Geophysicists Find Sharp Sides to African Superplume

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have discovered that the African superplume - a massive, hot upwelling of rock beneath southern Africa - has edges that are sharp and distinct, not diffuse and blurred as previously thought. Such sharp, lateral boundaries have never been found in the Earth's mantle before, and they challenge scientists' understanding of the interior. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).