Wow.

See https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.07.02... for Civiero et al. (2018) A common deep source for upper-mantle upwellings below the Ibero-western Maghreb region from teleseismic P-wave travel-time tomography. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 499, 157–172. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2018.07.024

I think that the article implies something rare, but subduction zones are quite common throughout the world. It's only that they discovered that this area is a subduction zone.

Well, sure, it's not rare, but if they are right, this is catching the process in its earliest stages, which would be a rare occurance.

>"If confirmed, the new work would be the first time an oceanic plate has been caught in the act of peeling—and it may mark one of the earliest stages of the Atlantic Ocean shrinking…"

Right. And conversely, there are many examples of early mid-ocean ridges.

There's more to it than that - this is a subduction zone without the usual surface markers of one, caused by splits between layers of a tectonic plate.

So if I read this correctly, the bottom slice of the plate will be subducting, but the top part won't. Therefore when more of it subducts the top part will get pushed up? So there's potential for a new landmass off the coast of Iberia in the next geological tick?

NatGeo's writers don't understand what it is they are writing about.

The significant fact here isn't that "the ocean will shrink," but that this discovery is potentially useful for understanding how subduction zones form.

This is an interesting subject but I didn't find the piece to be well written. Perhaps it's just me.

Maybe the entire purpose of the piece is to serve as a vehicle for this pun.

> scientists have now proposed a groundbreaking explanation.

I think they still could have served that pun with a better written article.

No, the article feels like it's not communicating the reason that this is potentially important very well. If I'm reading this right, the whole opening takeaway about the Atlantic ocean shrinking doesn't seem like the point here.

From what I gather in TFA, we haven't figured out how subduction zones start, and we're currently observing the beginning of one in progress, which is giving us the data to back up earlier theories for the first time. This fills an important gap in our understanding of plate tectonics.

So, Earth algorithm is already compensating for rising ocean levels? Nice