a startling new oceaning is framing in africa

many years ago the Earth's continents

were originally one big supercontinent

surrounded by an even gigantic ocean

however the supercontinent gradually

broke up and Scattered to become the

continents we see today there is now

another split that seems to be occurring

within the African continent and surely

scientists are paying attention to it

but what exactly does this division mean

are we in any danger or is the world

coming to an end as most suggest perhaps

this occurrence has nothing to worry

about join us in our video today which

Dives deep into answering all these

questions and more about the terrifying

discovery made by scientists about

Africa splitting into two be sure to

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recently a massive crack in the Kenya

Rift Valley caused a stir in the

international media many reputable

experts and scientists have actively

worked to understand the cause of this

odd and enigmatic fissure which seems to

have emerged overnight though it might

sound frightening to many this

occurrence is not new but it is unusual

in Southwest Kenya an enormous fracture

that covered several kilometers

developed out of nowhere the Nairobi

narok roadway recently collapsed due to

the crack which is still expanding the

East African rift's tectonic activity

was linked with the crack's early stages

gullies formed by erosion are one theory

for why this happened questions remain

though about why the split was created

where it did and whether it has any

relevance to the east African Rift

numerous tectonic plates make up the

Earth's lithosphere which is composed of

a crust and upper mantle these plates

don't remain stationary instead they

move about one another at different

speeds while Gliding Over a viscous

asthenosphere although the exact

mechanism causing their movement is

still under discussion it is believed

that they involve forces produced at

plate boundaries and asthenosphere

convection currents

these pressures do not just cause the

plates to shift they also can rupture

the plates creating a rift and possibly

leading to the formation of new plate

boundaries one area where this is now

taking place is the East African Rift

system

the East African Rift Valley stretches

over 3000 kilometers from the Gulf of

Aden in the north towards Zimbabwe in

the South splitting the African plate

into two unequal parts that comprise the

Somali and Nubian plates activity along

the Eastern branch of the rift valley

running along Ethiopia Kenya and

Tanzania became evident from the large

crack suddenly appeared in Southwestern

Kenya the 50-foot team and 66 foot wide Chasm

may have formed as a result of a bigger

rifting system but it is possible that

the area's recent High rains exposed the

fracture and caused it to suddenly

develop a large area of volcanism

seismic activity ground uplift

subsidence and the development of

fissures and cracks are all caused by

the surface expression of the rifting

but what exactly causes rifting a rift

is caused when the lithosphere is

subject to horizontal extensional

pressure thus becoming thin it will

eventually break creating a rift valley

in the process balkanism and seismic

activity are surface indications of this

process that can be seen along the rift

valley if this happens Rifts which are

the first step of a continental breakup

can result in the formation of a new

ocean Basin the South Atlantic Ocean

which formed as a result of a separation

of South America and Africa around 138

million years ago is an example of a

location on Earth where this has

occurred

extensional forces that are strong

enough to split the lithosphere are

necessary for Continental rifting the

East African Rift is considered an

active kind of Rift where the

circulation of the underlying mantle is

the source of these stresses the

lithosphere beneath this Rift is being

lifted Higher by the formation of a

sizable mantle plume causing it to

weaken due to the rise in temperature

strain and break by faulting

[Music]

geophysical Studies have shown evidence

of this unusual hot mantle plume

commonly referred to as the African

super swell this super plume has been

widely used to explain the anomalously

high Topography of the Southern and

Eastern African Patos Additionally the

super plume is widely accepted as a

source of the pull apart forces causing

the formation of The Rift Valley

the Topography of Rifts is particularly

distinctive consisting of several

depressions bounded by faults and

surrounded by Higher Ground from space

it is possible to discern the East

African system as a collection of

aligned rift valleys divided from one

another by sizable bounding faults not

all of these cracks develop

simultaneously but rather in a series

that moved Southern into Zimbabwe at a

mean rate of between 2.5 and 5

centimeters per year beginning in the

afar region of Northern Ethiopia about

30 million years ago

otherwifting is mostly undetectable to

us the formation of new faults fissures

and cracks as well as renewed movement

along Old faults as the Nubian and

Summer Lake plates continue to move

apart can result in earthquakes however

in East Africa the majority of this

seismicity is a very moderate size and

is dispersed across a large area over

the rift valley volcanism is an

additional surface indication of the

ongoing process of Continental breakup

and a proximity of a hot molten as

thinnest fear to the surface

the East African Rift is exceptional

because it allows us to see many rifting

stages along its length the rift is

young in the South where extension rates

are low and faulting is widespread there

are few earthquakes and volcanoes

however the rift valley bottom is

entirely covered with volcanic rocks as

it approaches the FR region this shows

that the lithosphere has nearly

completely broken apart in this region

due to the lithosphere being fed when

this occurs magma will start to solidify

and the Gap left by the broken up plates

creating a new ocean

over millions of years a tiny shallow

sea will start to separate the Eastern

edge of Africa from the rest of the

continent bird will eventually develop a

sizable island in the Indian Ocean as

the rifting progresses there is a good

chance that this island will include

portions of Ethiopia Somalia Kenya and

Tanzania

scientists have been aware of the

rifting in Africa for a while but the

exact cause has been difficult to

determine the Earth is an ever-changing Planet

even though in some respects change

might be almost unnoticeable to us plate

tectonics or the East African rifting is

a good example of this the riffing is a

very slow process bat most of the time

goes about splitting Africa without

anybody even noticing while this sounds

frightening the timeline for that is

extremely long term thankfully

scientists estimate that the rifting

process in Africa will take tens of

millions of years as the crust begins to

thin and sink and a small Seaway begins

to intrude the rift Zone and eventually

form a huge ocean separating the

continent into two so if you're already

in shock hold your breath since none of

us or our children's generation will be

around to experience the spectacular

occurrence