The kilometer-long crack would have begun to form millions of years ago. Photo: Saxafimedia
The Earth’s surface is constantly moving and changing. South America and Africa They were united 138 million years ago. If you look at the globe carefully, you can see that, if put together, both geographical extensions would fit together like a puzzle. Similarly, currently, a geological process has been detected that would split the African continent.
The tear was observed approximately six years ago and, since then, investigations have been carried out to find out the causes. The crack is called East African Rift and extends 3,500 kilometers long, from the Red Sea to Mozambique, according to information from the Geological Society of London.
The African Rift region is a zone of tectonic divergence where the African Plate is separating into two parts: the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate. Photo: YouTube screenshot
Why is Africa breaking apart?
35 million years ago, the rift began to form in East Africa. The researcher Lucía Pérez Díaz, a specialist in fault dynamics, has explained in an article in The Conversation that the rupture is the product of a horizontal extension force in the lithosphere. The outermost layer of the Earth would have stretched and consequently become thinner, causing it to break apart and form the Rift Valley.
“Rifts are the initial stage of a continental breakup and, if successful, can lead to the formation of a new ocean basin”says the expert. The process is accompanied by other geological effects, such as volcanism and seismic activity.
A large column of mantle dominates the lithosphere upwards. Photo: Oliver Mearle/Elsevier
Likewise, it explains that under the great crack a large column of mantle rises that causes the lithosphere to continue weakening and breaking. The presence of this phenomenon has been recorded in geophysical studies and is known as “African supercooling”.
When will Africa finish dividing?
It still takes tens of millions of years for Africa to finish splitting, according to Pérz Díaz.
It is worth mentioning that there are also eastern and western fissures across Africa, indicating that the continent is opening in several directions, Cynthia Ebinger, professor of geology, told LiveScience.
“The breakup at the moment is very slow, in terms of the rate at which toenails grow,” said Ebinger. The expert indicates that Africa is opening up at a speed of 6.35 millimeters per year.
Tectonic activity in the African Rift can cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Photo: EFE
However, there are researchers who also consider that either the rupture could accelerate or stop, due to the dynamics of geological forces.
“What we don’t know is whether this splitting will continue at the current rate, eventually opening up an ocean basin, like the Red Sea, and then into something much larger, like a small version of the Atlantic Ocean. Or could it accelerate and come faster “Or could it stop?” says Ken Macdonald, an expert in Earth Sciences, according to a LiveScience article.
One way or another, the rift exists and will continue to spread as long as the dynamics of the Earth’s depths allow it.
What are the countries through which the African Rift passes?
The countries through which the great crack passes are: Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya and Ethiopia.
The Rift Valley features a diverse landscape that includes mountains, plains, deserts and forested areas. Photo: YouTube screenshot
