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There’s a giant blob of incredibly hot rock beneath New Hampshire — and it may be part of the reason the Appalachian Mountains are still standing tall, according to new research. It has, however, been slowly moving and is on course for New York in the next 15 million years.

This hot rock blob, called the Northern Appalachian Anomaly, or NAA, sits about 124 miles (200 kilometers) beneath the mountain range in New England and measures between 217 and 249 miles (350 and 400 kilometers) wide. It is in the asthenosphere, or the semi-molten layer of Earth’s upper mantle, and is considered a thermal anomaly because its temperature is hotter than its surroundings.

Rock formations in this part of the Earth’s interior are unusual, and scientists pr

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