Beneath a depression called the Konya Basin, Earth’s crust is slowly dripping deeper into the planetary interior, a process that is gradually shaping the surface geology of not just the basin, but the plateau that surrounds it.
It’s called lithospheric dripping, a phenomenon that has only recently been discovered here on Earth, and geologists are still figuring out the different ways it manifests.
We have a pretty good idea of how it works. When the lower portion of Earth’s rocky crust is heated to a certain temperature, it starts to go a little gooey. Then, like honey or syrup, it slowly oozes downward – a bit like a pitch drop experiment, but much bigger and slower.
As this drop descends, it pulls the planetary crust down with it. This creates a depression, or basin. Then, when the drop detaches into the mantle, the surface rebounds, bulging upwards, with a widespread effect.
Source:
Multistage lithospheric drips control active basin formation within an uplifting orogenic plateau
I always thought of earth as a crust eater. It never stroke me as particularly picky.
