Scientists say tectonic plate tearing apart under Pacific Ocean from Japan to New Zealand

In a new study, scientists found that several rigid tectonic plates which are under the Pacific Ocean are being pulled apart.

Earth has an outer shell, which is called the lithosphere and is divided into various rigid plates. These plates are known to float in the semi-fluid asthenosphere and their movement is a key feature of these plates.

The University of Toronto's geoscientists discovered that the plate is scored by large undersea faults which are hundreds of kilometres long and thousands of metres deep.

The team was surprised after finding that the geological deformation, which is the continental plate interiors' regular feature, is also taking place inside the ocean plates.

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“We knew that geological deformations like faults happen on the continental plate interiors far from plate boundaries,” said Erkan Gun, who is a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at U of T Scarborough, as reported by Science Alert.

“But we didn't know the same thing was happening to ocean plates," Gun stated.

The Pacific plate consists of the maximum Pacific Ocean floor and has moved westwards to plunge into the mantle of Earth along the trenches or subduction zones of undersea which run from Japan to New Zealand and Australia.

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Tectonic plate gets dragged inside Earth's mantle like table cloth: Scientists

Researchers said that as the plate's western edge is pulled down into the mantle, the rest of it gets dragged inside it like a tablecloth being pulled from a table.

“It was thought that because the sub-oceanic plateaus are thicker, they should be stronger. But our models and seismic data show it’s the opposite: the plateaus are weaker," said Gun.

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The scientists studied four plateaus present in the western Pacific Ocean, which is the Ontong Java, Shatsky, Hess, and Manihiki, in a vast area that is roughly bounded by New Zealand, Hawaii, Japan and Australia.

The scientists then brought a supercomputer into action to create a model with the help of existing data which revealed major changes.

The study's findings were published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

“A new finding like this overturns what we’ve understood and taught about the active Earth, and it shows that there are still radical mysteries about even the grand operation of our evolving planet,” Gun added.

(With inputs from agencies)