Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Representative pic
Deep below Oman’s Al Hajar Mountains, scientists found a plume of heat rising from Earth’s mantle—without a single volcano in sight. It’s a first-of-its-kind anomaly shaking up geophysics.
Dubbed a “ghost plume,” this discovery marks the first known mantle plume without surface volcanic activity. It's invisible above ground—but very much alive beneath it.
Until now, mantle plumes meant volcanic drama—think Yellowstone or Hawaii. But Oman’s ghost plume hints that massive heat flows can exist silently, without lava or ash clouds.
This could be the tip of a molten iceberg. If one ghost plume exists, how many others lie undetected—changing the way we model everything from plate tectonics to earthquake zones?
Classic mantle plumes usually rise near tectonic boundaries. This one doesn’t. The Oman case defies that rule, suggesting deep Earth isn’t playing by the textbook anymore.
Researchers believe this silent plume may carry heat directly from the Earth’s core—raising fresh questions about how internal energy moves through our planet’s hidden layers.
Ghost plumes could rewrite what we thought we knew about mantle convection. Forget just hotspots—heat might be slipping through Earth’s crust in stealth mode.
This region has no major faults, no volcanic legacy—nothing to suggest inner turmoil. Yet there it is: a subterranean column of heat, undetected until now.
If ghost plumes are real and widespread, your nearest one might be closer than you think—lurking quietly beneath a calm patch of Earth.