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First Signatures of a Future Tectonic Split Are Bubbling Up In Zambia
- Mantle-Derived helium discovered in Zambia's Kafue Rift suggests the region is an active tectonic boundary, according to geologist Rkta Karolyt of the University of Oxford.
- Stretching 2,500 kilometers across Africa, the Kafue Rift is part of a larger system that may ultimately connect to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, representing an early stage of continental separation.
- Isotope analysis of geothermal springs confirmed a connection to the mantle, which lies up to 190 kilometers beneath Earth's surface, indicating active fluid transport from deep within the crust.
- Helium concentrations of up to 2.3 per cent in surface fluids are attracting industrial interest in the Kafue Rift for high-tech and medical applications, a critical resource for emerging markets.
- Although geologist Karolyt describes the system as "awake" and geologically active, forming a full plate boundary remains a slow process spanning millions of years with no certainty of ocean formation.
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The Kafue Rift is part of a zone that stretches from Tanzania to Namibia.
·Bratislava, Slovakia
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In Zambia, scientists have discovered a fault that extends into the Earth's mantle. "Whether that crack will actually become a boundary, we will only know in ten million years."
·Netherlands (Kingdom of the)
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First Signatures of a Future Tectonic Split Are Bubbling Up In Zambia
Hundreds of millions of years ago, our world looked very different from the way it does today. The continents were joined together in a supercontinent called Pangea, which broke apart into landmasses that drifted away from each other as Earth's tectonic plates rearranged beneath them. Though we may not feel it, this process is still occurring today – and scientists think they may have found hints of a new tectonic boundary opening under Africa. …
·Australia
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Total News Sources17
Leaning Left3Leaning Right0Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution57% Center
Bias Distribution
- 57% of the sources are Center
57% Center
L 43%
C 57%
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