The Bermuda Triangle may not be the biggest mystery of the Atlantic. <\/p>\n
In a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters<\/a>, scientists believe they have discovered the reason why Bermuda never sank after its volcanoes shut down more than 30 million years ago.<\/p>\n Typically, when volcanoes shut down, the tectonic plate will shift away from the deep mantle hotspot, and the cooling crust and volcano will slowly sink.<\/p>\n Scientists believe they have discovered the reason why Bermuda never sank after its volcanoes shut down more than 30 million years ago. lesniewski \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n However, scientists found an unusual rock layer below the oceanic crust under Bermuda, pushing the island up. <\/p>\n The layer comes in at 12.4 miles thick \u2014 a level of thickness that has never been seen in any similar layer worldwide.<\/p>\n The team, led by seismologist William Frazer of Carnegie Science and Jeffrey Park of Yale University, analyzed seismic waves from 396 distant earthquakes, all of which were strong enough to send clean vibrations through the earth. <\/p>\n Using those waves and what they left behind, researchers were able to paint a vertical picture of the rocks that lay beneath Bermuda, down to about 31 miles.<\/p>\n The image revealed a thick layer of rock that is less dense than the rock surrounding it.<\/p>\n Frazer explained that typically, after the bottom of the oceanic crust, it\u2019s expected that there would be the mantle.<\/p>\n Summary cartoon of the interpreted features of Bermuda. William D. Frazer and Jeffrey Park<\/p>\n \u201cBut in Bermuda, there is this other layer that is emplaced beneath the crust, within the tectonic plate that Bermuda sits on,\u201d he told Live Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bermuda sits on a oceanic swell, where the ocean crust is higher than its surroundings, rising from the ocean about 500 meters (1,640 feet) above the seafloor.<\/p>\n This finding suggests that the last volcanic eruption may have put mantle rock into the crust, where it froze in place and create a raft-like structure above the ocean floor.<\/p>\n Using those waves and what they left behind, researchers were able to paint a vertical picture of the rocks that lay beneath Bermuda, down to about 31 miles. William D. Frazer and Jeffrey Park<\/p>\n