The results of a study by scientists at the University of Toronto (Canada) made experts look completely differently at the geology of our planet and plate tectonics. As it turned out, ancient traces of geological events significantly affect the seismic and volcanic activity on the planet.
As geologists believed earlier, seismic and volcanic activity manifests itself precisely on the border of modern tectonic plates. However, when simulating with the SCINET super-computer, which is the most powerful in Canada and one of the most powerful in the world, they were able to put forward a real version that activity may also occur on the territory of the tectonic plates themselves.
Scientists have put forward the theory that ancient geological events, namely the boundaries of ancient tectonic plates hidden deep beneath the surface of the Earth, also affect earthquakes in our time. A team of researchers from the University of Toronto, together with specialists from the University of Aberdeen, have created models according to which old (several million years) structures located in places far from the existing boundaries of tectonic plates can cause changes in structure and properties on the surface in the inner regions of continents.
According to research leader Philip Heron, this is a potentially major revision of the fundamental theory of plate tectonics on the planet. Using the models created, scientists have established that different parts of the mantle under the earth's crust can provoke geological activity even within the same modern plate.
Several geologists have already noted that this discovery may help shed light on some questions regarding Yellowstone Volcano. As you know, the giant is not located at the junction of tectonic plates, but precisely inside the plate. At the same time, until now the source of the volcano's magma has not been established by geologists. The previously existing theory of a magma plume was disproved by scientists at the University of Illinois, who found that the plume was blocked from the reservoirs of the volcano by an ancient cold tectonic plate. In addition, increased seismic activity is observed in the Yellowstone Caldera.