--- title: "Scientists Discover Molten Hell Zone Beneath Earth’s Tectonic Plates" description: "Hell, or something like it, may be a little closer than we thought. As a new study published in Nature Geoscience reveals, geologists at Cornell and the University of Texas have discovered a \"hidden\" layer of uber-hot molten rocks just underneath Earth's crust. \"The molten layer is located about 100 miles from the surface and is […]" date: "2023-02-08" modified: "2023-02-08" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hidden-zone-earth-crust-tectonic-plates" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "crust" - "geology" - "tectonic plates" - "the digest" --- # Scientists Discover Molten Hell Zone Beneath Earth’s Tectonic Plates ![A newly-discovered layer located under the Earth's crust may provide scientists with more information about tectonic plates and the formation of continents.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Softie Hell, or something like it, may be a little closer than we thought. As a [new study published in *Nature Geoscience* reveals](), geologists at Cornell and the University of Texas have discovered a "hidden" layer of uber-hot molten rocks just underneath Earth's crust. "The molten layer is located about 100 miles from the surface and is part of the asthenosphere, which sits under the Earth’s tectonic plates in the upper mantle," a UT [press release]() notes. "The asthenosphere is important for plate tectonics because it forms a relatively soft boundary that lets tectonic plates move through the mantle." While the asthenosphere was in the past believed to be mostly solid with some liquid here and there to weaken it and make it more flexible, this new discovery suggests that its topmost layer, which was thought to be hard rock, could be softer than scientists once thought. https://twitter.com/NatureGeosci/status/1622633718686060546 ## Seismic Surprise Coincidentally, the idea of studying the asthenosphere came to UT geoscience postdoctoral researcher and primary study author Junlin Hua "while studying seismic images of the mantle beneath Turkey" — which was just the site of a [cataclysmic earthquake]() that's left thousands of people dead — while he was a doctoral student at Brown. When studying those images, Hua was surprised to discover "signs of partly molten rock under the crust" and, upon compiling other seismic images from around the world until he had a composite map of the asthenosphere, found that the partially-molten rock just below the Earth's crust wasn't anomalous at all, but seemed to be replicated at various points "wherever the asthenosphere was hottest." "We cannot drill deep down to the asthenosphere," Cornell earth scientist and study co-author Esteban Gazel said [in that school's press release](), "but we can illuminate that part of the planet using seismic imaging and the chemical compositions of samples that came from the deep Earth, just as a medical doctor would use a sonogram and blood chemistry to determine the condition of a patient." The asthenosphere's strange characteristics have long puzzled geologists, and with this new discovery of a hidden molten layer that could, the researchers hypothesize, make up half of Earth's entire asthenosphere, we've gotten one step closer to understanding this strange planet of ours. **More on strange geoscience:** [*Earth's Core Appears to Have Stopped Spinning, Scientists Say*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()