A recent study published in the journal PNAS reveals a gap in the Earth, with an entrance located 100 km beneath the Earth’s surface, extending down to 1,600 km below ground. This gap allows deep material from the planet’s mantle to move from beneath the Galápagos Islands to the area underneath Panama.
3D Terrain Map of Panama – (Photo: FrankRamspot).
According to Science Alert, this represents an unprecedented form of material circulation and is believed to be the reason why there are very few active volcanoes in Panama. Previous geological studies have shown that along the western coast of Central America, the Cocos tectonic plate is subducting and pushing the oceanic crust beneath the continental crust of the North American tectonic plates, creating a subduction zone that forms the Central American Volcanic Arc.
However, volcanic activity halts at the western edge of Panama, as noted by geochemist and marine chemist David Bekaert from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Massachusetts, USA), a member of the research team.
The recently discovered geological tunnel acts as a window, a peculiar and accidental opening in the Earth. It was identified through the analysis of materials in western Panama and behind the volcanic arc in Costa Rica, where unusual mantle materials were found that have the composition of the mantle deep beneath the Galápagos rather than the mantle region directly below Panama.
Scientists have created a model and found that beneath Panama, a portion of the subducted Cocos plate has not been consumed by the planet’s mantle but has merely been bent, fractured, and ultimately created a narrow gap, forming a tunnel for deep material to pass through.
According to Live Science, this gap may originate from an existing fault in the Cocos plate or may have formed recently as it was deformed while subducting underground.
However, what drives material from the mantle to flow through this gap to reach the area beneath Panama remains a mystery. After moving diagonally beneath Panama, the deep material continues to be brought to the surface through geological processes and is discovered by humans.
