The East African Rift System fuels volcanic activity in areas such as Ethiopia's Erta Ale volcano (image). (Photo credit: Mike Korostelev via Getty Images)
Scientists have found new evidence that a huge superplume of molten rock is rising beneath Africa, causing intense volcanic activity and tearing the continent in two.
Geologists have long recognized that Africa is gradually breaking apart in a zone known as the East African Rift System (EARS), but the driving forces behind this significant geological process have been controversial. Now, a new study has provided geochemical evidence that a previously theorized superplume is affecting Africa’s crust, causing it to break apart.
Researchers have found that gases at the Mingai geothermal field in central Kenya have a chemical composition that indicates they originate deep in the Earth’s mantle, likely the region between the mantle and the core. The composition matches that found in volcanic rocks as far north as the Red Sea and as far south as Malawi, suggesting that all of these regions sit on the same deep mantle rock, according to a statement from the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
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