RAMROD 117,248 Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 The African continent may have begun tearing itself apart in a new location. Gases emerging from an arc of hot springs in Zambia appear to be coming from deep below Earth’s crust, in a sign that a new tectonic plate boundary could be opening up. There are many rift valleys around the world where continents have been pulling apart for tens of millions of years, including the East African Rift valley, which runs from the Red Sea to Mozambique. Over millions of years, rifting can lead to a tectonic plate splitting in two, but it is unusual to find a site where this process may be just beginning, says Rūta Karolytė at the University of Oxford. The Kafue Rift in Zambia is part of a 2500-kilometre-long rift zone stretching from Tanzania to Namibia and possibly out into the Atlantic Ocean. Geologists think the area may be showing signs of being in the early stages of forming a new boundary between continental plates, because of the geography, low-gravity anomalies, high sub-surface temperatures and low-level seismicity. But, until now, there has been no geochemical evidence. Karolytė and her colleagues have now analysed gas samples collected from five hot springs and three geothermal wells in central Zambia. The team found that helium and carbon isotope ratios in the gases are the same as those that exist deep beneath Earth’s crust, suggesting that fluids from the mantle, up to 190 kilometres below the springs, are making their way to the surface. This implies a tear in the region’s tectonic plates. “What our data confirms is that this system is currently ‘awake’ and geologically active,” says Karolytė. “Having an active rift developing doesn’t necessarily mean that in 100 million years you’re going to have an ocean there. But it is a possibility.” The new geochemical evidence from the hot springs reveals that the Kafue Rift is an early-stage continental rift where mantle fluids rich in primordial helium-3 are rising through faults, he says. “It is reasonable to think that the Kafue Rift may evolve into a plate boundary sometime in the future. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2526136-a-new-tectonic-plate-boundary-could-be-forming-in-southern-africa/ (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ✧*:･ﾟ ᶠʳᵒⁿᵗ ᵗᵒʷᵃʳᵈ ᵉⁿᵉᵐʸ (*´艸｀*) ♡♡♡ 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Economy 52,895 Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 These things are cool to discover. Just a bummer in a way that the geological time scales are sooooooo long for major changes that in a human lifespan you never see any difference... Unless its a major event like super earthquake, tsunami, massive meteor or massive eruption of epic proportions but of course we dont want those 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannethenight 6,049 Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 20 minutes ago, Economy said: These things are cool to discover. Just a bummer in a way that the geological time scales are sooooooo long for major changes that in a human lifespan you never see any difference... Unless its a major event like super earthquake, tsunami, massive meteor or massive eruption of epic proportions but of course we dont want those "but of course we dont want those" 🌹 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hadrian 2,685 Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 bitch not the gaga curse hitting the entire planet because everyone harassed her for 7 years rosetta stone is rolling in her grave rn 🙏🥀🥀 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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