A bizarre “uphill” river has baffled geologists for decades, but answers are flowing our way for the first time.
The Earth is a strange and complex creation that at times puzzles even the most well-studied researchers who spend a lifetime searching for answers. As time moves forward, universities and experts alike are making discoveries that provide answers to some of our most complex questions.
And an “uphill” river is an odd occurrence that needs to be explained.
How the planet has evolved over millions of years
Our billion years of planetary history have revealed that the Earth has changed dramatically over its life.
Did you know, for example, that we live on a recycled crust? The Earth’s tectonic plates are constantly being forced down into the planet’s core, melting away like rock-shaped ice caps. This means that the ocean floor never ages beyond the 200-million-year mark.
We are never that far from drastic change on our planet.
Another example of how the Earth has evolved is what some call the “Great Oxidation Event”, which saw tiny bacteria develop the ability to photosynthesize and create oxygen for the first time in the Earth’s history.
The great digitization: A path towards new technology with profound implications
The great digitization event of our past few decades has seen economists classify the new common technology we see around us in a very special category.
“General Purpose Technology” has been categorized alongside the steam engine, the electricity generator, and the iconic printing press as the three main drivers in our collective progress as a species.
The time capsules of our past have revealed astonishing truths about our world.
The amazing progress we have made as a species has been accelerated by new findings and innovative technology that will play a vital role in the continuation of our collective path forward.
The Earth has a few unanswered questions that technology has enabled us to answer, as one recent expedition has proven.
The more recent Internet of Things and the AI revolution have turned our smartphones and home appliances into “smart-objects” that can talk to each other. And the iconic phone manufacturers here in the US have created a new market of annual innovation.
How geology technology has answered an age-old question in this state
A team of researchers from the University of Glasgow has found that the Green River in Utah has paved a path through the Uinta Mountains that defies logic.
The “uphill” river has baffled minds for decades. Rivers normally pave their way downhill, following the curvature of the land around them. But the Green River has followed a very different path indeed.
Experts digging up sites is a normal factor of everyday life, but what the team from the University of Glasgow found when heading down to Utah is astonishing.
A dipping mountain range is to blame for the unique path of the Green River
They found that the Green River was able to run its course due to a rare phenomenon called lithospheric drip. This rarity sees the mountains around the river lowered as the collection of minerals at its base becomes so heavy that it pulls the landmass downwards around the river.
Creating a lowered mountain range that the river can then carve a path through, before the mountains are lifted again over millions of years.
The study, “A Lithospheric Drip Triggered Green and Colorado River Integration”, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, has noted that the phenomenon likely played a part in the river’s chartered path through the iconic Uinta Mountains.
The team used the latest in imaging technology to make the findings a possibility.
The evidence points to the fact that the Earth still has many questions that need to be answered, and that technology will play a key role in providing answers.