Earth’s Continents Are Being Peeled From Below, Scientists Say

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Earth’s continents aren’t as solid as they look. Scientists say parts of them are actually being peeled from below by deep forces inside the planet. This process happens slowly, but it can reshape entire regions over millions of years. In this video, we explain what’s pulling the continents apart and why it matters now. It’s a hidden Earth process you definitely don’t want to miss.  Credit: Christopher Scotese / YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLahVJNnoZ4 Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

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00:00While you're watching this video, pieces of continents are slowly breaking off from below

00:05and are pulled down into the oceanic mantle, a hot, mostly solid layer that moves slowly

00:11under the seafloor. As soon as these fragments reach the mantle, they can trigger volcanic

00:16eruptions in parts of the ocean where there are no volcanoes. Plus, when continents break apart,

00:22it happens not only at the surface, but also deep down. But more on that later.

00:27This process can continue for tens of millions of years. The new study shows that Earth's insides

00:34are even more dynamic than we thought. It also explains why many volcanic islands,

00:39including Christmas Island in the Northeast Indian Ocean, contain unusually high levels of

00:45certain chemical elements. The thing is, these elements are normally only found in continental

00:51crust. Well, scientists did suspect that these elements showed up because some powerful

00:57forces deep inside the Earth took old, recycled pieces of rock and mixed them into the mantle.

01:03This process works a bit like when you mix together ingredients for cake batter.

01:09But before, researchers believed those elements came from two main sources, sediment that sank into

01:15the mantle as oceanic plates got pushed down, or from mantle plumes. Those are columns of hot rock

01:23rising up from deep inside Earth. However, these explanations don't fit all observations.

01:30In some volcanic areas, there's almost no sign that the crust has been recycled. In other places,

01:36the mantle seems to cool and too close to the surface to be affected by the rising hot rock.

01:42Scientists used to wonder how this could happen. Now we know that some of the material in those regions

01:47come from pieces of continents that sink deep into the mantle. And these pieces affect the volcanoes that

01:54form above. The new study also suggests a curious idea. Continents don't just break apart at the surface,

02:02they peel away from below too. And this can happen over much greater distances than scientists thought

02:09before. Researchers used simulations to figure out how continents and the mantle behaved when stretched

02:16by tectonic forces. Their work is built on earlier research showing that when continents split,

02:23deep, powerful forces inside our planet create a mantle wave. This wave moves along the base of the

02:31continent at depths of about 90 to 125 miles. The wave moves extremely slowly, about a millionth of the speed

02:41of a snail, and gradually strips material from the roots of the continents. These peeled off fragments are

02:48then carried sideways, sometimes more than 620 miles, into the oceanic mantle. Once there, they can trigger

02:57volcanic eruptions in the ocean for tens of millions of years.

03:03The research also shows that the mantle continues to feel effects of continental breakup long after the

03:10continents themselves have separated. Even after a new ocean basin forms, the mantle keeps moving, reorganizing

03:18and transporting enriched material far from where it originally came. To make this conclusion, researchers

03:25studied geochemical data from different parts of the Earth, including the Indian Ocean Seamount province.

03:31That's a chain of volcanic formations that appeared after the supercontinent Gondwana had broken apart

03:38over 100 million years ago. Their computer models and chemical tests showed that right after the

03:45supercontinent Gondwana broke apart, a lot of magma with unusual chemicals pushed up to the surface.

03:53Over millions of years, this chemical signature slowly faded as less material came up from under the

03:59continent. The most unexpected discovery is that this happened without any help from those deep,

04:06hot columns of rock scientists used to think were needed. Now, to get an even clearer picture,

04:13let's sneak a peek into our planet's insides. Earth is about 4.6 billion years old. It was born from a huge

04:22cloud of dust and gas that slowly cooled, shrank and hardened into the planet we know today. As it cooled,

04:31heavy metals like iron and nickel sank to the center, and lighter, rocky materials floated upward. This

04:38created the Earth's layered structure, with each layer having its own unique properties. The crust is

04:45like Earth's skin. It's our planet's outermost layer made of solid rock. It's broken into huge pieces

04:53called tectonic plates that slowly drift over time. There are two kinds of crust, oceanic crust and

05:01continental crust. The oceanic crust is about 4 to 6 miles thick. It's covered with a thin layer of

05:08sediments like sand, clay and shells. Below that are dense rocks like basalt, rich in magnesium. As for

05:17the continental crust, it's thicker than oceanic crust and is located under continents. It's made of lighter

05:24rocks than oceanic crust. Beneath the crust is the mantle. It makes up more than 75% of Earth's volume.

05:33The top of the mantle is pretty rigid, but deeper down, it becomes soft and partially molten, which

05:39allows it to flow slowly. This flow is what moves the tectonic plates. At the center of the Earth lies the

05:48core. It's made mostly of iron and nickel and has two distinct layers, the outer core and the inner

05:55core. The outer core is a liquid layer of iron and nickel. It's insanely hot, up to 10,800 degrees

06:03Fahrenheit, as hot as the surface of the Sun. The outer core also generates Earth's magnetic field,

06:10which protects us from harmful solar radiation. The inner core is solid because of the crushing

06:16pressure inside the planet. It's also made of iron and nickel. Now, the Earth's outer shell, called the

06:23lithosphere, is made up of the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle. It's broken into large pieces,

06:31called tectonic plates. There are a few super large plates and many smaller ones. Six of the major plates

06:38are named after the continents they carry, like the North American, African and Antarctic plates. But even

06:44those smaller plates play an important role. For example, the tiny Juan de Fuca plate is responsible

06:51for many of the volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The plates are moving like a jumble

06:58of old conveyor belts. They move very slowly, about one to two inches per year. But over millions of years, this

07:05movement shapes the face of our planet. Most earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building happen

07:11where plates meet, pull apart, or slide past each other. There are three main types of plate boundaries.

07:19Convergent, when plates move toward each other. Divergent, when plates move apart. And transform,

07:26that's when plates slide sideways past each other. When tectonic plates collide,

07:32the crust crumples and buckles, forming mountain ranges. About 55 million years ago, India crashed

07:38into Asia, slowly creating the Himalayas, the tallest mountains on Earth. The collision continues today,

07:46so the mountains are still rising. Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, may even grow a tiny bit

07:52taller over time. At some convergent boundaries, an oceanic plate dives under a land plate in a process

08:00called subduction. The land above lifts up, forming mountains, and the sinking plate melts and triggers

08:07volcanic eruptions. This is how some mountains in the Andes of South America were formed. When two

08:14oceanic plates collide, one usually slides beneath the other, creating deep ocean trenches, like the

08:20Mariana Trench in the North Pacific, the deepest point on Earth. These collisions can also form underwater

08:28volcanoes that eventually rise above the ocean and turn into island chains, such as Japan. At divergent

08:37boundaries, tectonic plates move away from each other. In the oceans, magma from deep in the mantle rises

08:43to fill the gap. This creates underwater mountains and volcanoes along the seam. This process renews the

08:51ocean floor and slowly widens the ocean basins. By the way, a single mid-ocean ridge system

08:58connects all the world's oceans, making it the longest mountain range on Earth. On land, when plates pull

09:05apart, they form giant valleys, such as the Great Rift Valley in Africa. If this stretching continues over

09:13millions of years, East Africa could split off to become a new landmass. One famous example of

09:21transform boundaries is the San Andreas Fault in California. Unlike convergent or divergent boundaries,

09:27transform boundaries usually don't create mountains or oceans, but the grinding motion can cause

09:33powerful earthquakes, such as the 1906 earthquake that destroyed much of San Francisco.

09:40That's it for today. So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with

09:46your friends. Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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