New Bermuda anomaly? Scientists baffled to see secret structure birthed by 31mn-year-old event

Before one mystery could be solved about the Bermuda Triangle, another one has cropped up. Scientists have found a 20-kilometre-thick rock layer below the oceanic crust under Bermuda. Although this is not the only such layer on Earth, what's odd is that none is as thick as this one. Researchers say that typically, after the bottom of the ocean crust comes the mantle. But in Bermuda, there is this layer that should not exist. This other layer that is "emplaced beneath the crust, within the tectonic plate that Bermuda sits on," study lead author William Frazer, a seismologist at Carnegie Science in Washington, DC, said. The discovery was made using recordings of large earthquakes around the world from a seismic station on Bermuda. They were able to peer down 50 km below Bermuda and examine the seismic waves. This is when they found this thick layer of rock.

Bermuda is infamous for the disappearance of ships and planes, when seen in totality as a triangle including Florida and Puerto Rico. But the other mystery about Bermuda is the oceanic swell that typically forms because of volcanic activity. However, the last volcanic eruption here was 31 million years ago, leaving scientists puzzled about what could have possibly formed this uplift. Oceanic swell is the point where the ocean crust is higher than its surroundings. The authors suggest that, even though there has been no recent eruption, the last one injected mantle rock into the crust. This is like a raft that has raised the ocean floor by about 1,640 feet, Live Science reported.

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No volcanic eruption, and yet a swell in Bermuda

Typically, islands like Hawaii are formed because of mantle hotspots where hot material rises, leading to an eruption. The point where the hotspot and the crust come together is pushed upwards. The crust later moves away from that hotspot due to tectonic activity, causing the swell to go down. But this hasn't happened in Bermuda despite the last volcanic eruption on record occurring 31 million years ago. So what's really going on in the mantle under Bermuda is somewhat of a mystery. Frazer has started work on examining other islands to see if they have any similar layers.