Overview

• Researchers have identified two vast rock formations, known as Large Low-Shear-Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs), located 2,000 kilometers beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean.
• These structures, up to 1,000 kilometers tall, are significantly hotter and older than nearby subducted tectonic plates, with origins potentially dating back over a billion years.
• The LLSVPs are composed of larger mineral grains, making them more rigid and resistant to mantle convection, unlike the surrounding 'slab graveyard' of sunken tectonic plates.
• Seismic studies reveal these formations slow down earthquake waves and may serve as the origin points for mantle plumes, which drive volcanic activity on Earth's surface.
• This discovery challenges traditional views of the Earth's mantle as a well-mixed, fast-flowing layer, suggesting a more complex and static internal structure.