Giant Underwater Sand Mounds Discovered, Challenging Earth’s Subsurface structure & Impacting Carbonโ storage Potential
MANCHESTER, UK – Researchersโฃ fromโข the University of Manchester and their industrial partners haveโ identified massive underwater sand mounds, some stretching several kilometers โฃwide, that are overturning geological layers in a phenomenonโค previously unseen โขon such a large scale. The discovery, published inโ the Journal of Communications Earth & Environment, is โprompting a โฃre-evaluation of subsurface geological structures and could substantially impact strategies for underground carbon dioxide storage.
The mounds, dubbed “Sinkits” by the team, are characterized by sinking sand โpushing upwards on older,โ lighter โsediment -โข a process called stratigraphic inversion. While stratigraphicโ inversion has โbeen โขobserved before,it was typically limited to smaller areas.
“This discovery shows a geological processโข that has never been seen on a scale of this size,” explainedโ Professor Mads Huuse,โ theโข lead author from the University of Manchester. “We found a โstructure where solid โsand sank into a lighter sediment. The sediment was actually pushed up,soโ that โขit reversed the geological layer that was supposed to โฃand formed โa large mound under the sea.”
Researchers estimate the Sinkits formed millions of years ago, during the late Miocene to Pliocene periods, potentially โtriggered by earthquakes or โsudden shiftsโฃ in underground pressure โขcausing sand to liquefy and flow through seabed cracks. โขThis movement โขresulted in the rise of porous, rigid material composed of microscopic sea fossils, termed โค”floatite.”
Theโ findings have implications for locating oil and gas reserves,and crucially,for assessing the safety and efficacy of underground carbonโข dioxide storage.
“this study shows that fluid andโข sediment canโฃ move in the โคearth’s crust in an unexpected way,” Professor Huuse stated. “Understanding of the process โofโ forming sinks can significantly change the way we assess underground reservoirs, sealโ systems, and fluid movement pathways.All of thes are very important for capture and carbon storage activities.”
The research team is currently โคworking to document further examples of this process and determine its broader impact on understandingโ subsurface geology. Whileโ the new model is generating both support and skepticismโค within the scientific community, Professor Huuse acknowledges that “further time โand research will determine the โขextent to which this โคmodel can be applied.”
(Source: โคsciencedaily)