Europe's Goce gravity satellite has provided striking new visualisations of the Earth's deep interior.
Its gravity data has enabled variations in the density of rock to be traced up to more than 2,000km below the surface.
The maps, help to show how material moves up and down, driving a range of geological phenomena.
These include subduction zones, where the great tectonic slabs covering the Earth's surface dive under one another.
The satellite finds traces (circled red regions) of ancient subduction zones running deep under Asia and along the Americas
These include major mantle plumes in the Pacific and south-east of Africa.
Also visible are ancient subduction zones running deep under Asia and along the Americas. What Goce is probably seeing is the buried remnants of old plate material of Jurassic age (older than 150 million years ago) in the case of Asia, and of roughly Cretaceous age (older than about 60 million years ago) in the case of the Americas.
In addition, the satellite's gravity data contains a residual signal of the former Tethys Ocean. Subducted material is seen in the maps stretching from the Mediterranean to the Himalayas. The Tethys Ocean is thought to have closed in the past 40-50 million years as India and Asia collided.
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