Geology: Scientists are reconstructing a massive tectonic plate in the Pacific Ocean

The history of Earth’s surface movements allows us to understand current geological events. Some tectonic plates appeared during Earth’s formation, before disappearing or becoming absorbed into the Earth’s crust. But researchers are working hard to retrace the history of these enormous pieces in order to put the pieces back together again. This is the case of the Pontus plate.

The latter is a Pacific ancestor. You have to imagine, 300 million years ago, a plate the size of a quarter of the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Today, the region would cover much of Southeast Asia. In a study published on September 29 in the journal Science DirectResearchers revealed the existence of ancient Pontos by analyzing ground fragments.

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Pieces of rock from ancient painting

A team from Utrecht University (Netherlands) visited the “Ring of Fire” mountain ranges in Japan, the islands of Borneo, the Philippines, New Guinea and New Zealand. The excavated rocks form traces of ancient painting. Today, this area is located at the crossroads of several land layers, which poses a great danger to the population.

Under the influence of mantle destabilization, the Earth’s surface vibrates regularly. As a result, the region is exposed to strong earthquakes. In Indonesia, the average plate movement is 5 to 6 centimeters per year, as mentioned the world. By comparison, the Pyrenees region, one of the most unstable regions in France, is moving by a few millimeters on average.

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This situation is therefore the product of various movements of tectonic plates, including the movement of Pontus. At that time, the plate moved across Indochina and north to the islands of Borneo and the Philippines. But Pontus may gradually become extinct due to the presence of subduction zones.

This phenomenon is characterized by the sliding of one lithosphere plate under another plate. Then the Australian, Philippine and Bornean plates absorbed it as it moved north. However, this absorption left traces.

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Its area is 40 thousand km2

In some areas of the “Ring of Fire,” a volcanic region about 40,000 kilometers long that borders the Pacific Ocean, parts of the ancient plate are still visible. But not in the places researchers imagine.

“For 11 years, we thought that the remains of the Pontus plate lay in northern Japan.”He explained to the site Interesting geometry Douwe van Hinsbergen, thesis supervisor Susanna van de Lagemaat, editor of the study. More than a decade later, science finally discovered these remains.

On the same topic:

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