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Sophisticated analysis of tiny bubbles of ancient gas trapped in volcanic rocks, combined with new geophysical modeling, has cast new light on long-held assumptions about the deep Earth.

An international team of scientists led by researchers from SUERC and the University of Glasgow's School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, have uncovered surprising results in a new study of volcanic lavas that erupted in the Red Sea from the Afar mantle plume.

Mantle plumes are columns of unusually hot rock which rise to the Earth's surface from the boundary between the core and mantle, 2,900 km below ground. They fuel volcanic activity wherever they force their way to the surface, often with enough energy to split the continents apart.

The current scientific consensus is that plumes transport "primordial" material created when the Earth formed from the deep mantle to the surface. If that is the case, volcanic rocks formed when that magma erupted should contain significant traces of primordial material.

However, the researchers found that volcanic rocks dredged from the floor of the Red Sea instead contained very low concentrations of helium, a primordial gas, than is required by the prevailing models of the Earth.

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