Scientists Find 12-Mile Rock Slab Beneath Bermuda, Explaining Why the Island Stays Afloat
Updated
Updated · Express · May 13
Scientists Find 12-Mile Rock Slab Beneath Bermuda, Explaining Why the Island Stays Afloat
2 articles · Updated · Express · May 13
More than 20 years of earthquake vibrations let researchers map Bermuda’s subsurface and identify a roughly 12-mile-thick light rock slab beneath the island.
That buried layer is less dense than surrounding rock, so it adds buoyancy and keeps Bermuda and the broader Bermuda Rise elevated despite no active volcanoes or hotspot below.
Scientists say the slab formed 30 million to 35 million years ago, when molten rock rose from deep inside Earth, spread under the crust and then cooled in place.
The finding offers a new explanation for Bermuda’s long-standing geological oddities, including slightly weaker local gravity, and suggests ancient volcanic remnants can keep ocean islands raised for millions of years.
What other famous islands might be held up by hidden geological floats we have yet to discover?
Is Bermuda's support a new geological process, or the ghost of a long-dead mantle plume?
How has this deep structure secretly shaped Atlantic currents and climate for millions of years?