Article | Weather & Environment

Nahid Riyasad

 

_Various studies and statistics say that Africa is gradually splitting into two parts, and an ocean may emerge from this split. This process has been ongoing for hundreds of thousands of years.

 

Scientists say this is due to the tectonic plates on which the Earth's surface rests, moving away from each other. Evidence of this is presented in the East African Rift System, where the african plate has recently been seen as two parts. That is, the Somali tectonic plate is very slowly moving away from the larger Nubian tectonic plate.

 

This shift in the position of tectonic plates has already caused geologic changes, with the Nubian and Somali plates moving away from each other likely creating coastlines for Uganda and Zambia. Recent geological and survey data and satellite imagery also provide strong evidence for this division of Africa.

 

however, the process is very very slow, and will take nearly hundreds of thousands of years. The plates move an average of 2 inches ( 7 Millimeters) each year.

According to scientists, the rift is currently above the ocean floor, and in the coming years, this rift will widen and the crust there will thin and evantually sink, resulting in the formation of a new ocean. A continent will born.

 

Possible Effects of The Split

 

The rift will create a new ocean basin, which will fundamentally change the environment and climate of the the region. This will have both positive and negetive effects on the region's wildlife and agricultural systems, which could create huge new opprtunities for Africans, and could also be detrimental.

 

New Sea routes will be created and the borders of neighboring countries will be redefined. New opportunities will be created for communication and trade, but a large number of people will lose their homes and farmland. As a result, the pressure on the national economy, including the demand for employment will increase.

 

The path to obtaining new mineral resources will be opened, which will also meet the demand for employment, and these resourses will also play a role in the countries economy.

 

Brief Idea of Tectonic Plates

 

The solid layer on the outside of the earth that humans and other animals live on is called the lithosphere, this layer is about 100 km (60 miles) thick, below it is the asthenosphere. This layer is partially molten, so the lithosphere is almost floating.

 

This lithosphere is divided into seven large continental plates, six to seven medium-sized regional plate, and several smaller plates. Because these plates are floating, they move away from each other in accordance with the Earth's motion, and even collide (resulting in earthquakes).

Scientific Theories of Tectonic Plate Movement

 

Over the course of a long geological time, tectonic plates sometimes grind against each other, sometimes separate, move apart, and collide, raising mountain ranges and increasing the size of the oceans. In other words, the natural structure of the Earth's surface changes, which in turn changes the map.

 

The process is so slow that it is not visible, and the plates move only a few centimeters per year. In March 2018, a huge crack appeared in the West African country of Kenya. The crack, severel kilometers long, was visile when heavy rain washed away the soil and the incident caused quite a stir worldwide. This valley in Kenya is part of a region called the East-African Rift, and is one of the most tectonically active regions in the world.

 

According to the scientists, this rift began about 25 million years ago and extends for about 3,500 kilometers (2,174 miles) from the Red sea in the north to Mozambique in the south-east of the African continent, which is responsible for earthquakes and volvanic activity in the region.

 

The idea of plate tectonics, which has been around since the 1960s, initially believed that africa was on a separeate plate, but by the 1970s it became clear that this single plate was breaking up into two, the Nubian and Somali plates. The exact cause of the increasing distance between the plates is still debated, but heat currents within the Earth's mantle are primarily blamed.

Reference

Is Africa Splitting in Two? Really? Here's the Scoop

Could Africa Soon Split Into Two? The Bizarre Scientific Theory, Explained

Plate Tectonics