Chinese Academy of Sciences maps deep Earth using PKP precursors
Scientists just mapped out mysterious structures way beneath Earth's surface, revealing new clues about how Earth's various layers formed and how tectonic plates formed.
Using data from more than 2 million earthquakes between 1990 and 2024, the team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences tracked down almost 175,000 PKP precursors, mysterious seismic signals that arrive at earthquake detectors before the main event.
Machine learning finds tenfold more precursors
With a little help from machine learning, researchers found 10 times more of these signals than ever before and created the most complete global map to date of potential small-scale heterogeneities in Earth's deep interior.
They spotted six new regions with major structural oddities, likely linked to places where surface rocks get pushed deep by tectonic activity.
This breakthrough could eventually help us better predict earthquakes and understand what's really going on far below our feet.