Earth's Crust Is Possibly Dripping at a Spot in Turkey
Recent satellite data indicates that the earth's crust is possibly dripping at the Konya Basin in the Central Anatolian Plateau of Türkiye. The analysis was undertaken by experts from the University of Toronto who believe this reshaping has been taking place for over a million years, SciTech Daily reported.
Researchers discovered that a dripping phenomenon had caused the basin within the rising plateau interior to sink. The team combined the satellite, geological, geophysical, and geodetic data of the place to understand the reshaping undertaken by the basin. Experts have published their findings in Nature Communications.
Konya Basin Anomaly
Konya Basin is a circular-shaped, intra-continental, closed (endorheic), sedimentary basin that was formed between the Late Cretaceous and the Miocene epochs, according to the study. The team combined findings from Sentinel-1 InSAR and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and created a map reflecting the present-day surface velocity and strain rate across the entire Anatolian plate. The data indicated an active subsidence or dripping specifically at the Konya Basin. Researchers discovered that despite the subsidence, the landform's geological features like low shear strain rates and lack of folding and/or active faulting did not allow for a huge transformation.
The Model's Outcomes
To figure out the reason behind the shape-shifting, the team put into place laboratory (analogue) experiments as well as analyses of geophysical and geological data related to the landform, as per the study. Their objective was to figure out the evolution process undertaken by Konya Basin.
The experts created a 3D analog model of the plateau and examined its topographic evolution. This measurement was used to quantify the surface expression of lithospheric removal. Lithospheric removal refers to the withdrawal of rocky material that is present in Earth’s crust and upper mantle, SciTech Daily reported.
Model outcomes were then interpreted per the geological evolution of the Central Anatolian plateau and the active subsidence taking place in the Konya Basin. The research claims that past examinations of the area could have missed a multistage process of lithospheric removal, and points it out as the main cause of subsidence.
Konya Basin's Subsidence
The study claims that the subsidence in the Konya Basin was brought forth by multi-stage lithospheric dripping. According to researchers, the dense rock fragments present underneath the surface detached and then sunk into the more fluid layer of the planet’s mantle.
"Looking at the satellite data, we observed a circular feature at the Konya Basin where the crust is subsiding or the basin is deepening,” Julia Andersen, a PhD candidate in the Department of Earth Sciences in the Faculty of Arts & Science at U of T and the study’s lead author said, SciTech Daily reported.
"This prompted us to look at other geophysical data beneath the surface where we saw a seismic anomaly in the upper mantle and a thickened crust, telling us there is high-density material there and indicating a likely mantle lithospheric drip." Similar phenomena have been noted in the southern Sierra Nevada, Lake Titicaca of the Altiplano plateau, and the Arizaro Basin of the Puna plateau.
Similar Dripping Phenomenon
Similar results were discovered by the researchers who looked into the formation of the Arizaro Basin in the Andes Mountains of South America, SciTech Daily reported. This implies that the phenomenon is not unique to the Konya Basin and can take place in any other area of the planet.
"As the lithosphere thickened and dripped below the region, it formed a basin at the surface that later sprang up when the weight below broke off and sank into the deeper depths of the mantle," said Russell Pysklywec, a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and a co-author of the study.
"We now see the process is not a one-time tectonic event and that the initial drip seems to have spawned subsequent daughter events elsewhere in the region, resulting in the curious rapid subsidence of the Konya Basin within the continuously rising plateau of Türkiye," the professor added.