Earth scientists have uncovered a process where continents are gradually peeled from beneath, with slivers of continental material stripped from the roots and swept into the oceanic mantle.

This phenomenon, led by the University of Southampton and collaborators, provides insight into how continental fragments fuel volcanic activity in the oceans for tens of millions of years.

For decades, geologists have puzzled over why volcanic islands in the middle of oceans far from tectonic boundaries contain materials with distinctly continental characteristics. The new study, published in Nature Geoscience, addresses this mystery by revealing that underlying continental material can be found far from its source, reshaping the scientific understanding of Earth's mantle composition.

Here are some o

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