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Large Crack In East African Rift Is Splitting The Continent In Two
I4U News ^ | 03/31/18 | Hira Bashir

Posted on 03/31/2018 9:51:13 AM PDT by Simon Green

A large crack that has suddenly appeared in Kenya’s Rift Valley is evidence that Africa will eventually break apart. The crack already stretches several miles and continues to grow, but it does not go all the way across the surface. If it does, it will split the continent into two.

The crack has caused part of the Nairobi-Narok highway to collapse and also accelerating seismic activity in the area, leading researchers to believe that something dramatic could happen in the future.

“The Great Rift splits Africa into two plates. With what is happening we have established one plate which is the Somali plate is moving away from the other plate at a rate of 2.5cm. In the near future if this happens we shall have the Somali plate separating from the other Nubian plate,” said geologist David Ahede.

“You cannot stop a geological process because it occurs from deep within the crust of the Earth.”

The Nubian tectonic plate is the larger one that encompasses most of the continent, whereas the smaller Somali plate constitutes the Horn of Africa.

Tectonic plates are constantly in motion. They often crash into, grind against or fall beneath one another, causing earthquakes in the process. When this happens, the plates disintegrate and form a lowland region known as a rift valley. Kenya’s East African Rift is one of the largest rift valleys in the world which expands approximately 3,700 miles long and around 40 miles wide.

The forces that trigger rifts in the surface are still poorly understood. However, researchers have found that rifts continue to widen over time and start to form cracks. The East African Rift is an excellent example of such activity. The rift in Kenya is so big that it will split Africa in two.

“Rifts are the initial stage of a continent break-up and, if successful, can lead to the formation of a new ocean basin. An example of a place on Earth where this has happened is the South Atlantic Ocean, which resulted from the break up of South America and Africa around 138m years ago,” explains The Conversation writer Lucia Perez Diaz, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Fault Dynamics Research Group, London's Royal Holloway.

“The East African Rift is unique in that it allows us to observe different stages of rifting along its length… Eventually, over a period of tens of millions of years, seafloor spreading will progress along the entire length of the rift. The ocean will flood in and, as a result, the African continent will become smaller and there will be a large island in the Indian Ocean composed of parts of Ethiopia and Somalia, including the Horn of Africa.”


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: africa; benandrews; catastrophism; citiesoftheplain; deadsea; eastafricanrift; ethiopia; godsgravesglyphs; greatrift; greatriftvalley; kenya; luciaperezdiaz; nairobi; riftvalley; sodomandgomorrah; somalia; thedeadsea; thesaltsea; valleyofsiddim; wendybohon
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1 posted on 03/31/2018 9:51:13 AM PDT by Simon Green
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To: Simon Green

Global Warming!


2 posted on 03/31/2018 9:53:12 AM PDT by Stevenc131
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To: Simon Green

How long until some goof tries to blame this on global warming?


3 posted on 03/31/2018 9:53:21 AM PDT by facedown (Armed in the Heartland)
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To: Simon Green

Bush’s fault.

5.56mm


4 posted on 03/31/2018 9:53:50 AM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: facedown

Lol, while I was typing.


5 posted on 03/31/2018 9:54:07 AM PDT by facedown (Armed in the Heartland)
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To: Simon Green

No map


6 posted on 03/31/2018 9:54:36 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET (urope. Why do they put up with this.)
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To: Simon Green

African governments already filing lawsuits against auto makers...


7 posted on 03/31/2018 9:56:10 AM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: Simon Green
“You cannot stop a geological process because it occurs from deep within the crust of the Earth.”

Have they tried epoxy?

8 posted on 03/31/2018 9:56:23 AM PDT by D Rider
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To: Simon Green

9 posted on 03/31/2018 9:57:35 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: Simon Green

Quick! We can fix this! Give me 3,000 miles of duct tape!


10 posted on 03/31/2018 9:59:43 AM PDT by Flatus I. Maximus (Don't like my guns? Molon labe.)
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To: Simon Green

If the Somali plate broke off quite suddenly and ended up under the ocean the world would be a better place.


11 posted on 03/31/2018 10:01:08 AM PDT by 2111USMC (Aim Small Miss Small)
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To: Simon Green

They have a crack problem.


12 posted on 03/31/2018 10:01:12 AM PDT by UnwashedPeasant (I told you so)
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To: Simon Green
A large crack that has suddenly appeared in Kenya’s Rift Valley

A rift is a crack.

13 posted on 03/31/2018 10:03:25 AM PDT by Poison Pill
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To: UnwashedPeasant

u r funny.


14 posted on 03/31/2018 10:03:46 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET (urope. Why do they put up with this.)
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Quick...this is an opportunity for the UN to levy taxes on the developed world to keep Africa from splitting apart....we need to do our part ......


15 posted on 03/31/2018 10:05:11 AM PDT by TnTnTn
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To: Simon Green

I’m hoping it splits into, and the two halves spend their time trying to scam each other instead of us.


16 posted on 03/31/2018 10:05:16 AM PDT by DannyTN
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Yep.....

A large ‘crack’ will cause trouble most of the time....


17 posted on 03/31/2018 10:08:43 AM PDT by deport
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To: Simon Green
What Africa will look like...in about 50 million years!
What Africa will look like...in about 50 million years!

Bye bye East Africa - the African continent is splitting in two and won't have its Horn

18 posted on 03/31/2018 10:09:10 AM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: Simon Green

As long as it goes to Asia and not this way ,LOL


19 posted on 03/31/2018 10:11:03 AM PDT by butlerweave
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To: Simon Green

Mot exactly breaking news.
So to speak.


20 posted on 03/31/2018 10:11:13 AM PDT by buwaya
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