Africa Is Splitting in Two, and Here's the Proof

Heavy rains caused havoc in Kenya in March, collapsing hospital walls, flooding entire neighborhoods, and closing off major highways. The downpour also exposed a fault line that geologists now say is evidence that the African continent will split into two over the next tens of millions of years. https://qz.com/1242704/is-africa-splitting-into-two-continents/

Yes, Africa Is Splitting in Two, and It’s Extremely Slow and Extremely Fast

By ALEX BARASCH

A miles-long fissure has opened in Kenya’s Rift Valley. The split, which first appeared in late March following weeks of heavy rain and tremors and has continued to expand since, called attention to a longer-term, larger-scale geological phenomenon that’s imperceptible until it isn’t: Africa is splitting in two.https://slate.com/technology/2018/04/yes-africa-is-splitting-in-two-and-its-extremely-slow-and-extremely-fast.html

Africa splitting in two: what's happening to the continent?

Apr 3, 2018

Huge chasm 65ft wide appears in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley after heavy rains http://www.theweek.co.uk/africa/92684/africa-splitting-in-two-whats-happening-to-the-continent

Why This Giant Crack Opened Up In Kenya

The region has yielded a trove of archaeological finds in the past and may border a new continent 50 million years in the future. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/04/east-african-great-rift-valley-crack-spd/

Africa is splitting into two after tear in Kenya’s Rift Valley [Video]

After heavy rains and seismic activities on Monday, the earth has split open at Kenya’s Rift Valley leaving a huge tear that is more than 50 feet deep and more than 50 feet wide weaving through the arable land in Narok County. https://face2faceafrica.com/article/africa-splitting-two-tear-kenyas-rift-valley-video

Africa is splitting in two – here is why

March 29, 2018 7.37pm AEDT Updated April 7, 2018 7.38pm AEST

Google Earth. Data SIO, NOAA, US Navy, NGA, GEBCO

A large crack, stretching several kilometres, made a sudden appearance recently in south-western Kenya. The tear, which continues to grow, caused part of the Nairobi-Narok highway to collapse. Initially, the appearance of the crack was linked to tectonic activity along the East African Rift. But although geologists now think that this feature is most likely an erosional gully, questions remain as to why it has formed in the location that it did and whether its appearance is at all connected to the ongoing East African Rift. For example, the crack could be the result of the erosion of soft soils infilling an old rift-related fault. https://theconversation.com/africa-is-splitting-in-two-here-is-why-94056

The East African rift system

Abstract

This overview paper considers the East African rift system (EARS) as an intra-continental ridge system, comprising an axial rift. It describes the structural organization in three branches, the overall morphology, lithospheric cross-sections, the morphotectonics, the main tectonic features—with emphasis on the tension fractures—and volcanism in its relationships with the tectonics. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1464343X05001251

Constraining South Atlantic growth with seafloor spreading data

Abstract

Recent models of South Atlantic opening history focus on early plate divergence by incorporating intracontinental deformation, which is poorly constrained. Aiming to avoid the uncertainties in this approach, we model the entire divergence history with a joint inversion for seafloor spreading data.https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/2014TC003644

Role of mantle flow in Nubia‐Somalia plate divergence

Abstract

Present‐day continental extension along the East African Rift System (EARS) has often been attributed to diverging sublithospheric mantle flow associated with the African Superplume.https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2014GL062515