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Saturday, August 29, 2020

Africa's Breaking Up!!

Image result for african continent breaking up
Suswa Rift
Credit: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/natural-wonders/giant-chasm-is-proof-africa-is-being-pulled-apart-experts-say/news-story/5b982737252dc44bd19dc511db1d8065

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The African Plate is divided into two parts - Somali and Nubian
Credit: https://africa-arabia-plate.weebly.com/future-tectonics.html

How? Why? What?


Africa is Breaking Up?!

Yes, it is true, Africa is breaking up in two pieces. Do you think that you believe me? No, yes?

So, let's go back to the topic. Africa is breaking up because the two plates, Somalian and Nubian Plates are moving away from each other. On my Plate Tectonics post, I had written that,

It's the Plate Tectonic is the Earth's outer shell that is divided into several plates that move over the mantle. These slow-moving structures interact with each other.

The East African Rift System
Credit: https://www.usatoday.com/
This is called the 'East African Rift System' (EARS), which is one of the geologic wonders of the world. To make it easier to understand, a rift is like a fracture on Earth's surface.

How Did It Start?

So what happened was that the massive cracked suddenly appeared in Kenya. The crack began to grow because of heavy rain. This made the Kenya-Nairobi highway which made the highway collapse. This is one good example of Plate Tectonics. This active rift zone is spreading a few millimetres every year. Which means, around 10 million years after, a new ocean will emerge as the East Africa tears apart.

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Heavy Rain in Kenya reveal huge cracks which show
Africa splitting into two continents
Credit: https://qz.com/ 
Image result for african continent breaking up
Credit: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5562589/Is-Africa-splitting-TWO.html