Serpentine Stone: Potential risk of earthquakes

A relatively soft, dark green layer called Serpentine covering tectonic plates can play an important role in horrifying earthquakes, according to research by French and American scientists.

Serpentine formed deep in the ocean long, about 200 km from the sea surface. It is the site of the most dangerous earthquakes on earth, including a 9-magnitude quake that triggered a catastrophic tsunami off Indonesia in December 2004.

According to a December 21 issue of Science, this soft rock layer can be formed on the ocean floor and also present in areas of high risk of volcanic earthquakes such as the Caribbean Sea and Japan. The rock in the seabed is usually hard but can be converted to flammable liquid under extremely high temperature and pressure conditions.

Scientists from Lyon University's CNRS laboratory also studied this problem and found that the upper layers of rock could break during the process of tectonic plates moving in ice-free waters land.