{"id":121560,"date":"2025-05-22T04:03:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T04:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/121560\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T04:03:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T04:03:12","slug":"scientists-discovery-why-one-of-the-worlds-continents-apart-at-double-speed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/121560\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists discovery why\u00a0one of the world’s continents apart at double speed"},"content":{"rendered":"

A massive geological transformation is taking place in East Africa, where a hidden force beneath the Earth’s surface is slowly tearing the continent apart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The process stems from the East African Rift System (EARS), which is a 2,000-mile-long rift that began forming at least 22 million years ago and runs through the region where Africa\u2019s Great Lakes are located.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This rift marks the boundary between two tectonic plates: the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate (part of the African Plate), which are gradually pulling away from each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scientists have now identified a massive upwelling of hot, partially molten rock<\/a> beneath the region, known as the African Superplume, which is driving this divergence.<\/p>\n

Beneath the surface, intense heat and pressure from the superplume are weakening and cracking the Earth’s outer layer, known as the lithosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GPS measurements indicate that the plates are moving apart at a rate of about 0.2 inches per year, roughly the speed at which human fingernails grow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over time, this rifting could form a new ocean, potentially splitting off parts of Somalia, eastern Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania to form a new landmass.<\/p>\n

While the full separation was previously thought to take tens of millions of years, recent models suggest it could happen in one to five million years.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A massive geological transformation is taking place in East Africa, where a hidden force beneath the Earth’s surface is slowly tearing the continent apart . A 35-mile-long fissure in Ethiopia\u2019s desert emerged in 2005 (pictured)<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The African Plate is splitting into two independent tectonic plates – the Nubian and Somali – as a result of a tremendous rising of hot, partially molten rock known as the African Superplume<\/p>\n

In the new study, scientists from the University of Glasgow in Scotland used data from Kenya’s Menengai geothermal field to trace the isotopes of the noble gas neon.<\/p>\n

This helped the team determine whether the forces splitting Africa apart originate deep within the Earth\u2019s mantle or are due to shallower surface tectonic processes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They found that the gas likely comes from deep within the Earth, between the outer core and the mantle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lead author Professor Fin Stuart said in a statement<\/a>: ‘We have long been interested in how the deep Earth rises to surface, how much is transported, and just what role it plays on forming the large-scale topography of the Earth’s surface.’<\/p>\n

‘Our research suggests that a giant hot blob of rock from the core-mantle boundary is present beneath East Africa, it is driving the plates apart and propping up the Africa continent so it hundreds of meters higher than normal,’ Stuart added.<\/p>\n

Using high-precision mass spectrometry, the team also identified a consistent chemical ‘fingerprint’ across a wide area.<\/p>\n

This supports the theory that the EARS is fueled by a ‘superplume,’ rather than several smaller sources.<\/p>\n

The study provides crucial insights into continental breakup and ocean formation, enabling researchers to comprehend similar processes that have shaped Earth’s surface throughout history.<\/p>\n

\"Earth <\/p>\n

Earth may be forming a sixth ocean due to Africa splitting in two due to a massive crack growing faster than scientists had predicted. Damage occurred at an intersection in Maai Mahiu-Narok\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Countries <\/p>\n

Countries like Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania could become part of a new landmass, effectively forming a separate continent<\/p>\n

EARS spans from Ethiopia to Malawi, and massive cracks have appeared in recent years.<\/p>\n

In 2005, a series of over 400 earthquakes in Ethiopia’s Afar region led to the sudden appearance of a 37-mile long crack, providing an example of how dynamic forces works.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Similarly in 2018, a massive crack emerged in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, disrupting transportation and highlighting the ongoing nature of the continental split<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the rift continues to widen, scientists predict that seawater from the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean will eventually flood the low-lying areas, creating a new ocean basin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ken Macdonald, a marine geophysicist, said: ‘The Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea will flood over the Afar region and into the East African Rift Valley, giving rise to a new ocean.’<\/p>\n

‘Consequently, this part of East Africa will evolve into its own distinct continent,’ he added.<\/p>\n

Countries like Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania could become part of a new landmass, effectively forming a separate continent.<\/p>\n

While landlocked nations such as Uganda and Zambia might gain coastlines, altering trade routes and geopolitical dynamic.<\/p>\n

This ongoing rifting leads to frequent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and large fractures across the landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A massive geological transformation is taking place in East Africa, where a hidden force beneath the Earth’s surface…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[92,875,52294,70,261,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-121560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-earth","10":"tag-ethiopia","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-sciencetech","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114549503630036832","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}