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The Eastern African system of a rift controls the volcanic activity in places such as the Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia (pictured here). | Credit: Mike Korostelev through Getty Images
Researchers have found new evidence that a giant hot rock superflame rises under Africa, causing intense volcanic activity and dividing the continent into two.
Geologists have long known that Africa is slowly falling into a region called the Eastern African breakup system, but the driving force behind this massive geological process has been prepared for debate. A new study now presented geochemical evidence that a Early theoretized Superflame He presses – and destroys – the African cortex.
Scientists have found that the gases in the Geothermal Field Meenngai in Central Kenya have a chemical signature that comes from deep inside the earth’s mantle, probably between the bottom of the mantle and the core. The signature coincides with those of gases found in volcanic rocks to the north, in the Red Sea and south, in Malawi, which shows that all these places sit on the same scale of the mantle, according to a statement from the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
“The signatures of the deep mantle observed in various ears of the ears are remarkably similar, suggesting that they all come from a common deep source,” a study of the first authorship Bieying chenPhD studies at the School of Geologists at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Live Science told an email.
Researchers published their discoveries on May 12 in the magazine Geophysical research lettersS
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The ears are The largest active A continental earthy system on Earth, tearing about 2175 miles (3500 kilometers) from Africa. The lithosphere, the rocky outer shell of the earth’s crust and the upper mantle, gradually was gradually Smashing During the break for about 35 million years. This has left a network of valleys that are exhausted through the top of the continent from the Red Sea near Northeast Africa to Mozambique in South Africa.
Previous studies identified Signs of a deep mantle plume Under the ears in noble gas signatures. Noble gases such as helium and Neonare rare and inert, which means that they usually do not respond chemically with other substances. As a result, they stick for a long time so researchers can use them trace Long -term geological processes. Chen, however, noted that these geochemical followers were scarce and often contradictory under the ears.
To help clarify what is happening under the ears, the team uses high -precision tools to look for neons (NE) isotopes In the Kenyan gases – and they found a deep signature of the mantle. The signature in the gases is very similar to that of the first (ancient) surface signatures of Hawaii, which is thought to be sitting on a GantleS
“We were very excited when we saw the preliminary data on the isotopes of NE showing the original signature of the deep mantle,” Chen said. “But the signature of the deep mantle is small and we had to work hard to separate it-to put it honest, there was no moment of Eureka. We often question the result and spent many hours checking and re-checking the data.”
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After the team strictly evaluated the data, they made sure that the signature was real and the signatures were found in other parts of Rift. Chen noted that the PLUME ears probably come from the border of the nucleus-Manthle, about 1800 miles (2,900 km) depth inside the groundS
While the signatures of the ears are similar to those in the Hawaii volcanic rocks, Chen noted that Hawaii’s slag is proposed to be a discreet growing stream of hot mantle, a little like a lava lamp, while the ears stimulus is probably a different shape.
“A large mass of increasing hot floating material from deep into the ground replaced the mantle that was originally under the ears,” Chen said. “As the firm lithosphere has risen and encounters, it spreads, generating enough force to break a thin lithosphere, leading to intense volcanic activity in the region.”