Experts say that the continent of Africa will split into two in the next few million years, with an ocean taking up space in between.
The reasons for the two continents have long been debated. In the past, scientists believed that Africa’s tectonic plates were moving apart again.
However, a recent study conducted at the University of Glasgow suggests that extremely intense volcanic activity deep in the Earth’s crust is likely fueling the split.
A large amount of hot molten rock is pushing up against the African continent, about 2,900 kilometers below the Earth’s surface, and is breaking it up.
Professor Finn Stuart of the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (who led the project) said that the research suggests that there is a large amount of molten rock at the core-mantle boundary beneath East Africa. It is pushing apart the plates and lifting the continent of Africa, causing it to be hundreds of meters higher than normal.
The East African Rift System (EARS) is the largest active continental rift system on Earth. This system is in the process of separating about 3,500 kilometers of Africa.
It should be noted that the breaking of continents in this way is not unique on Earth. Thanks to this same process, there are seven continents on Earth today. About 240 million years ago, the Earth was just one supercontinent called Pangaea.
