Scientists have discovered the Earth's “heartbeat” beneath Africa, which is associated with rhythmically rising flows of molten mantle.
The phenomenon is gradually tearing apart the continent and forming a new ocean, reports a correspondent for the online publication Belnovosti, citing the journal Nature Geoscience.
An article by scientists from the University of Southampton (UK) who discovered an alarming event was published on its pages.
Restless Ethiopia
The authors of the publication claim that the above is happening under the Afar region of Ethiopia.
There, from the depths of the Earth, streams of molten mantle rise rhythmically.
The pulsations resemble a heartbeat. They are so powerful that they are tearing apart Africa and forming a new ocean.
It is in that place that three tectonic faults converge.
And here scientists have recorded a powerful, asymmetrically ascending flow of hot mantle.
Moreover, it “pulsates” with a “characteristic chemical signature.”
Deep currents
Scientists say the mantle beneath the region is not uniform or static.
It pulsates, and these pulsations carry molten rock containing unique chemical signatures, said Dr. Emma Watts.
Professor Tom Gurnon of the University of Southampton noted that such mantle activity helps to understand why volcanism and earthquakes occur more often in certain areas.
I noticed that the deep mantle flows do not simply rise upward.
They respond to the movement of tectonic plates, concentrate volcanic activity in places where the Earth's crust is thinner, and shape future oceans, the professor added.
Scientists' forecast
Researchers have predicted that in millions of years, the current rift will become a full-fledged fifth ocean.
Or it will become the sixth, if you count the still officially unrecognized Southern Ocean.
Currently, there are four oceans on Earth (besides the Southern Ocean): the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic.
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