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Recent satellite data reveal that the Konya Basin in the Central Anatolian Plateau of Türkiye is continually being reshaped over millions of years, according to a new analysis led by Earth scientists at the University of Toronto.

The researchers say experimental simulations—combined with geological, geophysical and geodetic data—explain the enigmatic sinking of the basin within the rising plateau interior and further suggests a new class of plate tectonics that has implications for other planets that do not have Earth-like plates, such as Mars and Venus.

The study, published in Nature Communications, shows the sinking in the region is due to multi-stage lithospheric dripping—a phenomenon named for the instability of rocky material that makes up Earth's crust and upper mantle. As dense rock fragments beneath the surface detach and sink into the more fluid layer of the planet's mantle, major landforms such as basins and mountainous folding of the crust form at the surface.

"Looking at the satellite data, we observed a circular feature at the Konya Basin where the crust is subsiding or the basin is deepening," says lead author Julia Andersen, a Ph.D. candidate in U of T's department of Earth sciences in the Faculty of Arts & Science. "This prompted us to look at other geophysical data beneath the surface where we saw a seismic anomaly in the upper mantle and a thickened crust, telling us there is high-density material there and indicating a likely mantle lithospheric drip."

The results echo a similar investigation by the researchers into the formation of the Arizaro Basin in the Andes Mountains of South America, suggesting the phenomenon can occur anywhere on the planet, and explain tectonic processes typically found within mountain plateau regions.

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