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Studies reveal giant structures in the deep mantle of the Earth beneath Africa and the Pacific that influence heat, volcanism, and planet dynamics.
In 2025, a study published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports, from the Nature group, provided new evidence about two of the most enigmatic structures inside the planet: the so-called large low-velocity provinces, located nearly 3,000 kilometers deep, at the boundary between the mantle and the Earth’s core. In the scientific article, the researchers showed that these two regions, situated beneath Africa and beneath the Pacific Ocean, are not equivalent, as many previous models suggested.
These structures are known as LLVPs or LLSVPs and are named so because seismic waves slow down when passing through them, indicating differences in temperature, chemical composition, or both. The data analyzed in the study indicate that these deep masses may concentrate dense recycled material from the Earth’s interior, especially subducted oceanic crust, and that the province beneath the Pacific may contain a greater proportion of this material than the African one.
The study suggests, therefore, that these structures may have distinct origins and independent evolutionary histories, which significantly changes geoscientists’ interpretation of the planet’s deep dynamics. Instead of treating these two regions as equivalent blocks, the authors argue that they were shaped by different trajectories throughout Earth’s geological history.
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What are the hidden “continents” of the mantle and why do they matter
The LLSVPs are gigantic structures that occupy volumes comparable to entire continents. The region beneath Africa extends for thousands of kilometers in width and can reach up to 1,000 kilometers in height, while the structure beneath the Pacific is even broader, covering an area that extends over much of the hemisphere.
These masses are not continents in the traditional geographical sense, but the analogy helps to understand their scale. They are regions where the mantle exhibits distinct physical and chemical properties from the surrounding material, which directly affects the propagation of seismic waves.
The central point is that these structures are not only large but also influential. They play a fundamental role in the transfer of heat from the core to the mantle and may act as sources of mantle plumes, which feed volcanoes in distant surface regions, such as Hawaii and Iceland.
The existence of these structures has been known for decades, but the new study shows that treating them as equivalent entities may be an important conceptual error.
Differences between the structures beneath Africa and the Pacific reveal distinct histories
The main conclusion of the study published in 2025 is that the two LLSVPs exhibit significant differences in their shape, composition, and dynamic behavior.
The structure beneath Africa appears to be higher and possibly more stable over geological time. In contrast, the one beneath the Pacific is more extensive laterally and may exhibit greater internal variability. These differences suggest that each of these regions has had its own evolutionary trajectory, influenced by factors such as plate subduction, heat flow, and mantle composition.
This means that the Earth’s interior is neither symmetrical nor homogeneous, as some simplified models indicated. Instead, it may be composed of large domains with distinct properties that interact in complex ways over millions of years.
The researchers also highlight that these differences may affect how heat is transported from the core to the mantle, directly influencing the planet’s global dynamics.
Relation between these structures and surface volcanism
One of the most relevant implications of these discoveries is the connection between the LLSVPs and the volcanism observed on the Earth’s surface.
Previous studies have suggested that mantle plumes, columns of hot material rising from the deep interior, could originate at the edges of these structures. The new work reinforces this hypothesis by indicating that the physical properties of the LLSVPs may favor the formation of these plumes.
Regions such as Hawaii, the Galápagos Islands, and parts of East Africa are associated with this type of activity. The idea is that the heat accumulated at the base of the mantle, near the core, may generate instabilities that result in the rise of hot material to the surface.
If the two structures are different from each other, this may explain why some regions exhibit more intense or persistent volcanic activity than others.
Moreover, the distribution of these structures may influence the location of hotspots over geological time, helping to explain patterns of volcanism that are not directly linked to the edges of tectonic plates.
Origin of these structures may date back to the initial formation of the Earth
One of the most discussed hypotheses is that these large low-velocity seismic provinces are remnants of processes that occurred in the early stages of the planet’s formation, about 4.5 billion years ago.
During this period, the Earth would have gone through a phase of global magma ocean, followed by differentiation processes that separated denser materials from lighter ones. Part of this dense material may have sunk and accumulated at the base of the mantle, forming stable structures over billions of years.
If this hypothesis is correct, these regions would be true “fossils” of the early Earth, preserving information about the composition and dynamics of the primitive planet.
The 2025 study reinforces this possibility by indicating that the differences between the two LLSVPs may reflect variations in the initial formation conditions or in subsequent evolutionary processes.
Impact of these discoveries on the understanding of the internal dynamics of the planet
The identification of clear differences between the two largest structures of the deep mantle has direct implications for global geodynamic models.
Previous models often treated the mantle as a relatively uniform system, with convective circulation mixing material over time. However, the persistence of these structures suggests that parts of the mantle may remain isolated for long periods.
This implies that the Earth’s interior may be less mixed and more compartmentalized than previously thought, which affects how we interpret seismic data, thermal models, and the planet’s chemical evolution.
Furthermore, these discoveries may influence how scientists understand the interaction between the core and the mantle, especially regarding heat transfer and the generation of the Earth’s magnetic field.
Limitations of the study and next steps in research
Although the results are robust, the authors themselves highlight that there are still important limitations. The main one is the reliance on indirect seismic data, which require complex mathematical models to be interpreted.
New seismic imaging techniques and more advanced computational simulations should help refine these interpretations in the coming years. Additionally, complementary studies that integrate geochemical data and laboratory experiments may provide a more complete view of these structures.
The expectation is that future research will be able to determine more accurately the composition of these regions and their relation to processes such as subduction, plume formation, and the planet’s thermal evolution.
What these discoveries mean for the future of geoscience and what do you think about this possibility
The evidence that the Earth’s interior houses giant, distinct, and potentially very old structures reinforces the idea that there is still much to be discovered about the functioning of the planet.
These deep, invisible, and inaccessible regions may play a central role in the global dynamics of the Earth, influencing everything from volcanism to heat distribution and the evolution of the mantle over billions of years.
The possibility that there are “buried continents” within the planet, with their own histories and direct impact on the surface, significantly expands the field of investigation in modern geoscience.
In light of this, the question remains: if these structures have been shaping the planet for hundreds of millions of years, how many other invisible processes might be occurring right now in the depths of the Earth without our full understanding?
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