A previously unknown layer of partially molten rock has been detected beneath Earth’s crust. The discovery could help scientists learn more about the motions of Earth’s tectonic plates.

"The molten layer is located about 100 miles from the surface and is part of the asthenosphere, which sits under the Earth’s tectonic plates in the upper mantle," a UT press release notes.

They found that rather than holding small areas of melt, the asthenosphere appears to contain a partially melted layer that extends around the globe, under at least 44% of the planet.

Effect of water on seismic attenuation of the upper mantle: The origin of the sharp lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 2023; 120 (32) DOI: 10. ...

Sea-floor magnetotelluric data are used to image the electrical conductivity of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary offshore of Nicaragua; a high-conductivity layer confined to depths of 45 ...

But a team of geologists at has found that layer is actually ... of the asthenosphere under the Caribbean. They found a hot "river of rocks" being squeezed from the Pacific Ocean through a ...