This finding transforms current scientists’ understanding of geological processes that occur beneath the Earth’s surface.
For decades the scientific and academic community has tried to discover the origin of rocks that show signs of intense volcanic activity in Panama, a nation far from any active volcano. But the answer to this geological phenomenon would be in a recent study that indicates that these rocks were blown by the “mantle wind” through a kind of “underground passage” from the Galapagos Islands, more than 1,609 kilometers, in Ecuador. This was unknown to science until now.
In the research, published in the scientific journal National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), The composition of the stone samples recovered from central Panama was analyzed and found to have a chemical signature corresponding to that of the Galapagos mantle plume that is actively “blowing” mantle material through a shallow open window about 8 million years ago on the Panama plate.
This discovery transforms current scientists’ understanding of geological processes that occur below Earth’s surface by suggesting that hotspots, such as those that formed the Galapagos and Hawaii Islands, are not fixed in place.
Rather than going directly to the surface, the rising magma, made up of hot plumes in the mantle, can actually flow laterally through the upper portions of the Earth’s mantle and carry material much farther.
“We had suspicions that this was happening, but the data from the geochemistry of the rocks confirmed our idea.”Esteban Gazel, co-author of the study, told Cornell University.
The Panama Fracture Zone that represents the limit of the transforming plate between the Cocos and Nazca plates and that connects with the domain of the Galapagos plume could constitute a zone of thinned lithosphere that acts as a channel for the lateral flow of the material of the Galapagos pen. This scenario is in line with a significant column-ridge interaction in the Ecuadorian archipelago region at sublitospheric to asthenospheric depths, the study indicates.
“This mechanism is likely to be applicable to many plume locations around the world, where high mantle domains are observed,” the research states.
Scientists hope to collect more data to show exactly how far this current of the Galapagos plume extends, which will ultimately help shed more light on the complex geological processes that occur in the Earth’s mantle.
This passage would not be the only connection that Ecuador would have with Panama. Last November, within the framework of COP26, the presidents of Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador signed an agreement to create the Marine Corridor of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (CMAR) that will have an extension of 500,000 square kilometers. The largest area in the world, the leaders have said. The main objective of the initiative is to protect the migratory species that annually transit the area and that are not affected by commercial fishing. (I)
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