A long-hidden plume of magma beneath Oman’s Salma Plateau may have played a surprising role in shaping the Indian subcontinent’s ancient journey, researchers report. This “ghost” plume — hot material trapped beneath Earth’s thick crust — cannot erupt but may have shifted the Indian tectonic plate’s course during its dramatic collision with Eurasia tens of millions of years ago. First detailed in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, the finding reveals a new class of deep mantle plumes that shape continents silently, without the typical signature of surface volcanoes.
Hidden ‘Ghost’ Plume Beneath Oman May Have Steered India’s Collision Path with Eurasia
As per a Live Science report, the plume was detected using seismic data from Oman’s dense sensor network. Under the leadership of geophysicist Simone Pilia, the group discovered that the plume altered the way sound waves moved through Earth’s layers, which in turn pointed to its presence. Unlike most mantle plumes, which rise and erupt through the oceanic plates, Dani is amagmatic and does not create surface eruptions because of the thick continental crust above the plume. This finding means that there may potentially be many hidden plumes lurking beneath continents.
The Dani plume is the first such non-eruptive plume beneath a continental plate, which is broadening scientists’ view of how mantle dynamics unfold out of sight. The researchers also calculated the movement of the Indian plate and found that it took a significant turn between 40 and 25 million years ago, which might have been affected by the shear stress created by the plume. The plume’s effects on topography are expected to be small regionally, but its geological role could be relatively large.
While plumes typically leave a visible volcanic trail—like Hawaii’s island chain—the Dani plume’s evidence may have been erased by subduction activity in the nearby Makran zone. Still, researchers say this finding opens the door to discovering more “ghost” plumes, particularly in regions with similar thick crusts, such as Africa. As seismic technologies advance, more silent subterranean forces shaping Earth’s history may come to light.
