Latest news with #FinStuart
Scottish Sun
28-05-2025
- Science
- Scottish Sun
Africa is being split apart by intense ‘superplume' of hot rock 1,800 miles below Earth's surface, experts warn
The East African Rift System (EARS) is the largest active continental rift system on Earth CONTINENTAL DRIFT Africa is being split apart by intense 'superplume' of hot rock 1,800 miles below Earth's surface, experts warn Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AFRICA is splitting apart - meaning the continent will form two separate land masses with an ocean in between in several million years, experts say. But the driving force behind the continental drift has long been debated. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 The East African Rift System drives volcanic activity in places like the Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia Credit: Getty 7 Damage caused by the rift at an intersection in Maai Mahiu-Narok Credit: Nation 7 Scientists previously thought Africa's tectonic plates, which collided to form large mountains and pulled apart to create vast basins, were simply moving apart again. But a new study from the University of Glasgow suggests that intense volcanic activity deep underground may be fuelling the divide. A gigantic superplume of hot rock, roughly 1,800 miles (2,900km) beneath the Earth's surface, is pushing up against the African crust and fracturing it. Professor Fin Stuart, of the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), led the project. He said: "We have long been interested in how the deep Earth rises to surface, how much is transported, and just what role it plays on forming the large-scale topography of the Earth's surface. "Our research suggests that a giant hot blob of rock from the core-mantle boundary is present beneath East Africa, it is driving the plates apart and propping up the Africa continent so it hundreds of metres higher than normal." Experts suspected as much back in 2023, but geologists have now detected volcanic gases that back up the theory. The Meengai geothermal field in central Kenya has a chemical signature that comes from deep inside Earth's mantle, matching those found in volcanic rocks to the north, in the Red Sea, and to the south, in Malawi. The discovery indicates that all these locations are sat atop the same deep mantle rock, according to experts. Inside active volcano where world's largest ACID lake is buried - so dangerous it melts human skin & spews blue lava Study co-author, Biying Chen, of the University of Edinburgh and SUERC, said: "These gases from our geothermal wells have provide valuable new insight into the Earth's deep interior." Chen added that the findings will help researchers to understand both the geological forces shaping East Africa and "the fundamental processes which drive the formation of our planet's surface over millions of years". 7 The split would create a new ocean Credit: Getty The East African Rift System (EARS) is the largest active continental rift system on Earth. It is in the process of ripping through around 2,175miles (3,500km) of Africa. Continental rifting is nothing new for Earth - and is the reason why we have seven continents today. Roughly 240 million years ago, long before humans roamed, Earth was home to just one supercontinent known as Pangaea. The Scottish Highlands, the Appalachians, and the Atlas Mountains were actually all part of the same mountain range on Pangaea, but were torn apart by continental drift. In January, Ken Macdonald, a professor at the University of California, warned the continent was splitting at a faster rate than expected. Somalia and parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania will form a distinct continent, accompanied by a fresh coastline. The split would create a new ocean, and a small new continent that he said could be called the "Nubian continent". "What might happen is that the waters of the Indian Ocean would come in and flood what is now the East African Rift Valley," Ken Macdonald, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told the Mail Online. The new ocean could become as deep as the Atlantic if waters continue to flow into the area, added Macdonald. 7 A deep chasm next to a repaired section of road that had been washed away during a heavy downpour at Maai-Mahiu in 2018, around 54km southwest of Nairobi capital Nakuru Credit: Getty - Contributor 7 Women work on their farm near a chasm suspected to have been caused by a heavy downpour along an underground fault-line near the Rift Valley town of Mai Mahiu, Kenya March 28, 2018. Picture taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya Credit: Reuters / Thomas Mukoya
The Irish Sun
28-05-2025
- Science
- The Irish Sun
Africa is being split apart by intense ‘superplume' of hot rock 1,800 miles below Earth's surface, experts warn
AFRICA is splitting apart - meaning the continent will form two separate land masses with an ocean in between in several million years, experts say. But the driving force behind the continental drift has long been debated. Advertisement 7 The East African Rift System drives volcanic activity in places like the Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia Credit: Getty 7 Damage caused by the rift at an intersection in Maai Mahiu-Narok Credit: Nation 7 Scientists previously thought Africa's tectonic plates, which collided to form large mountains and pulled apart to create vast basins, were simply moving apart again. But a new A gigantic superplume of hot rock, roughly 1,800 miles (2,900km) beneath the Earth's surface, is pushing up against the African crust and fracturing it. Professor Fin Stuart, of the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), led the project. Advertisement READ MORE ON EARTH SCIENCE He said: "We have long been interested in how the deep Earth rises to surface, how much is transported, and just what role it plays on forming the large-scale topography of the Earth's surface. "Our research suggests that a giant hot blob of rock from the core-mantle boundary is present beneath East Africa, it is driving the plates apart and propping up the Africa continent so it hundreds of metres higher than normal." Experts suspected as much back in 2023, but geologists have now detected volcanic gases that back up the theory. The Meengai geothermal field in central Kenya has a chemical signature that comes from deep inside Earth's mantle, matching those found in volcanic rocks to the north, in the Red Sea, and to the south, in Malawi. Advertisement Most read in Science The discovery indicates that all these locations are sat atop the same deep mantle rock, according to experts. Inside active volcano where world's largest ACID lake is buried - so dangerous it melts human skin & spews blue lava Study co-author, Biying Chen, of the University of Edinburgh and SUERC, said: "These gases from our geothermal wells have provide valuable new insight into the Earth's deep interior." Chen added that the findings will help researchers to understand both the geological forces shaping East Africa and "the fundamental processes which drive the formation of our planet's surface over millions of years". 7 The split would create a new ocean Credit: Getty Advertisement The East African Rift System (EARS) is the largest active continental rift system on Earth. It is in the process of ripping through around 2,175miles (3,500km) of Africa. Continental rifting is nothing new for Earth - and is the reason why we have seven continents today. Roughly 240 million years ago, long before humans roamed, Earth was home to just one supercontinent known as Pangaea. Advertisement The Scottish Highlands, the Appalachians, and the Atlas Mountains were actually all part of the same mountain range on Pangaea, but were torn apart by continental drift. In January, Ken Macdonald, a professor at the University of California, warned the continent was splitting at a Somalia and parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania will form a distinct continent, accompanied by a fresh coastline. The split would create a new ocean, and a small new continent that he said could be called the "Nubian continent". Advertisement "What might happen is that the waters of the Indian Ocean would come in and flood what is now the East African Rift Valley," Ken Macdonald, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told the The new ocean could become as deep as the Atlantic if waters continue to flow into the area, added Macdonald. 7 A deep chasm next to a repaired section of road that had been washed away during a heavy downpour at Maai-Mahiu in 2018, around 54km southwest of Nairobi capital Nakuru Credit: Getty - Contributor 7 Women work on their farm near a chasm suspected to have been caused by a heavy downpour along an underground fault-line near the Rift Valley town of Mai Mahiu, Kenya March 28, 2018. Picture taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya Credit: Reuters / Thomas Mukoya Advertisement 7 Continental rifting is nothing new for Earth - and is the reason why we have seven continents today Credit: Getty
The Sun
28-05-2025
- Science
- The Sun
Africa is being split apart by intense ‘superplume' of hot rock 1,800 miles below Earth's surface, experts warn
AFRICA is splitting apart - meaning the continent will form two separate land masses with an ocean in between in several million years, experts say. But the driving force behind the continental drift has long been debated. 7 7 7 Scientists previously thought Africa's tectonic plates, which collided to form large mountains and pulled apart to create vast basins, were simply moving apart again. But a new study from the University of Glasgow suggests that intense volcanic activity deep underground may be fuelling the divide. A gigantic superplume of hot rock, roughly 1,800 miles (2,900km) beneath the Earth's surface, is pushing up against the African crust and fracturing it. Professor Fin Stuart, of the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), led the project. He said: "We have long been interested in how the deep Earth rises to surface, how much is transported, and just what role it plays on forming the large-scale topography of the Earth's surface. "Our research suggests that a giant hot blob of rock from the core-mantle boundary is present beneath East Africa, it is driving the plates apart and propping up the Africa continent so it hundreds of metres higher than normal." Experts suspected as much back in 2023, but geologists have now detected volcanic gases that back up the theory. The Meengai geothermal field in central Kenya has a chemical signature that comes from deep inside Earth's mantle, matching those found in volcanic rocks to the north, in the Red Sea, and to the south, in Malawi. The discovery indicates that all these locations are sat atop the same deep mantle rock, according to experts. Inside active volcano where world's largest ACID lake is buried - so dangerous it melts human skin & spews blue lava Study co-author, Biying Chen, of the University of Edinburgh and SUERC, said: "These gases from our geothermal wells have provide valuable new insight into the Earth's deep interior." Chen added that the findings will help researchers to understand both the geological forces shaping East Africa and "the fundamental processes which drive the formation of our planet's surface over millions of years". 7 The East African Rift System (EARS) is the largest active continental rift system on Earth. It is in the process of ripping through around 2,175miles (3,500km) of Africa. Continental rifting is nothing new for Earth - and is the reason why we have seven continents today. Roughly 240 million years ago, long before humans roamed, Earth was home to just one supercontinent known as Pangaea. The Scottish Highlands, the Appalachians, and the Atlas Mountains were actually all part of the same mountain range on Pangaea, but were torn apart by continental drift. In January, Ken Macdonald, a professor at the University of California, warned the continent was splitting at a faster rate than expected. Somalia and parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania will form a distinct continent, accompanied by a fresh coastline. The split would create a new ocean, and a small new continent that he said could be called the "Nubian continent". "What might happen is that the waters of the Indian Ocean would come in and flood what is now the East African Rift Valley," Ken Macdonald, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told the Mail Online. The new ocean could become as deep as the Atlantic if waters continue to flow into the area, added Macdonald. 7 7 7
Forbes
27-05-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Superplume Beneath Continent Is Splitting Africa Apart
Aerial view of Suguta River in the Great Rift Valley. Kenya. Sophisticated chemical analysis of volcanic gases from Kenya have provided the first evidence that a superplume lies beneath East Africa driving active tectonics and slowly separating the Somali plate and the Horn of Africa from the rest of the continent. An international team of scientists led by Professor Fin Stuart from the University of Glasgow, working in partnership with the Kenya Geothermal Development Company, has discovered surprising results in a new study of gases from the Menengai geothermal field in central Kenya. The rift valleys of East Africa are some of the largest and most spectacular topographic features on Earth. They extend for 3,500 kilometers through Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Malawi, and host extensive volcanic fields. The rifts are the manifestation of the African tectonic plate being split apart driven by forces in the Earth's interior. However, scientists are uncertain whether the volcanism and rifting is due to shallow processes or whether it is driven by up-welling hot material from Earth's mantle. As countries along the rift zone are tapping into geothermal energy, scientists get access to new sampling sites. The researchers used gases collected from the Menengai geothermal field (started in 2009 and still in development) in central Kenya to reconstruct the source in Earth's mantle feeding the geothermal activity. The team notes that the gases are chemically indistinguishable from gases present in volcanic rocks from Hawaiʻi', where volcanism is fueled by a mantle plume. Together with the common chemical 'fingerprint' between different geothermal fields— the researchers compared their results with gas samples coming from the Red Sea to the north and from Malawi to the south — this discovery supports the theory that a single "superplume" is the main source. 'Our research suggests that a giant hot blob of rock from the core-mantle boundary is present beneath East Africa," summarizes Stuart. The plume not only drives the tectonic plates apart, but also pushes up the African continent preventing the rift zone to be flooded by the Red Sea (forming the geologically spectacular landscapes of the Afar Depression). Map of East Africa showing some of the historically active volcanoes (red triangles) and the Afar ... More Depression (shaded, center). Seismic surveys indicate the presence of a large anomaly beneath the southern tip of the African continent. Such "Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces" are composed of hot and weak mantle material, and the only other similar anomaly lies beneath the Pacific Plate. They may be the primary source feeding the mantle plume of Hawai'i and the plume beneath Africa, explaining the identical chemical signatures as described by the researchers. The study,"Neon Isotopes in Geothermal Gases From the Kenya Rift Reveal a Common Deep Mantle Source Beneath East Africa," was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Additional material and interviews provided by the University of Glasgow.
Economic Times
23-05-2025
- Science
- Economic Times
Is Africa splitting in two? Scientists uncover fiery force tearing the continent apart faster than predicted
iStock Scientists have uncovered a massive superheated force beneath East Africa that's rapidly tearing the continent apart. The East African Rift, once thought to take tens of millions of years to split, may now form a new ocean in just one to five million years. Deep beneath the sun-scorched plains of East Africa, something extraordinary is unfolding—something so vast in scale that it could eventually reshape the very face of our planet. A new study has revealed that the East African Rift System (EARS), the 2,000-mile-long tear that runs from Ethiopia to Malawi, is ripping apart the continent at nearly double the previously estimated speed. According to a report from the Daily Mail , this dramatic process, long thought to be glacially slow, is being accelerated by a powerful and ancient force surging from the depths of the Earth—a massive upwelling of superheated rock known as the African Superplume. Scientists say this 'giant hot blob' is not only pushing tectonic plates apart but also elevating the continent by hundreds of meters. And its influence is far greater—and faster—than once believed. At the heart of this seismic drama lies the boundary between the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate, where GPS tracking has long recorded their gradual separation. But new research led by scientists from the University of Glasgow, using advanced isotope tracing and high-precision mass spectrometry, now suggests that this process is being driven from deep within the Earth's mantle—far deeper than surface tectonic activity alone could explain. By studying the isotopes of the noble gas neon from Kenya's Menengai geothermal field, researchers traced the chemical signature back to the core-mantle boundary. It's a smoking gun that confirms the presence of the African Superplume—an enormous reservoir of molten rock fueling the continental rift. "We've always known the surface was changing, but now we know the true power lies far below," said lead author Professor Fin Stuart. "This upwelling force is not only driving the plates apart, it's lifting the entire region." The consequences of this tectonic ballet are already visible on the surface. In 2005, a sudden swarm of over 400 earthquakes in Ethiopia's Afar region opened a staggering 37-mile-long fissure in just days. In 2018, another colossal crack tore through Kenya's Great Rift Valley, halting traffic and making headlines around the world. As the rift continues to widen—now at around 0.2 inches per year—the stage is being set for an entirely new ocean to form. According to marine geophysicist Ken Macdonald, 'The Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea will eventually flood into the East African Rift Valley. A new ocean will be born.' In the distant future—possibly within just one to five million years—countries like Somalia, eastern Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania could drift away from the mainland, creating a new continent altogether. Meanwhile, landlocked nations such as Uganda and Zambia might find themselves with coastlines, completely reshaping regional geopolitics and trade routes. — Rainmaker1973 (@Rainmaker1973) Beyond the astonishing visuals and dramatic forecasts, this research underscores a profound truth: our planet is in constant, powerful motion. What appears to be solid and eternal underfoot is, in reality, shifting, cracking, and transforming. The East African Rift is not just a tear in the Earth's crust—it's a preview of planetary rebirth, a glimpse into the same elemental forces that once shaped the Atlantic Ocean and will eventually redraw the map once again. So, are the continents breaking apart faster than we imagined? The science says yes—and East Africa is just the beginning.
