#platetectonics — Public Fediverse posts

Late Miocene Euphrates River Drained Into A Partially Desiccated Eastern Mediterranean
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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-01962-x <-- shared paper
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[the paleogeographic reconstruction is outstanding, including the strength and information conveyed so well in that figure, kudos!]
H/T @lina Jakaitė-Darkšė
“Although the Euphrates River - stretching ~3,000 km across Western Asia - has shaped the region’s geology for millions of years, the timing of its origin and the evolution of its course remain enigmatic. So far, two contrasting hypotheses have been proposed to explain the fluvial system’s Late Neogene path: termination in Anatolia at a palaeo-lake or the Mediterranean, or a southeastward continuation to Arabia. Here [they] use seismic-reflection and topographic data to show that two previously identified sedimentary accumulations - deposited during the terminal phase of the Late Miocene Messinian salinity crisis - resulted from dual riverine systems that drained into a partially desiccated eastern Mediterranean before avulsing toward the Persian Gulf and converging to form the modern Euphrates River. From probabilistic sediment-budget modelling, [they] show that although the latest Messinian drainage basins were an order of magnitude smaller than their present-day extents, the total palaeo-discharge exceeded that of the modern Tigris, Euphrates and Nile rivers combined, indicating intense palaeo-precipitation and high palaeo-relief. These results suggest that plate-margin deformation both controlled the fluvial avulsions that diverted the Euphrates River from the Anatolian–Eurasian Plate to the Arabian Plate, and established the conditions necessary for the development of the alluvial Fertile Crescent…”
#water #hydrology #hydrography #paleogeography #Euphrates #river #Miocene #reconstruction #spatialreconstruction #geology #change #erosion #MiddleEast #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #Neogene #Anatolia #paleolake #Mediterranean #Arabia #Messinian #remotesensing #model #modeling #topography #hydrogeomorphology #geomorphology #PersianGulf #sediment #paleodischarge #volume #Tigris #elevation #platetectonics #structuralgeology #platemargin #fluvial #avulsion #FertileCrescent

A tectonically driven 60 million-year biogeochemical redox cycle paces marine biodiversity

📊DATASET: bit.ly/3PU93FU

📑ARTICLE in Nature Communications Earth & Environment: bit.ly/43rpwEB

#Biogeochemistry #Geology #Paleobiology #Platetectonics #Earthscience #environmentalscience #opendata #openscience #openresearch

Himalayas Formation May Have Destroyed At Least 30% Of Continental Crust In Collision Zone
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https://phys.org/news/2024-11-himalayas-formation-destroyed-continental-crust.html <-- shared technical article
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2024.119070 <-- shared paper
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#geology #structuralgeology #model #modeling #numericmodeling #geochemistry #mountainbuilding #orogeny #Himalayas #continentalcrust #platetectonics #continents #EuropeanAlps #ZagrosMountains #mantle #subsumed #deformation #erosion #thickening #extrusion #massbalance #calculations #delamination #topography #lithosphere

Wilson Cycle Phase 2: Ocean Opening

“…for times before the present oceans existed, we cannot do plate tectonics. Instead we must consider the life cycles of the ocean basins.”

~ John Tuzo Wilson

In the 12 minute video below (a great and quick watch), “Wilson Cycle Phase 2: Ocean Opening”, we continue our travels with Professor Dougal Jerrom of Oslo University, to look at evidence of the former presence of oceanic crust.

The first evidence we find is the presence of pillow basalts formed in the deep ocean. Pillow basalts are erupting magma that is quenched (hardened) by the ocean water. The scientists can tell that the ocean was deep because the pressure of the water allowed the gases to be released in solution (no vesicles in the basalt). Pillow basalts are the top layer of oceanic crust.

Secondly we find evidence of a black smoker in a copper mine. The black smoker was created by hydrothermal activity, as evidenced by the presence of copper and other minerals, in the sheeted dikes, the second layer of oceanic crust.

Wilson Cycle Phase 2: Ocean Opening: https://youtu.be/AtflMez-Zb4

Includes Step 3 and 4 of the Wilson Cycle: c.im/@vickyveritas/10962360456...

Note: We will see the other steps of the Wilson Cycle in this series. More to come!


#TheWilsonCycle #Caledonides #Norway #PlateTectonics #geology #PillowBasalts #SheetedDikes #BlackSmoker #HydrothermalActivity #ScienceMastodon #NorwegianGeologyRocks @geology