The powerful Himalayas came into existence due to a massive confrontation between the earth’s crust, the Indian plate and two huge pieces of the Eurasian plate. This powerful effect started about 60 million years ago and has been shaping the region since then. It is not only responsible for creating the highest mountains on the planet, but also for continuous earthquakes and tremors that shake parts of South Asia today.
For a long time, scientists believed that the Indian plate was constantly slipping under the Eurasian plate in a more smooth and constant speed. This movement was gradually considered to lift the Tibetan plateau, which used to build mountains over millions of years in a gradual, approximate way.
However, a new study has changed that idea to its head. Scientists have recently found new seismic data that shows that the Indian tectonic plate is not only slipping under the Eurasian plate as is once believed, it is actually divided into two deep below Tibet.
The major discovery was shared at the American Geofigical Union Conference in San Francisco and gives us a new approach to the Earth’s surface in our most active areas.
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What is happening below the surface?
The study led by Liny Liu, a geophysicist at the Ocean University of China, used advanced seismic imaging techniques, to find out how the Indian plate is not smoothly subdued under the Eurasian plate as per the idea. Instead, it is undergoing a rare process, called delamination, where the denseness of the plate is peeling away from the lower part and drowning in the earth’s mantle, while the upper, lighter part is rotating just below the surface.
Liu’s team analyzed data from 94 broadband seismic stations in southern Tibet to monitor this behavior. By combining S-Wave and Sheer-Wave Spliting data with back-and-forward p-wave information, he created a three-dimensional image of the plate’s structure and movement. Surprisingly, they find out that some parts of the Indian plate appear intact, while others are about 100 kilometers below the Earth’s surface.
Tectonic plates tearing
Instead of behaving like a rigid slab gliding under its neighbor, the Indian plate is showing excessive internal stress and symptoms of fragmentation. Some areas of the plate are essentially divided, the lower half of the mental is being sucked deeply in the mantle. The effect of this peeling in the continental collision is not specific, and it suggests that the base of the plate is dramatically deforming because it descends into the hot interior of the planet.
Liu said during the conference presentation, “This revelation challenges the long -standing assumptions on how the Indian plate is behaving under Tibet.” This is a new chapter in our understanding of continental mobility.
These are not just theoretical
This discovery also lines with clues that we can see on the surface. The Tibetan plateau has obvious patterns of earthquakes and cracks, which indicate some unusual underground. At its top, scientists have found asymmetrical chemical signs in local spring water, such as high levels of helium -3, a rare gas that usually comes deep inside the Earth. All these pieces of evidence support the idea of what is going on below, in fact not only the mountains, but the crust of the earth.
Why is this an earthquake forecast?
This discovery does not just change how we understand the formation of the Himalayas, it can also improve how we predict earthquakes. Knowing more about how Indian plates are getting deep underground, scientists can fix their models for earthquake forecast. The research team explained, “With a clear three-dimensional image of how tectonic plates interact, scientists can better understand the development of the Earth’s surface and predict the potentially seismic phenomena with more accuracy,” the research team explained.
This new discovery suggests that the Indian tectonic plate is getting deeply divided under Tibet, not only once. It is a big innings of how we understand the Himalayas and earthquake activity in the region. By exposing what is happening underground, scientists expect to improve earthquake predictions and get a clear picture of how our planets are changing.
In short, the Indian plate is not just slipping- it is divided. And it changes everything that we thought we knew about the Himalayas. With this new insight, scientists are close to one step to understand our shifting planet and make better preparation for future quakes.
