Utah Scientists Confirm 9 Deep Mantle Quakes More Than 55 Miles Down
Updated
Updated · Futurism · Jun 14
Utah Scientists Confirm 9 Deep Mantle Quakes More Than 55 Miles Down
3 articles · Updated · Futurism · Jun 14
Summary
Nine northern Utah earthquakes — including a 1979 magnitude-3.8 event — have now been confirmed as originating in the upper mantle, far below the crust where such quakes were long thought impossible.
University of Utah researchers, writing in The Seismic Record, analyzed eight later deep events and concluded they are “archetypal continental mantle” earthquakes tied to very slow mantle deformation.
The team located the quakes near the western edge of the Wyoming Craton, where mantle temperatures can exceed 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit and flow appears to be diverted around the craton’s rigid root.
That interaction may build strain without the foreshocks and aftershocks common in crustal earthquakes, leaving scientists unsure how large these deep events can ultimately become.