Planet Earth continues to offer surprises to the scientific community., which carefully observes both its internal behavior and the signals that appear on the surface. The most recent advances have focused on geological processes and rotational dynamics that affect the configuration of the planet and everyday life, from the origin of new oceans to the precise measurement of time.
In recent weeks, attention has focused on two phenomena: the discovery of rhythmic mantle pulses beneath Africa, capable of fracturing the continent in the distant future, and the unexpected acceleration of the Earth's rotation which has shortened by a few days, something that puzzles researchers and contradicts the historical trend.
New evidence on the evolution of the Earth's crust in Africa
An international team led by the University of Southampton has documented the existence of pulses of molten rock. under the Afar region in northeast Africa. This phenomenon, described as waves of warm mantle that rise rhythmically, is directly related to the progressive fracturing of the continent, in an area where three tectonic faults converge. In the long term, this process could lead to the separation of lands and the creation of a new ocean, a scenario that offers a unique opportunity to observe how continents change over millions of years.
The research, published in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience, has shown that These pulses do not flow evenly, but rather at intervals marked by the structure of the upper plates. Geochemical analysis of more than a hundred volcanic samples has allowed us to reconstruct the dynamics between the Earth's internal activity and visible processes on the surfaceThe chemical traces found show that Deep mantle activity is closely linked to plate movement, which has important implications for the occurrence of volcanoes and earthquakes.
This continental fracturing observable in Afar It is one of the few cases where researchers can witness the birth of an ocean basin in real time (geologically speaking), demonstrating that the The Earth's surface is not static, but the result of active and complex internal processes..
The Earth's rotation under scrutiny due to its unexpected acceleration
At the same time as the subsoil is being investigated, The Earth's rotation has made headlines for presenting anomalies. Agencies responsible for measuring time, such as the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, have detected some of the shortest days ever recorded thanks to the use of ultra-precise atomic clocks. In July and August of this year, days are expected to be slightly shorter than the usual 24 hours, with up to 1,5 milliseconds lost in a single day.
This change in rotation goes against the trend observed for centuries., in which the Moon's gravitational pull slowed the Earth's rotation. Experts have yet to find a definitive cause for this acceleration, although some hypotheses point to poorly understood internal processes or the redistribution of masses following major earthquakes. The scientific community remains astonished by the speed of these changes and how they affect the measurement of universal time, which until now required the introduction of leap seconds to compensate for the natural slowdown.
The spherical shape of the planet and the challenge of flat-earthism
Amidst these debates and new evidence, conspiracy theories that deny the round shape of the Earth are still circulating. However, Science has demonstrated the curvature of the Earth in a simple and repeated way.From ancient observations of ships slowly disappearing over the horizon to experiments accessible to anyone, logic and direct observation are all that's needed to confirm the planet's sphericity. Historians and specialists emphasize that, even in the Middle Ages, knowledge of the Earth's spherical shape was widespread among scholars, refuting the false belief that a flat view was held until recent times.
It is clear that New findings on the planet's internal behavior and the precise measurement of its movements They not only enrich scientific knowledge, but also help to debunk some of the persistent myths and misconceptions about the Earth and its evolution.
Discoveries about The interaction between the mantle and the crust in Africa, the variability of the Earth's rotation and the experimental confirmation of the planetary spherical shape They demonstrate that the Earth is a dynamic organism in constant metamorphosis, much more complex and fascinating than it might seem at first glance.
