2023-10-14 06:00:13
The discovery of a tectonic plate that has disappeared for 20 million years sheds new light on our understanding of Earth dynamics. Known as the Pontus plate, it was revealed using rock fragments from the mountains of Borneo (Borneo is an island in southeast Asia (Insulindia).).
The Pontus plate, which disappeared around 20 million years ago.
Credit: Van de Lagemaat et al
This plate was revealed by a few rock fragments from the mountains of Borneo and remains detected deep in the Earth’s mantle. At its peak, it was a quarter of the size of the Pacific Ocean. Scientists named it the “Pontus plate” because it was then located under an ocean of the same name.
Suzanna van de Lagemaat, a doctoral student at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, expresses her surprise at this discovery. Initially, she and her colleagues studied the Pacific Plate. Tectonic plates are constantly moving and undergo a process called subduction, where the oceanic crust is pushed. exerted by the movement of air…) under the continental crust.
Evolution of the Pontus plate, in pink, over time.
The researchers’ initial goal was to find remains of another extinct plaque, the Phoenix Plaque. The magnetic properties of rocks can reveal information regarding their formation, van de Lagemaat said. Nevertheless, rocks collected in Borneo showed unexpected results.
The geologist’s computer study helped solve the enigma. It reveals that the location in question was in fact occupied by this hitherto unknown plaque. The Pontus plate was formed at least 160 million years ago and finally disappeared beneath the Australian and Chinese plates around 20 million years ago.
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