The Guardian (Jan. 31) -- Many geologists believe Yellowstone National Park sits on top of a “hot spot” – a plume of warm mantle rising up from the edge of the Earth’s core. But new research makes this seem unlikely. Instead, researchers found what appears to be the remnants of an ancient ocean tectonic plate. By modeling the way the mantle might flow around this ancient plate, geology student Tiffany Leonard and geology professor Lijun Liu from Illinois have shown that this sinking slab would block the heat and get in the way of any mantle plume.
