Scientists map hidden mountains taller than Everest

At over 29,000 feet, Mount Everest is known as the highest mountain on Earth. But what many may not know is that there are mountain ranges inside Earth whose peaks are four times the height of Everest. in BBC reportThe BBC describes years of efforts by teams of researchers studying the planet’s interior to learn more about the mountainous structures below the surface. The mountains, located between the planet’s molten core and mantle, were discovered by researchers in 1996 who were investigating the way seismic waves from major events passed through the planet’s core boundary.

The BBC says that when studying 25 earthquakes, the researchers noticed that seismic waves slowed down at certain “rough” points on those boundaries. It turns out that these points are deeply buried mountain ranges, and the heights of some peaks range from 1.7 to 24 miles. So seismologists know the peaks are there, but they are otherwise mysterious in many ways. In the words of the BBC, “Nobody knows how they got there, or what they’re made of.” It can be found in various locations across the Earth, with a particularly massive specimen located beneath the Hawaiian Islands.

There are several theories regarding the origins of the peaks, the most likely being that they are caused by the warming of the planet’s core in the rocky mantle above. at the University of Alabama press release About the study of the Deep Mountain Range, geophysicist Samantha Hansen said: “Seismic investigations, like ours, provide the highest resolution imaging of the internal structure of our planet, and we are finding that this structure is much more complex than previously thought.”

However, the puzzles do not stop with huge mountains around the heart. like NBC In 2019, scientists are also curious about the discovery of huge “mantle points” floating just above the center of the planet. Roughly the size of Australia, these blobs can produce plumes of magma—the kinds of plumes that cause eruptions from huge supervolcanoes like the one below Yellowstone. (Read full BBC Story.)