“Through this study, not only do we have a much better understanding of the internal dynamics of the planet,” co-author Esteban Gazel, of Cornell University, says in a news release, “but also the physical properties of a boundary layer that really is critical for everything, including life on Earth. Instead, coauthor Thorsten Becker says the layer is more a byproduct of what is happening on Earth. The fight between tribal groups and two mining giants over a copper mine in Arizona highlights a growing dilemma for policymakers and investors eager to move from fossil fuels to clean energy. The melt layer doesn’t have any influence on plate tectonics. So even though Earth’s interior is largely solid, “over long periods of time, rocks can shift and flow like honey,” Hua says. That means the heat and rock in the mantle have the influence on the motion of tectonic plates, giving less prominence to the molten layer. “But what we found is that even where the melt fraction is quite high, its effect on mantle flow is very minor.” “When we think about something melting, we intuitively think that the melt must play a big role in the material’s viscosity,” Junlin Hua, research lead from the University of Texas Jackson School of Geoscience, says in a news release.
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