Geologists were amazed when they discovered a part of the Earth that disappeared 20 million years ago (video)

Understanding plate tectonics is vital to geologists because it helps them trace the geologic history of landforms, locate rare minerals, and predict future natural processes.

In one Pioneering Revelationthe Geologists Discover one Tectonics That’s funny It became extinct 20 million years ago.The surprising discovery, dubbed the “Pontic Plate,” was made during studies of the Pacific Plate by researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Once a massive plate of the Earth’s crust, the “Pontic Plate” disappeared after a series of subduction events, where one tectonic plate moves beneath another and sinks into the mantle.

Understanding plate tectonics is vital to geologists because it helps them trace the geologic history of landforms, locate rare minerals, and predict future natural processes. The discovery of the “Puntian Plate,” a tectonic entity that was once a quarter of the size of Earth, The Pacific OceanIt provides important insights into the dynamic history of the Earth. The detailed results are published in the journal Gondwana Journal of Research.

The search for the plate began unknowingly a decade ago, when researchers at Utrecht University found fragments of ancient tectonic plates deep in the Earth’s mantle using seismic tomography. This technique, which uses seismic waves from earthquakes or explosions to create images of the Earth’s interior, laid the foundation for this monumental discovery.

The decade-long survey indicated the presence of a huge subduction zone running through the ancient western Pacific, separating the known Pacific plates to the east from the then-hypothetical “Pontic Plate” to the west.

Not only does this discovery fill an important gap in our understanding of tectonic movements, it also highlights the importance of careful geological research.