Earth has a "ghost plume" that is warping its internal layers

Key Points:

• Researchers have identified a “ghost plume” beneath eastern Oman’s deserts, a mantle plume column that rises deep within the Earth’s mantle but does not produce surface volcanism, unlike typical plumes such as those beneath Hawaii or Yellowstone.
• The Dani plume, named by lead author Simone Pilia, was detected through seismic tomography revealing a warm, cylindrical column about 125 miles wide extending to at least 410 miles depth, causing slowed seismic waves indicative of elevated temperatures insufficient to melt the thick continental lithosphere.
• Surface uplift of Oman’s Salma Plateau and ongoing coastal rise are attributed to dynamic support from the hot mantle plume, demonstrating that mantle plumes can influence crustal elevation even without volcanic activity.
• Geological evidence suggests the Dani plume may have influenced the eastward bend in the Indian Plate's path about 40 million years ago by exerting viscous drag on the plate, implying hidden mantle plumes could play a role in steering tectonic plate motions.
• The discovery challenges traditional plume detection methods reliant on surface volcanism and suggests many hidden plumes may contribute significantly to Earth’s heat flow and tectonic dynamics, with implications for understanding mantle convection, plate tectonics, and the longevity of Earth’s magnetic dynamo.