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 ...

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. ...

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 ...

"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.

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 ...

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.

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 ...

In fact, how the asthenosphere formed at all isn't fully understood either. ... What they found was stunning: This was no mere anomalous pocket of molten rock beneath part of the asthenosphere.

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 ...

A previously unknown layer has been found 100 miles below Earth's crust Credit: Getty. The hidden layer is made up of partly molten rock. It was revealed in a groundbreaking study that could help ...

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.