Descubren una enorme bolsa de carbono hirviendo en la astenosfera:
SCIENTISTS have discovered a colossal pool of molten carbon stretching 1.8million square kilometres under the United States.
The grim find is a warning to humanity that the planet could easily spark climate chaos without the help of humans.
Geologists at Royal Holloway, University of London’s Department of Earth Sciences found the melting region – which is just 350km below Earth’s surface – using a huge network of 583 seismic sensors that measure Earth’s vibrations, to create a picture of the area’s deep sub surface.
They were shocked to discover a massive reservoir under western US.
Scientists believe that if any of this carbon was to be emitted into the atmosphere it could have grave consequences for the environment.
“We might not think of the deep structure of Earth as linked to climate change above us, but this discovery not only has implications for subterranean mapping but also for our future atmosphere,” concluded Dr Hier-Majumder, “For example, releasing only one percent of this CO2 into the atmosphere will be the equivalent of burning 2.3 trillion barrels of oil.
“The existence of such deep reservoirs show how important is the role of deep Earth in the global carbon cycle.”enlace