Admin Which country is split by two tectonic plates?
A miles-long fissure has opened in Kenya’s Rift Valley. The split, which first appeared in late March following weeks of heavy rain and tremors and has continued to expand since, called attention to a longer-term, larger-scale geological phenomenon that’s imperceptible until it isn’t: Africa is splitting in two.
Is the African continent breaking up?
The African continent is slowly separating into several large and small tectonic blocks along the diverging East African Rift System, continuing to Madagascar – the long island just off the coast of Southeast Africa – that itself will also break apart into smaller islands.
How might a continent split in two?
About 525 million years ago, that land mass broke apart, with North America on one side and South America, Africa and the small island pieces on the other. The two plates drifted apart, forming the Iapetus Ocean. The amount of each element was typical of rock created in the ocean, away from larger continental masses.
What African countries split into two?
Sudan
Sudan, once the largest and one of the most geographically diverse states in Africa, split into two countries in July 2011 after the people of the south voted for independence.
How long before Africa splits?
It’s thought that Africa’s new ocean will take at least 5 million to 10 million years to form, but the Afar region’s fortuitous location at the boundaries of the Nubian, Somali and Arabian plates makes it a unique laboratory to study elaborate tectonic processes.
Is the world splitting in two?
The weak spot in Earth’s magnetic field, the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), is splitting into two and getting wider, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The dent is caused by processes within the Earth but its effect reaches beyond the surface of the planet.