Oman’s buried 'ghost plume' warps Earth's inner layers without eruption
Scientists have identified a hidden mantle plume beneath eastern Oman, nicknamed the Dani plume, detected through seismic tomography. It rises through the mantle and heats rock enough to soften it but does not break through the crust or produce surface volcanism, classifying it as a 'ghost plume'. The plume extends at least 410 miles deep and about 125 miles wide, with a thermal signature that warps the mantle transition zone and even lifts surface terrain like Oman’s Salma Plateau. The researchers suggest such plumes can influence crustal motion (potentially nudging the Indian Plate about 40 million years ago) and may be part of a broader network of plumes connected to hotspots like Afar and Yellowstone, with implications for Earth's heat budget and deep‑Earth dynamics.
