Scientists Found a Place Where the Earth's Layers Are Upside Down
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story:
Usually, geologic layers build on one another, with younger rocks piling on top of older ones.
A new study, however, shows that this process is inverted in large, several-kilometer-wide mounds known as 'sinkites' found throughout the North Sea.
This is the largest known example of a phenomenon known as 'stratigraphic inversion,' and could have implications for future carbon capture and storage plans.
It may not look like much from its watery surface, but the North Sea is one of the most fascinating places on Earth, both in terms of its distant geologic past and its green-energy future. More than 8,000 years ago, this stretch of land—known today as Doggerland and located between what is now Great Britain and the rest of northern Europe—was filled with rolling hills and swampy lagoons, and traversed by mesolithic tribes.
However, it's the North Sea's role as an important area for oil and gas extraction (as well as its potential as a platform for massive wind farms) that have brought more scientific data to light as energy companies probe its watery depths. In 2023, for example, environmental surveys provided a treasure trove of data that scientists used to investigate human habitation of the area, and two years later, a team of researchers—led by Mads Huuse from the University of Manchester—have now analyzed licensed data from oil company Aker BP to understand the geology of the region even further. And what they found was completely unexpected.
In a study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, scientists found what's known as a stratigraphic inversion, which is a reversal of the typical process of geologic layers forming one on top of another over time. Simply put, younger rocks generally form above older rocks, which explains why you'll never find dinosaur fossils above the K-T boundary, for example. However, in the North Sea, huge mounds—some of which are several kilometers wide—known as 'sinkites' reverse this process. In studying these formations, scientists found Late Miocene and Early Pliocene deposits beneath ooze rafts that formed millions of years earlier, in the Early Miocene.
'This discovery reveals a geological process we haven't seen before on this scale,' Huuse said in a press statement. 'What we've found are structures where dense sand has sunk into lighter sediments that floated to the top of the sand, effectively flipping the conventional layers we'd expect to see and creating huge mounds beneath the sea.'
So, what exactly caused this geologic inversion? The researchers' best guess is that millions of years ago, earthquakes caused shifts underground that messed with the local pressure, liquefying sand and sending it downward through seabed fractures. This displaced the older geologic layers and lifted them upwards—a geologic feature the authors call 'floatites.'
This impressively large exception to a typical geologic rule is important to understand, because it could impact how companies search for underground reservoirs of oil and natural gas. But as demand for fossil fuels declines (and will likely continue to do so in the coming years), this understanding will be equally important for implementing effective carbon capture and storage technologies.
'Understanding how these sinkites formed could significantly change how we assess underground reservoirs, sealing, and fluid migration—all of which are vital for carbon capture and storage,' Huuse said in a press statement.
With plans for 120 gigawatts worth of renewable energy to be generated by wind coming from the area by 2030, the North Sea is set to become northern Europe's green energy engine. Understanding the foundation of the engine—both its historical significance and its geologic oddities—will be vital in the coming years.
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