Humans have come a long way in discovering more about our Earth with each passing year. In the last few decades, we have been able to more clearly visualize how our Earth’s core is like. Recently, studies from Yale University and Rutgers University has uncovered a peculiar finding about what lies below our feet. It was discovered that in a region that is not known for earthquakes, volcanoes or vast mountains, there may be evidence suggesting that the region is slowly transforming. It was found that there are warm rocks in the less dense regions and slower seismic waves passing through it. “They also observed wave patterns that suggest deformations in the rock itself” (Blakemore). Under normal conditions, tectonic plate movement should leave skid marks, but since this region is undergoing change, those skid marks were erased because of the upward moving rocks. Our Earth is becoming more and more difficult to predict because of many factors. We are entering new territories because data collected in the past show patterns that we are no longer following.

Despite these changing conditions under New England, citizens should not fret. These changes are fairly recent and will occur over an extended period of time. Study co-author Vadim Levin says “Maybe it didn’t have time yet, or maybe it is too small and will never make it. Come back in 50 million years, and we’ll see what happens”. Geological changes occur over millions of years. In terms of geological time, humans have not lived that long on Earth. It will be a long time before we can see significant geological changes. For the longest time, New England has been known to be an area of little geological change, but after this finding, we know that New England’s “subsurface is anything but stagnant”. (Blakemore). At least this finding opens up our perspective of our own planet. It is still and always be undergoing change.

Sources:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/12/magma-bubble-rising-under-new-england-volcanoes-science/              (Erin Blakemore)