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.

New research from the University of Houston reevaluates the role of the asthenosphere in tectonic plate movement. According to the new study published in Nature Communications by scientists from the ...

Using 700 seismic stations from around the world, Hua found this new ingredient in the shape of a new layer. ... He discovered that the pockets could be found in 40%-50% of the asthenosphere.

Nozomu Takeuchi and colleagues at the University of Tokyo, Kobe University, and the Japan Agency for Marine–Earth Science and Technology, analysed the attenuation of seismic waves as they propagated ...

HOUSTON -- (May 29, 2018) -- New simulations of Earth's asthenosphere find that convective cycling and pressure-driven flow can sometimes cause the planet's most fluid layer of mantle to move even ...

The layer is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) below Earth’s surface, and while scientists have found patches of melt at this depth previously, new research published in Nature Geosciences ...

The molten layer is found in the upper mantle at a depth of around 100 miles - and is present under nearly half of the Earth's surface, researchers said.

Scientists have discovered a new layer of partly molten rock under the Earth’s crust that might help settle a long-standing debate about how tectonic plates move. The molten layer is located ...