The University of Chicago theoretical physicists said their theory also applies to tendrils only a few inches long that form in convecting fluids under laboratory conditions.

The researchers said they were inspired by experiments conducted by Anne Davaille in France that mimicked, in a simplified way, convecting bubbles of magma as they might look deep beneath the Earth's surface.

"It's a useful thing to know because it's the kind of thing that happens in all sorts of different industries, in all sorts of different contexts," the scientists said.

University of Chicago graduate student Laura Schmidt and Assistant Professor Wendy Zhang detail their findings in the journal Physical Review Letters.