A research team has mapped the temperature and viscosity of earth's lower crust for the first time.
Temperature plays a fundamental role in determining the strength, thickness, and buoyancy of the lower crust. A research team led by Colorado State University has mapped the temperature and viscosity of the lower crust for the first time and found that, under much of the western United States, the layer is hot enough to be near its initial melting point and, therefore, quite runny.
This new research shows that significant regions of the lower crust have little strength, and that over several million years, could lead to many mountains in the western U.S. being flattened.
