African continent could split in two: Researchers

Kenya: In south-west Kenya, a large crack of several miles is found. This led to the collapse of part of the Nairobi-Narok highway. Seismic activities are also noticed in this area.

After finding this fact, researchers claimed that after millions of years the African continent could split in two.

According to the report published in Daily Mail, Lucia Perez Diaz, Pa ostdoctoral Researcher at the Fault Dynamics Research Group, London’s Royal Holloway explained how it could take place.

It may be mentioned that the lithosphere is made of broken plates. These plates are called tectonic plates which move due to convection currents in the asthenosphere. Due to this, plates not only move but also break.

The length of East African Rift is around 3000 km starting from the Gulf of Aden in the north to Zimbabwe in the south. This rift can split the African plate into two parts, the Somali and Nubian plates.

It may be noted that the rift is the first stage of a continental break-up.

It is assumed that this had happened earlier too when South American and African which was one continent broke in two.

It may be noted that the East African Rift is an active rift. The mantle plume is weakening the lithosphere. In tens of millions of years, the ocean would enter the rift and African continent will break into two unequal parts. One would be an Africa and other a big Island.