Discovery Of Giant Structure Deep Beneath Bermuda Triangle Baffles Scientists

The researchers plan to investigate similar structures beneath other islands, potentially rewriting Earth's geological history.

15 Dec 2025, 16:31 · www.ndtv.com

Scientists were stunned after a recent groundbreaking discovery deep beneath the Bermuda Triangle, which is located between Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda - a section of the Atlantic Ocean infamous for mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft. They have uncovered a massive, 12.4-mile-thick (20-kilometre) rock layer unlike anything found elsewhere on Earth, Live Science reported. Researchers from Carnegie Science and Yale University used seismic data from earthquakes to map the Earth's interior beneath Bermuda, revealing an unusually thick and low-density rock layer.

As per the findings, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, this layer is situated between the crust and tectonic plate, and it is believed that the rock is a remnant of ancient volcanic activity, possibly linked to the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea.

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"Typically, you have the bottom of the oceanic crust, and then it would be expected to be the mantle," study lead author William Frazer, a seismologist at Carnegie Science in Washington D.C. told Live Science. "But in Bermuda, there is this other layer that is emplaced beneath the crust, within the tectonic plate that Bermuda sits on."

This discovery may explain the mysterious oceanic swell, where the seafloor is elevated 1,640 feet (500 meters) higher than surrounding areas, despite no recent volcanic activity. The structure could be supporting the island's position, challenging the traditional understanding of volcanic island formation.

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"There is still this material that is left over from the days of active volcanism under Bermuda that is helping to potentially hold it up as this area of high relief in the Atlantic Ocean," Sarah Mazza, a geologist at Smith College in Massachusetts, told Live Science. She was not involved in the work.

The findings raise questions about the uniqueness of Bermuda's geology. Now, the researchers plan to investigate similar structures beneath other islands, potentially rewriting Earth's geological history.

"Understanding a place like Bermuda, which is an extreme location, is important to understand places that are less extreme," Frazer said, "and gives us a sense of what are the more normal processes that happen on Earth and what are the more extreme processes that happen."

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