These giant rifts are a sign that the African continent is splitting in two: when will it happen and what will happen?
March 25, 2023
0
Split Africa in two It’s a very slow process. As we have seen with all geological processes, this separation will take a very long time. But most importantly,
Split Africa in two It’s a very slow process. As we have seen with all geological processes, this separation will take a very long time. But most importantly, a new ocean is created as a result of the two large pieces of land that have separated!
In Southern Kenya on March 29, 2018 A large crack several kilometers wide had formed. This crack, which continued to grow, even caused the collapse of the Mairobi Narok highway, accompanied by earthquake movements in the region. Today, this crack continues to grow.
How was the crack first noticed?
In March 2018, a kilometer-long crack suddenly formed in Kenya. This crack, which continued to widen, caused the highway between Nairobi and Narok to collapse. The crack begins to form, It was associated with tectonic movements of the East African Rift. Another speculation is that the formation of the crack was caused by erosion.
The lithosphere, also called lithosphere, is the upper part of the mantle. The thickness of this layer is between 80 and 200 km and it is divided into more than one tectonic plate. These plates are not fixed. They constantly slide over the viscous asthenosphere (the lower part of the lithosphere). While the debate about the mechanics of sliding continues, we know that these movements cause the plates to rupture and new plates to form. The formation of the East African Rift is an example of this.
The East African Rift divides Africa in two.
north the Gulf of Adenin the south Zimbabwe It divides Africa in half as the Somali and Nubian plates. Movement east of this rift valley, which runs through Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, was marked by a sudden rift in southwestern Kenya.
Faults are the first step of continental rupture.
The cracks that arise, if that succeeds they cause the formation of a new ocean basin. For example, we can give the South Atlantic Ocean as an example of where this event, which resulted in the separation of South America and Africa, took place in the world.
They fit together, like puzzle pieces.
This rift in East Africa is described as an active rift, and the source of these stresses lies in the circulation of the underlying mantle. Below this fissure a great mantle uplift; upward rise of the lithosphere, weakening due to temperature rise and fractures. cause breakage.
In the East African system, a series of major limiting errors The aligned rift valleys are clearly visible from space.
This was years ago in the Afar region of northern Ethiopia It followed a series that started at about 30 m and spread south to Zimbabwe at an average of 2.5-5 cm per year. That is, they did not suddenly occur at the same time.
The news of a crack that emerged in Kenya in 2018 aroused great interest.
This crack in the news is according to many divide the continent in two referred to. It would be somewhat misleading to present this astonishing development as evidence of the great division of Africa. The incident in the video is a localized view of a regular valley separation movement in the region, experts say.
The East African fault system is roughly equivalent to the current motion. 25 million years continues. The rift in Kenya and the change of the continent are actually an indirect consequence.
This crack could reveal a very different world map.
In millions of years, humanity will probably no longer see that East African fissure system. The changes it causes could reveal a world map very different from today’s. It is said that a new ocean is likely to form between the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate in the future. The great African continent will lose its eastern region and East Africa will be separated from the continent by a vast sea.
Even if it sounds like fiction that doesn’t look like a movie scene, we can’t forget that the surface of the world is constantly changing. Since this change, which has been going on for years and will continue, is very slow, we cannot immediately notice this situation.. And unfortunately, we only understand these events in natural disasters like earthquakes.
Ashley Johnson is a science writer for “Div Bracket”. With a background in the natural sciences and a passion for exploring the mysteries of the universe, she provides in-depth coverage of the latest scientific developments.