A mysterious "gravity hole" of 3 million square kilometers discovered in the heart of the Indian Ocean

This gravity hole has existed for millions of years, but scientists are unsure how it formed. However, a recent study may provide some answers.

The Indian Ocean geoid depression is the area where gravitational attraction is weaker than elsewhere on Earth, resulting in a "gravity hole" that spans an area of 3 million square kilometers beneath which the ocean floor sinks due to its low mass. It is located 1,200 km southwest of India.

This giant "gravity hole" was discovered by Dutch geophysicist Felix Andries Vening Meinesz in 1948 and has remained a mystery for scientists ever since. According to a study published in 2023 by the Indian Institute of Science, researchers generated 19 computer models to simulate the movement of the Earth’s mantle and tectonic plates over the last 140 million years. The study showed that the gravitational hole in the Indian Ocean formed after the disappearance of an ocean called Tethys. This process, which occurred 180 million years ago, caused broken fragments of the Earth's crust to sink deep into the mantle, eventually leading to the formation of this massive gravity hole.