Earth's Crust Missing In Mid-Atlantic

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: ironwing
They found an area of peridotite instead of basalt. This is not shocking news. It is worth investigating certainly, but the language used was silly. New crust forms at the ridges, usually in the form of basalt. In this case, apparantly, the rock is a peridotite, a rock thought to be more like the bulk mantle then the lighter basalt.

Ok, that's what I was wondering. It's still a perfectly solid "crust" right, but this large section of it just happens to be made of material normally found in the mantle? Kind of like a big scab - it's still a covering that keeps someone from bleeding to death, but it's not skin.

There are a couple animations of mid-ocean ridges (spreading centers) here that show what is going on.

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/gallery/maps/maps.html

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Cattlegod

Originally posted by: MS Dawn
Let's just hope there are no volcanic activities below.

lol, no kidding. It would give a whole new meaning to the phrase "boiling the ocean"

Text

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: spidey07
*sigh*

I was taught how the continents move in like 4th grade. Apparently 4th grade science is above this article.

Um, what's wrong with it?

Their "alarming" discovery is how the crust and major fault lines work. This is where the BS meter went through the roof...S

"This discovery is like an open wound on the surface of the Earth."

http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/gg/classroom@sea/JC007/about.html

It's the very words of the research crew going out there.

Spidey is smarter than them. Duh.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: mugs

Spidey is smarter than them. Duh.

Yeah but can spiders swim?

 

[ISAslot]

Maybe Atlantis sank there.

 

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn

Originally posted by: mugs

Spidey is smarter than them. Duh.

Yeah but can spiders swim?

Only one can.

 

[TallBill]

I blame Bruce Lee.

 

[Mermaidman]

"Mmmm . . . crust."

I blame Homer.

 

[dennilfloss]

The geologist in me is quite apprehensive at this missing crust. Not sure exactly why but it makes me damn uneasy. I'd like the article to tell us more about the (geo)physical properties of the area that made these geologists interpret it as missing its crust though. Must be some major gravimetric anomaly in the area.

 

[redgtxdi]

Al Gore's been mining it as a geo-subsidized raw fuel source to power both his home and his jet!!

 

[zephyrprime]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: spidey07
*sigh*

I was taught how the continents move in like 4th grade. Apparently 4th grade science is above this article.

Um, what's wrong with it?

Their "alarming" discovery is how the crust and major fault lines work.

Yes, but standard understanding of how the continents move did not include an enormous area of the Earth's crust simply not existing. Thousands of square kilometers just not there? In 4th grade science, the explanation was "The earth's crust is everywhere, and the plates just move around"

Exatly. Maybe Spidey needs to go back and finish 5th grade. Jus because the plates move doesn't mean there are areas of exposed mantle. The San Andreas fault is opening up but is there a big area of exposed mantle there? No. It's an intresting ravine there but it's still all crust.

 

[judasmachine]

Originally posted by: ironwing
No sensationalism in that press release, no, not there, nope.

There isn't. It's just some scientist fired up to do some field work. He just states the questions they have and hope to answer; was the crust ever there, or was it ripped away by the likes of sea-floor spreading. He's not saying, "OMG PANIC!!|!!"

 

[dennilfloss]

Well, there are areas of exhumed ancient mantle, for example some spinel peridotites in Newfoundland, but these are quite rare.

 

[DAGTA]

Guys, it's so obvious! Remember when Superman returned recently and part of defeating Lex Luthar was cutting a large part of the Earth's crust away from the Atlantic Ocean and sending it into space? Duh!

Blame Superman!

Oh and spoiler warning.

 

[RU482]

I saw this in MS Dawn's link and thought Hmmm

Massive emmissions of methane into the atmosphere were probably responsible for past (and future) sudden global warming events.
Similarly sudden emmissions of sulpur dioxide by big volcanic eruptions are responsible for sudden global cooling events.

If the present global warming trends can not be controlled by human restraint (we are not good at this!) why not seek a planetary engineering solution? Consider the following, all airliners switch to high sulphur fuel when above say 30,000 feet. In this way we could adjust global cooling to a controlled extent. Unless a super volcano gets into the act first.....?

 

[LS20]

god took it away to test our faith

 

[IGBT]

..hurry. call Art Bell. He'll know what's going on.