Deep Pulses Beneath Africa Are Breaking the Continent Apart, Creating a New Ocean
Continents are not torn without warning and the oceans are certainly not created from blue. Instead, these changes are announced for millions of years before they are really made, by the activity of the rock melted in the mantle of the earth.
According to a new study in Nature geoscience,, A panache of melted rock will pump under Africa. Beating “like a beating heart”, according to a press releaseThis mantle plume is Food volcanism and tectonic activity in the AFAR region of Ethiopia, airing its tectonic plates and creating a new ocean basin.
“We have found that the coat in far is not uniform or stationary – it impulses, and these impulses bear distinct chemical signatures,” said the researcher at the University of Swansea, Emma Watts, who worked on the study while she was at the University of Southampton, according to the press release. “These ascending impulses of partially melted mantle are channeled by the rifting plates above. This is important for the way we think of the interaction between the interior of the earth and its surface.”
Indeed, this pulsed plume is concentrated when three tectonic plates converge. Over time, he helped clarify the tectonic plates above, which will one day separate – millions of years – leaving a new ocean basin in their wake. However, according to the work of the team, the activity of the plume is not stable or stagnant, but rather dynamically changes, depending on the thickness of the tectonic plates above.
Find out more: The hidden layers of the earth and the movements of tectonic plates
Feathers, pulses and tectonic plates
Image of the microscope of a thin ribbon of one of the volcanic rocks from afar, in Ethiopia. (Image credit: Dr Emma Watts, University of Southampton / Swansea University)
There are not many places in the world where three tectonic rifts converge, but the Afar region in Ethiopia is one, containing the meeting place of the main Ethiopian, the Rift of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden Rift. There, a mantle or upwelling panache – an unusually hot pillar Musional material – moves upwards, leading to the division of these rifts and the opening of the ocean basin above. But although the existence of this plume was previously documented, there was relatively little research on its chemical composition and its activity.
Hoping to know more, the authors of the new study analyzed around 130 volcanic rocks from afar and the main Ethiopian gap and used mathematical models to reveal that the panache of the region is asymmetrical and striped, with different strips of different chemical components.
“The chemical striping suggests that the plume swarms, like a heartbeat,” said Tom Gernon, another study author and professor at the University of Southampton, in the press release. “These impulses seem to behave differently depending on the thickness of the plate and the speed at which it separates.”
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Deep pulse dynamics
According to the team, research reveals that the impulses of the AFAR panache deeply depend on the tectonic plates which converge there.
“We have found that the evolution of the Hauts du Mantau deep is intimately linked to the movement of the above plates,” said Derek Keir, another study author and professor at the University of Southampton and at the University of Florence, in the press release. “This has deep implications on how we interpret surface volcanism, the activity of earthquakes and the continental break process.”
Of course, the complete separation of tectonic plates from Africa is still millions of years. But the study remains relevant to AFAR today, helping researchers to unravel the volcanic and tectonic activity of the region.
“The work shows that the deep mantle tops can flow under the base of the tectonic plates and help concentrate volcanic activity where the tectonic plate is the thinnest,” added Keir in the press release. “Monitoring research includes understanding understanding of how and at what rate the flow of the mantle occurs.”
Research is the result of international collaboration, involving scientists from 10 institutions around the world.
“Working with researchers with different expertise between institutions, as we have done for this project, is essential to disentangle the processes that occur below the surface of the earth,” added Watts in the press release. “Without using a variety of techniques, it is difficult to see the image complete, like assembling a puzzle when you don’t have all the parts.”
Find out more: Deep drilling: how far we went under the crust of the earth?
Sources of articles
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Sam Walters is a journalist covering archeology, paleontology, ecology and the evolution of Discover, as well as an assortment of other subjects. Before joining the Discover team as a deputy editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
