain peaks stretch up to 24.8 miles to the mantle, greater than the total height of Mount Everest (4.5 times). Also, there were some only 1.7 miles.
And from then on, large mountain frames continued to be discovered at the boundary between the core and the mantle, with one large specimen being 565 miles long. It is located under the surface of Hawaii.
The Latest Discovery About Mountains Higher Than Mount Everest
Researchers got more data on the mountains higher than Mount Everest as the years passed. However, discovering the mountainous figures under Antarctica surprised the State University of Arizona, team.
As in the past, geologists did come across figures near the mantle, which were primarily thought to be the
- Remains from the ancient crust of the ocean, which has disappeared deep inside the Earth.
- The mountains were found near the LLSVPs (large low-shear velocity provinces) or blobs that the scientists took as mystery structures. Till now, two such structures were known – under Africa and the Pacific.
With the discovery of the mountains under Antarctica, things just changed. The southern hemisphere is located far from the LLSVPs and the other large structures that were thought to be the oceanic floors sinking deep.
The State University of Arizona study suggests the under-surface mountain peak might be wrapping around the Earth’s core. Spreading entirely around the boundary between the core and the mantle.
Before the Antarctic study, the other researchers had checked only 20% of the Earth’s core. It will take a lot more time and analysis of the seismic waves to reach a steady conclusion. But the State University of Arizona team hopes to fill in the huge research gap. They also speculate that modern research techniques with enhanced capabilities will help detect the smaller mountain-sized shapes under the Earth. Thus concluding whether these are long-spread or have drifted apart from the mysterious LLSVPs.
