Africa , the second largest continent after Eurasia , is slowly but surely splitting in two . A group of scientists – also reports The New Times – has come to this conclusion:
A recent study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters combines seismic data from the fault’s formation and shows that it is driven by processes similar to those occurring on the ocean floor. The Kenyan Broadcasting Company reports that, according to Dr. Edwin Dindi of the Department of Geology at the University of Nairobi’s Department of Science and Technology, it is possible that an ocean is actually forming along the eastern arm of the African Rift System . “The eastern arm of the Rift System is quite active, as you can see from the many shocks going on around it, but it’s going to take a long time for that to happen ,” he saidEdwin Dindy .
Like everything in geology, this is an extremely long process that will take millions of years, but will eventually lead to the separation of part of East Africa from the rest of the continent, and this will lead to the creation of a huge new ocean between the two land masses . The East African Rift System is one of the largest fault lines in the world. It stretches thousands of kilometers across several countries in Africa, including Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. This rift system means that the African plate is splitting into two plates — the smaller Somali plate and the larger Nubian plate — which, according to a 2004 study, are moving away from each other at snail’s speed. millimeters per year.
In 2018, news of a crack that appeared in Kenya went viral, with many claiming it was proof that Africa was ripping apart right before our eyes . In 5-10 million years, changes in the system could make the world look completely different. Around this time, the planet is likely to see the formation of a new ocean between the Somali and Nubian plates. It will cut off East Africa from the African continent. Strange as it may sound, it is worth remembering that the surface of the Earth is in constant motion; it is so slow that it is invisible to the human eye. The land and sea we see today – Eurasia, America, Africa, Antarctica and Oceania – are the product of huge tectonic plates that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
If you look at the west coast of Africa and the east coast of South America, you’ll notice that they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, perfectly highlighting how these continents were once joined into one. The disappearance of East Africa will be another page in this giant geology book. Who knows if humanity will see any of these changes.
#geology #continents #future #continental drifts #africa
