Magma seeps from the Earth's mantle, bubbling beneath Germany

(NLDO) - Strange earthquakes in the Vogtland region of Germany, bordering the Czech Republic, could be a sign of unusual activity inside the Earth.

The Vogtland earthquakes are strange because the area does not lie on the boundary of any tectonic plates. Tectonic plates can be understood as pieces of the Earth's crust, constantly moving and often causing geological activity such as earthquakes, volcanoes at the edge of each plate.

To explain this phenomenon, a team of scientists led by Dr. Torsten Dahm, a geophysicist at the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences, deployed a new network of seismometers in the area.

From this, they point out a surprising mechanism that could be the cause of earthquakes.

Beneath the Earth's thin crust are hot structures including the upper mantle, lower mantle, outer core and inner core - AI graphic image

These seismometers recorded a series of earthquakes in late March that were unlike any other in the region.

Specifically, the epicenters of the earthquakes in this series appear to have drifted 15 km north of the previous series, suggesting that rather than occurring on a vertical fault axis, the series of earthquakes in this series appear to be related to a horizontal structure.

This reveals the complex seismic situation beneath this picturesque area of ​​rolling hills and lush green pastures.

The reason for the earthquakes in the area is still unclear, but they are likely the result of _CO2 gas bubbling from magma fluid at a depth of about 50 kilometers, Dr. Dahm told Live Science .

However, there are no active volcanoes in the area and there is little evidence of ancient volcanic activity.

There is one possible scenario that could explain this: In a rare event, magma in the mantle below the area was released, escaping up into the crust.

Compression in the crust would likely keep these magmas from erupting, but they could build up in the crust over time.

This leads to two possibilities. One is that in the next tens to hundreds of thousands of years, new volcanoes will develop in the area.

The other is a more benign scenario: They simply stay stuck there, move around, and cause minor earthquakes.

The discovery, which suggests magma seeping from the mantle, could also help explain strange earthquakes elsewhere in the world .

The mantle is the layer just below the crust in the Earth's structure, where many complex geophysical and geochemical activities take place that affect the evolution of the planet and everything that exists on the surface.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/magma-xi-khoi-lop-phu-trai-dat-sui-bot-ben-duoi-duc-czech-196240512091238285.htm