Earth’s biggest volcanic event transformed an entire oceanic plate

Scientists have discovered that an oceanic plate beneath the Ontong Java Plateau was dramatically transformed by colossal volcanic activity that occurred more than one hundred million years ago. Per ScienceDaily, researchers analyzing seismic waves found the plate contains a complex structure of horizontal layers interrupted by vast vertical channels of magma. The seismic data also revealed unusually slow wave patterns, suggesting the rising magma chemically altered the plate itself — a sign of how profoundly this ancient eruption reshaped the deep ocean floor.

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