Scientists find thousands of earthquakes in a perfectly straight line in Alaska, revealing a hidden 'micro...

Key Points:

• Thousands of previously undetected tiny earthquakes have revealed the edge of the Yakutat microplate, a miniature tectonic plate subducting under Alaska near the Denali Fault.
• The Yakutat microplate, an ocean plateau thicker and more buoyant than surrounding Pacific oceanic crust, is pushing up the Alaska Range, including Mount McKinley (Denali).
• Researchers installed new seismometers and discovered about 3,000 small earthquakes forming a sharp, linear pattern over 155 miles beneath the Denali Fault, marking the microplate's edge.
• This microplate edge appears to focus seismic energy in a straight line, potentially contributing to large earthquakes like the 2002 magnitude 7.9 Denali quake and the formation of small volcanoes in the region.
• The study, published in The Seismic Record, suggests the Yakutat microplate's location influences various tectonic processes, though further computational modeling is needed to explore its full impact.