Environment

Study Reveals New Details of Giant Underground Mountains That Dwarf Everest

JAN 23 2025·Updated JAN 24 2025

Story

Above: Mount Everest as seen from Kallapattar viewpoint on Oct. 12, 2024, in Gorakshep, Sagarmatha Region, Nepal. Image credit: Mailee Osten-Tan/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Facts

Scientists from Utrecht University have revealed news details of two enormous continent-sized structures buried approximately 1.2K miles beneath the Earth's surface. One is located under Africa, and the other in the Pacific Ocean.
The Times (UK)
Newsweek
These structures, known as Large Low Seismic Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs), reach heights of about 620 miles — more than 100 times taller than Mount Everest — and are surrounded by a "graveyard" of sunken tectonic plates.
Daily Mail
The Times (UK)
The study, published in Nature on Wednesday, reveals that these structures are significantly hotter than surrounding areas and consist of larger mineral grains. This indicates they are at least 500M years old, possibly dating back to Earth's formation.
Newsweek
Nature
Scientists identified these structures by analyzing seismic waves from earthquakes, which slow down when passing through these regions, similar to how ultrasound reveals structures within human bodies.
Utrecht University
Newsweek
Unlike the surrounding mantle material, these structures show little damping of seismic waves, suggesting they contain larger mineral grains that must have taken significant time to form.
PHYS
This discovery challenges the traditional understanding of Earth's mantle as a well-mixed, fast-flowing system, indicating that some ancient structures can remain stable for hundreds of millions of years.
IFLScience
Utrecht University

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

These ancient structures are crucial for understanding Earth's evolution and current geological processes. The LLSVPs likely influenced volcanic activity worldwide by generating mantle plumes at their edges, which created volcanic hotspots like Hawaii and Iceland. Their existence proves that Earth's internal structure is more complex and stable than previously thought.

Livescience.Com

PHYS

Narrative B

The structures could possibly support the theory of a catastrophic collision between Earth and a Mars-sized planet called Theia 4.5B years ago. This alternative origin theory suggests they are actually fragments of an alien world, which could explain their unique composition and resistance to mixing with Earth's mantle.