Overview
- An international team led by the University of Glasgow reports evidence that dense lower crust detached and sank, temporarily pulling down the Uinta region so the Green River could maintain a through‑range course.
- Seismic data reveal a likely detached body 50–100 kilometers wide at roughly 200 kilometers depth beneath the Uintas, consistent with a former lithospheric drip.
- Numerical modeling suggests the drip separated about 2–5 million years ago, aligning with estimates that the Green River carved its canyon between roughly 8 and 1.5 million years ago.
- A bullseye uplift pattern and several‑kilometer crustal thinning indicate missing lower crust and a temporary surface drop of around 400 meters.
- The peer‑reviewed study in Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface counters antecedent‑river, overtopping, and southern capture hypotheses, and notes the Green–Colorado merger reshaped the continental divide and regional habitats.