An ancient sunk seafloor beneath Pacific is impacting Earth's interior. Here's how

Scientists from the University of Maryland have stumbled upon the evidence of an ancient seafloor which is believed to have sunk deep into the Earth when dinosaurs existed and is now affecting the interior structure of Earth.

This previously unknown patch of the seafloor is located in the East Pacific Rise and has thrown light on the inner workings of the planet and how the surface of Earth has gone through changes over millions of years.

The findings of the team were publishedin the journalScience Advances.

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The team, headed by geology postdoctoral researcher Jingchuan Wang, used innovative seismic imaging techniques to look deep into the mantle of Earth, which is the layer between the planet's core and crust.

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The scientists looked into themantle transition zone, which is a region between 410 and 660 kilometres below the surface of the Earth, and discovered an unusually thick area.

The upper and lower mantles of the Earth are separated by this zone, which expands or contracts on the basis of temperature.

According to the team, this seafloor can also explain the Pacific Large Low Shear Velocity Province's (LLSVP) anomalous structure.

"This thickened area is like a fossilized fingerprint of an ancient piece of seafloor that subducted into the Earth approximately 250 million years ago. It's giving us a glimpse into Earth's past that we've never had before," Wang said.

Here's how scientists found the subducted seafloor

Subduction takes place when one tectonic plate slides below the other one and the surface material is recycled back into the mantle of Earth.

The clues of subductionare found by geologists after examining rock samples and sediments found on the surface of the Earth.

However, Wang used seismic waves to look into the ocean floor.

The scientists, by looking into the seismic waves which travelled through different layers of the planet, were able to create a detailed map of structures inside the mantle.

"You can think of seismic imaging as something similar to a CT scan. It's basically allowed us to have a cross-sectional view of our planet's insides," said Wang.

"Usually, oceanic slabs of material are consumed by the Earth completely, leaving no discernible traces on the surface. But seeing the ancient subduction slab through this perspective gave us new insights into the relationship between very deep Earth structures and surface geology, which were not obvious before," he added.

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While observing the seafloors, the scientists found that the material was moving through the interior of Earth much more slowly than earlier believed.

Wang said that the thickness of the area hinted at the presence of colder material in the mantle transition zone and that some oceanic slabs may have been stuck while sinking through the mantle.

"We found that in this region, the material was sinking at about half the speed we expected, which suggests that the mantle transition zone can act like a barrier and slow down the movement of material through the Earth," said Wang.

"Our discovery opens up new questions about how the deep Earth influences what we see on the surface across vast distances and timescales," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)