US EditionAfrica’s great divide: Why the continent’s split is so exciting for science
Rhythmic pulses of hot mantle beneath the Afar triple junction drive Africa's continental rifting, with tectonic plates spreading at 5 to 15 millimeters per year, researchers found.
- A pulsing mantle plume beneath Afar region, northern Ethiopia, gradually tears the continent apart and could form a new ocean basin, Nature Geoscience, journal reports.
- Afar sits at the juncture of three rifts: the Main Ethiopian Rift, Red Sea Rift, and Gulf of Aden Rift, spreading 15 millimeters per year in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and 5 millimeters per year in the Main Ethiopian Rift.
- Dr Derek Keir noted analysis reveals a single, asymmetric plume with repeating chemical bands, showing deep mantle upwellings focus volcanic activity.
- Following the Hayli Gubbi eruption, Dr Emma Watts explained that the mantle beneath Afar pulses and carries chemical signatures, highlighting the need for further hazard research.
- Researchers reported in January that a 2.6-million-year-old Paranthropus fossil was found 1,000 kilometers north of prior sites, and last August two hominin teeth were discovered in the Afar Depression.
10 Articles
10 Articles
A giant pulse beneath Africa could split the continent — and form an ocean
Beneath the Afar region in Ethiopia, scientists have discovered pulsing waves of molten rock rising from deep within the Earth — a geological heartbeat that could eventually split Africa in two. These rhythmic surges of mantle material are helping to stretch and thin the continent’s crust, setting the stage for a new ocean to form in millions of years. The pulses aren’t random: they follow patterns shaped by the tectonic plates above, behaving d…
Africa’s great divide: Why the continent’s split is so exciting for science
The African continent is splitting along a triple junction of rifts that converge in Afar, Ethiopia. A new ocean may take millions of years to form, but that is giving scientists ample time to glean important discoveries from one of the world’s most inhospitable regions.
In northern Ethiopia, Africa is slowly breaking apart. Scientists are observing an extraordinary process that could lead to the formation of an entirely new ocean in the distant future.
Check in Tilt the technology of the day with a Brazilian look. It has Whatsapp and other apps, cell phones, 4G and innovation with tips, reviews, analysis and more.
An isolated region in northern Ethiopia is located in the center of a spectacular geologic process: the African continent is broken down, and in millions of years it could form a new ocean. The phenomenon is fascinating...
Hollywood has repeatedly covered the idea of an imminent apocalypse, with films such as “2012” projecting the end of the physical world on televisions. Fortunately, the scientific logic behind many of these films has been, to say the least, creative. The Earth Cross has not suddenly moved down since 14 years ago and has not closed most of us in a series of earthquakes, eruptions and megatsunamis. However, when you finish reading this phrase, Afr…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 83% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
