Scientists have found an explanation for the ‘gravitational hole’ in the Indian Ocean. The gravity hole is an area where the gravitational pull is low due to which the bottom of the sea sinks. In the depths of the ocean, there is one that is the size of three million square kilometers and in the past this has confused scientists. Now two researchers at the Indian Institute of Science, Debanjan Pal and Atreyi Ghosh, feel that they have solved the mystery.
The models that less reproduced the geography of the Indian Ocean in its present form had the same theme: hot, low-density lithologies fumes floated beneath the bottom. These fumes, as well as the typical mantle formation, have created a geoid decrease; If they climb high enough, Paul and Ghosh calculate. “In short, our results suggest that in order to make a comparison of the observed geoid decrease [shape and range], the plumes need to float enough to come to mid-mantle depths,” the pair wrote. The first of these appeared about 20 million years ago, geologically low in the south of the Indian Ocean, and about 10 million years after the old Tethys Sea sank in the lower mantle. As the fumes spread beneath the lithosphere and moved towards the Indian peninsula, the low intensity increased. But more research needs to be done to find out what’s really going on because not all scientists are convinced.
