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Scientists Investigate Strange Rumbling Beneath Utah
Yahoo • • science
Key Points:
- In 1979, a mysterious earthquake of magnitude 3.8 occurred more than 55 miles below northern Utah, a depth previously thought impossible for seismic activity, puzzling scientists.
- Recent research by University of Utah geologists Keith Koper and George Zandt confirmed that similar deep earthquakes happen in the Earth's upper mantle beneath the Wyoming Craton, far below the crust.
- These "archetypal continental mantle events" are linked to slow mantle movements over millions of years, causing strain and deformation as the mantle flows around the rigid cratonic root.
- Unlike shallow crustal earthquakes, these deep quakes lack typical foreshocks and aftershocks, and their maximum potential size remains unknown, presenting a fundamental physics mystery.
- The findings highlight significant gaps in understanding tectonic dynamics deep within the Earth and suggest that mantle-craton interactions play a key role in generating these deep seismic events.
