Earth bursting in Africa, new ocean forming, 'heartbeat' under the ground in Ethiopia... scientists make big revelations about....
Earth bursting in Africa, new ocean forming, 'heartbeat' under the ground in Ethiopia... scientists make big revelations about....
Earth is full of surprise. In a recent finding, scientists have found in a new research that a movement like the human heartbeat is being felt under the earth in Africa. This movement is happening under the earth of the Afar region of Ethiopia, a country in East Africa, which can gradually divide Africa into two parts. After their long research, scientists have said that this movement from under the earth will tear the continent apart in the future and create a new ocean. However, it may take millions of years for this to happen i.e. for a new ocean to be formed.
What else did the scientist find?
The research team of the University of Southampton has found that molten magma is exerting upward pressure under the Afar region of Ethiopia. This pressure is being felt like a heartbeat and the continent is breaking due to this movement. Research shows that this increasing pressure under the earth of Africa will change its geographical position in the future. That is, a new ocean can be formed from this.
Why are plates moving away from each other?
A team studying the crust and mantle beneath the Afar region of the African country Ethiopia says that when tectonic plates move away from each other, the land stretches and becomes thinner. If this process continues, the land can break apart over millions of years. In such a situation, a new ocean basin will be formed.
The research team has said that to understand the process like 'heartbeat' under the earth, they collected more than 130 samples of volcanic rocks from the Afar region and the Main Ethiopian Rift. The research team also used existing data and advanced statistical models to study the crust and mantle below the surface.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
13 hours ago
- India.com
Earth bursting in Africa, new ocean forming, 'heartbeat' under the ground in Ethiopia... scientists make big revelations about....
Earth bursting in Africa, new ocean forming, 'heartbeat' under the ground in Ethiopia... scientists make big revelations about.... Earth is full of surprise. In a recent finding, scientists have found in a new research that a movement like the human heartbeat is being felt under the earth in Africa. This movement is happening under the earth of the Afar region of Ethiopia, a country in East Africa, which can gradually divide Africa into two parts. After their long research, scientists have said that this movement from under the earth will tear the continent apart in the future and create a new ocean. However, it may take millions of years for this to happen i.e. for a new ocean to be formed. What else did the scientist find? The research team of the University of Southampton has found that molten magma is exerting upward pressure under the Afar region of Ethiopia. This pressure is being felt like a heartbeat and the continent is breaking due to this movement. Research shows that this increasing pressure under the earth of Africa will change its geographical position in the future. That is, a new ocean can be formed from this. Why are plates moving away from each other? A team studying the crust and mantle beneath the Afar region of the African country Ethiopia says that when tectonic plates move away from each other, the land stretches and becomes thinner. If this process continues, the land can break apart over millions of years. In such a situation, a new ocean basin will be formed. The research team has said that to understand the process like 'heartbeat' under the earth, they collected more than 130 samples of volcanic rocks from the Afar region and the Main Ethiopian Rift. The research team also used existing data and advanced statistical models to study the crust and mantle below the surface.
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Meet this 5,00,000 years old predator: The real king of the Ice Age before the modern lions ruled
Present-day Lions are called the king of the jungle with proud tan-yellow fur and a huge mane that rules over the animal kingdom, but could one ever imagine who used to rule over the animal kingdom during the ice age, when the world was covered under the ice thousands of years ago? Long before kings wore crowns and lions roared across African savannas, another ruler walked the frozen plains of Ice Age Europe. Lions, too, had a predecessor. A massive, silent, and powerful king known as the cave lion and it was a true monarch of the mammoth steppe. These were larger than today's African lion variety, built to survive glacial winds and snow-covered landscapes, and this is not science fiction; some real proof of these ice age beasts has been found in the ancient caves of the icy landscapes of the Earth. A relic- fossil is kept in this museum During the ice age, the cave lion ruled over the mammoth steppes as the apex predator; genetic studies confirm it was a distinct species, different from today's African lion, and existed around 5,00,000 years ago. And a beautifully preserved skull displayed at France's Muséum de Toulouse, a skull from Montmaurin's Grotte de Coupe-Gorge, part of a nearly complete skeleton found in clay bed 3S. The Toulouse time capsule Digitally scanned in 2015, the skull was transformed into a 3D reconstruction, letting visitors virtually see the extinct lion in interactive museum exhibits, according to reports by ima-solutions. A Beast of Epic Proportions Standing up to 1.2 m at the shoulder and measuring over 2 m in body length, cave lions were larger than most modern lions, though slightly smaller than the earlier Panthera fossilis. Fossils show they had yellowish-grey coats, thick underfur for icy climates, and crucially, lacked manes, as confirmed by cave art in Lascaux and Chauvet. These formidable felines hunted giant Ice Age herbivores such as reindeer, bison, and even young mammoths. They often clashed with other carnivores like cave hyenas, wolves, and cave bears, who were all vying for limited resources. Multiple cave paintings also suggest that these predators interacted with humans, dating back thousands of years. Neanderthals and later Upper Paleolithic humans hunted them for meat and pelts, as shown by prehistoric skinning marks and cave paintings Carvings and paintings found in ancient caves Ancient carvings and cave paintings of cave lions have been found in the famous Lascaux and Chauvet Caves in France, dating back roughly 15,000 to 17,000 years. One particularly interesting drawing in the Chauvet cave shows two lions walking side by side. The larger one in the background appears to be male as it is drawn with a visible scrotum but no mane. This kind of detail has led researchers to believe that male cave lions likely didn't have manes at all, or if they did, they were very small, nothing like the thick manes we see on modern African lions. Mystery of Disappearance Cave lions vanished around 13,000 to 14,000 years ago. Theories suggest a combination of a warming climate, shrinking open habitats, diminishing prey, increasing competition with wolves, and human hunting pressure. Genetic studies even show a population bottleneck between 47,000–18,000 years ago. Their disappearance is also an indication of the collapse of the mammoth steppe ecosystem. Photos: Wikimedia commons
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
3 days ago
- First Post
Is Africa cracking open? How Earth's ‘heartbeat' is tearing the continent apart, forming a new ocean
A group of researchers from across the world has found that a steady, rhythmic pulse deep beneath Ethiopia's Afar region, much like a human heartbeat, is gradually tearing the continent apart. Their study of the crust and mantle beneath the region suggests that this underground activity could eventually lead to the formation of a new ocean read more The pulse is caused by molten magma pushing against the Earth's crust from below. AI Generated/Representational Image A strong, steady pulse has been found deep beneath Africa, moving like a heartbeat. This slow movement is gradually pulling the continent apart and could one day lead to the birth of a new ocean. That is what a group of researchers from around the world have said after studying the crust and mantle beneath Ethiopia's Afar region. ALSO READ | First glimpse of Sun's south pole captured: Why this is a big deal STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In areas where tectonic plates pull away from each other, the land stretches and becomes thinner. Over millions of years, it can break apart and form a new ocean basin. More from Explainers Pee power: How scientists have used urine to make dental implants In this explainer, we look at what the new study shows, what the researchers found, and how this could change the continent. What does the study say? Researchers from the University of Southampton have found a steady, rhythmic pulse deep under Ethiopia's Afar region, similar to a human heartbeat. This pulse is caused by molten magma pushing against the Earth's crust from below. Over time, this is slowly splitting the continent, and could eventually lead to the formation of a new ocean. To understand this process, the team collected over 130 samples of volcanic rock from the Afar region and the Main Ethiopian Rift. They also used existing data and advanced statistical models to study the crust and mantle beneath the surface. Active lava spilling out of the Erta Ale volcano in Afar. Image: Dr Derek Keir, University of Southampton/University of Florence For a long time, geologists believed that a hot column of rising material known as a mantle plume lay beneath Afar, helping pull the crust apart. But until now, the structure of this plume and how it behaves during rifting was not clearly understood. Emma Watts, lead author of the study and a geologist who worked on the research while at the University of Southampton, explained: 'We found that the mantle beneath Afar is not uniform or stationary—it pulses—and these pulses carry distinct chemical signatures. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD These ascending pulses of partially molten mantle are channelled by the rifting plates above. That's important for how we think about the interaction between Earth's interior and its surface." The study showed that the mantle plume under Afar contains chemical bands that repeat across the rift system, like a geological barcode. The spacing of these bands changes depending on the conditions in each section of the rift. The research was a joint effort by experts from 10 institutions, including the University of Southampton, Swansea University, Lancaster University, the Universities of Florence and Pisa, GEOMAR in Germany, the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Addis Ababa University, and the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. Professor Tom Gernon, a co-author of the study and Earth Science expert at the University of Southampton, said: 'The chemical striping suggests the plume is pulsing, like a heartbeat.' He added that the way these pulses behave depends on how thick the crust is and how quickly it is moving apart. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The findings show that the plume under Afar is not fixed but reacts to the movement of the tectonic plates above. Microscope image of a thin sliver of one of the volcanic rocks from Afar. Image: Dr Emma Watts, University of Southampton/Swansea University The study, published in Nature Geoscience on June 25, explains how these plates affect the upward flow of hot mantle material. As the continent continues to split, a new ocean basin is taking shape, with seafloor spreading expected to continue along the entire rift over millions of years. With the first phase of research complete, the team will now focus on studying how the mantle is flowing beneath the surface and how fast it is moving. Is the continent splitting faster than expected? In January, Ken Macdonald, a professor at the University of California, said that the continent appeared to be breaking apart more quickly than previously thought. According to him, Somalia, along with parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, could eventually separate from the rest of Africa, forming a new landmass with its own coastline. 'What might happen is that the waters of the Indian Ocean would come in and flood what is now the East African Rift Valley,' Professor Macdonald told DailyMail. Although cracks are already visible along the rift, scientists believe it will still take several million years before the continent completely splits apart. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
