US EditionAncient Mantle Anomaly Beneath Appalachians Linked to Greenland Rift
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, AUG 05 – The Northern Appalachian Anomaly, a 220-mile-wide hot rock blob formed 80 million years ago, is slowly moving toward New York and contributes to the Appalachian Mountains' uplift, researchers say.
- Researchers published a study on August 5, 2025, identifying a vast hot rock zone called the Northern Appalachian Anomaly beneath New England in the northeastern US.
- They linked the anomaly's origin to the breakup of North America and Greenland about 80 million years ago, challenging prior beliefs tying it to the 180-million-year-old North America–Africa split.
- The anomaly is a roughly 350-kilometer-wide, 200-kilometer-deep thermal upwelling that migrated about 1,800 kilometers southwest at around 20 kilometers per million years from its origin near the Labrador Sea.
- Lead scientist Tom Gernon noted the hot zone's size and movement align closely with mantle wave models where dense rock drips peel from the lithosphere, causing slow, deep mantle processes that can explain mountain uplift like the Appalachians.
- If the trend continues, the anomaly is expected to pass beneath New York within 15 million years, implying ancient continental breakup effects persist in shaping geology and climate today.
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17 Articles
Massive, mysterious ‘hot blob’ beneath Eastern US is moving toward New York, puzzling scientists
The Northern Appalachian Anomaly, a massive blob of rock underneath the Appalachian mountains, is slowly oozing its way toward New York City, per a slimy new study published in the journal "Geology."
·New York, United States
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A vast pocket of unusually warm rock is making its way under the Appalachians toward New York, but it's not in a big hurry—the so-called Northern Appalachian Anomaly...
·Miami, United States
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Total News Sources17
Leaning Left3Leaning Right3Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution40% Center
Bias Distribution
- 40% of the sources are Center
40% Center
L 30%
C 40%
R 30%
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