Mountains In Morocco Are Floating On Molten Rock

The Atlas Mountains in Morocco are structurally different from mountains of similar height, according to new research which suggests that rather than being rooted dozens of miles beneath the surface, the mountains are buoyed up by superhot rock.

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The mountains are sitting atop a layer of molten rock that flows beneath the region's lithosphere, perhaps all the way from the volcanic Canary Islands just off northwestern Africa, researchers at the University of Southern California said.

The crust beneath the Atlas Mountains, which rise to an elevation of more than 13,000 feet, reaches a depth of only about 25 miles, about 9 miles shy of what the traditional model predicts, they said.

Poor mountains are floating with a depth of only 25 miles, I hope there is no strong wind to topple them geologist got a wild imagination to say they are floating.

Well you learn something new everyday! Thanks for sharing.

reply to post by Indigent


We're all floating, the entire planet, on a massive ball of liquid rock and metal. Nothing new here but the perspective shift.

"This ground is not the rock I thought it to be."

reply to post by CretumOrbis


as gravity is not constant and change as you approach the center i dont think is correct to say we are all floating over the core, it would be better to say we are compressing it

reply to post by Indigent


Brilliant opportunity for exploiting geothermal energy then!

(got to look on the bright side eh?)

Northern Africa can use Icelandic models and become pretty much self sufficient energy wise...then kick out the bankers like Iceland did too.

reply to post by Indigent


According to standard models, these mountains ARE floating. Very cool.

Good find.

reply to post by Indigent


True, true. It's both, really, the surface pushing down and the heat pushing up. A more apt analogy might be a water-balloon.

A perfect explanation for the Mediterranean being shut of from the Atlantic...

Floating rock wouldn't be much good to stop any liquid rock getting through imo.
An assumption though...

Nice find ! It appears that not all of the surface shows the same density ant weight...