Superplume discovery uncovers future African continent formation

          
• East African Rift System: a key area of researchers' studies.
• Superplume: a deep thermal anomaly under Africa.
• New Continent: possible formation over millions of years.

Scientists from the University of Glasgow have discovered why one of the largest continents on Earth is starting to break apart. There has long been a debate about the formation of the East African Rift System (EARS), which stretches over 1,900 kilometres through Africa's Great Lakes.

As reported by ladbible.com, the rift runs through Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Malawi, lying between the Somali tectonic plate and the Nubian plate. According to scientists, the plates are systematically moving apart at an average speed of about 0.51 centimetres per year. Scientists have managed to uncover the reason for this.

Thanks to the chemical analysis of volcanic gases, researchers identified a massive body of material deep beneath the Earth's surface. The deep thermal anomaly may cause magma to push upwards, leading to volcanic activity and earthquakes in Africa and surrounding regions, as well as the movement away from each other of tectonic plates.

"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 metres higher than normal," said Professor Fin Stuart, the project leader, quoted by ladbible.com.

Scientists predict that tectonic separation, which will take from one to five million years, may eventually lead to the formation of a new continent.

"In the human life scale, you won't be seeing many changes. You'll be feeling earthquakes, you'll be seeing volcanoes erupt, but you won't see the ocean intrude in our lifetimes," said Professor Ken Macdonald from the University of California.

Although these changes are almost imperceptible on a human scale, they can lead to increased volcanic and seismic activity in the region. This discovery provides a deeper understanding of the geological processes that shape our planet.

Biying Chen from the University of Edinburgh, the principal author of the publication, confirmed that "gases from our geothermal wells have provide valuable new insight into the Earth’s deep interior." The expert added that this will help us better understand not only the geological forces shaping East Africa, but also the fundamental processes that drive the formation of our planet's surface over millions of years.