Earth's crust drips 'like honey' into its interior beneath the Andes
Earth’s crust drips “like honey” into our planet’s hot interior beneath the Andes mountains, scientists have found. By setting up a simple experiment in a sandbox and comparing the results with actual geological data, researchers have found solid evidence that earth Earth’s crust has “bullied” across hundreds of miles in the Andes after being swallowed up by the thick mantle. The process, called lithospheric drip, has occurred for millions of years and in various locations around the world – including Turkey’s central Anatolian Highlands and the Great Basin of the western United States – but scientists have only studied it in recent years. The researchers published their findings on Andean drops on June 28 in the journal Nature: Earth & Environment Communication (opens in a new tab) . Related: A ‘totally new’ type of magnetic wave found surging through Earth’s core “We have confirmed that the deformation on the surface of the Andes Mountains area has a large part of the litho