A hidden geological mystery is taking shape beneath Connecticut

Key Points:

• Scientists have identified a new geological feature beneath Connecticut called the "Connecticut Fast Anomaly," where earthquake waves travel 1-2% faster than average, adjacent to the larger Northern Appalachian Anomaly of unusually hot mantle rock beneath New England.
• The Northern Appalachian Anomaly is a massive, roughly 100-degree hotter mantle region extending 37 to 124 miles below the surface, puzzling scientists because it exists far from tectonic plate boundaries and recent geological activity.
• One theory suggests the anomaly originated near the Labrador Sea about 80 million years ago and has migrated southwest beneath New England at about 12 miles per million years, behaving like a slow-moving "mantle wave."
• Yale researchers, funded by the National Science Foundation, will deploy 300 seismic instruments across northern Connecticut to gain higher-resolution data, aiming to better understand the relationship between the Connecticut Fast Anomaly and the larger mantle features.
• The mantle anomalies may influence surface geology, potentially contributing to recent uplift in the ancient Appalachian Mountains by making the crust more buoyant, indicating ongoing geological processes beneath a region typically considered geologically stable.