Slashdot Mirror
Large Crack in East African Rift is Evidence of Continent Splitting in Two (pbs.org)
A large crack, stretching several miles, made a sudden appearance recently in south-western Kenya. The tear emerged after heavy rains caused havoc in the nation last month, which also saw neighborhood get flooded and major highways closing off. 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. From a report: The Earth is an ever-changing planet, even though in some respects change might be almost unnoticeable to us. Plate tectonics is a good example of this. But every now and again something dramatic happens and leads to renewed questions about the African continent splitting in two. The Earth's lithosphere (formed by the crust and the upper part of the mantle) is broken up into a number of tectonic plates. These plates are not static, but move relative to each other at varying speeds, "gliding" over a viscous asthenosphere.
[...] The East African Rift Valley stretches over 3,000km from the Gulf of Aden in the north towards Zimbabwe in the south, splitting the African plate into two unequal parts: the Somali and Nubian plates. Activity along the eastern branch of the rift valley, running along Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, became evident when the large crack suddenly appeared in south-western Kenya. When the lithosphere is subject to a horizontal extensional force it will stretch, becoming thinner. Eventually, it will rupture, leading to the formation of a rift valley. This process is accompanied by surface manifestations along the rift valley in the form of volcanism and seismic activity. Rifts are the initial stage of a continental break-up and, if successful, can lead to the formation of a new ocean basin.
[...] The East African Rift Valley stretches over 3,000km from the Gulf of Aden in the north towards Zimbabwe in the south, splitting the African plate into two unequal parts: the Somali and Nubian plates. Activity along the eastern branch of the rift valley, running along Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, became evident when the large crack suddenly appeared in south-western Kenya. When the lithosphere is subject to a horizontal extensional force it will stretch, becoming thinner. Eventually, it will rupture, leading to the formation of a rift valley. This process is accompanied by surface manifestations along the rift valley in the form of volcanism and seismic activity. Rifts are the initial stage of a continental break-up and, if successful, can lead to the formation of a new ocean basin.
In other news, Nancy Pelosi blamed the African Rift on Donald Trump
why am i not surprised
Plate tectonics a dog whistle for Racism because out of all the places in the world it could happen, it happened in a "brown people" country.
And of course the crack is caused by lack of rain which is caused by b->c->d->e->f->G for Global Warming!
Smaller landmasses surrounded by water tend to be nicer places to live than huge continents. For example, much of Pangaea's interior was a desert wasteland.
Google "expanding earth" for books, videos, animations, lectures and more info.
It's funny how these are slow geologic process taking millions of years yet there's an article reporting on it like it was "suddenly" new news or unexpected. A few more cracks might open in our lifetime but don't expect to see the "parting or the red sea" type movement in our lifetime. Most geological processes are super slow.
Seems I've heard of the East African Rift Valley for, like, decades. Only 'news' here is rain washed sediment away and people could see a fault. The entire rift is a fault zone.
My childhood dream of the earth opening up and swallowing bullies is actually possible!
It's just Gaia getting ready to fart.
rewriting history since 2109
Perhaps some perspective: humans seem to have originated in East Africa a few million years ago. Agriculture and related civilization started maybe 10Kish years ago. At the rate we're going, it seems unlikely that the species will last another thousand years, let alone 10 million. So ... interesting, but geology is slow and evolution is fast. Something else will be around to see what happens, but not us.
There was I thinking that Rift Valley was just a figurative name.
Jokes apart, that's the same rift that saw the rising of the Homo Sapiens. It is our ancestral cradle.
We are fighting global warming, we might just as well fight the African rift.
"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."
OMG! Run for your lives!!!
All the additional weight of the C02 is causing the plates to divide. This would fit right in with his plans to divide up Africa. I am not sure what is worse his hatred of black people of his hatred of the planet Earth.
The only thing that can possible save us from President Trump is if everyone starts listening to CNN and voting Democratic. One thing I know is the Democrats have all the answers.
It's not like both parties are the same and trying to get rich off the tax payers and divide up the country. The parties are totally different. One party (Democratic) is for world peace, moms, and apple pies. The other party wants to cause mass extinction, deforestation, to clone Aldolf Hitler, and kill babies.
To crack!
Whenever foxalopex is near an imminent volcano eruption make sure not to bother him. After all the magma's been there millions of years and there is important work to do. I speak of course about voluntarily reading something online and taking the time to comment that that article was a waste of time.
There is no evidence of this "crack". The theory of continental "drift" is just that, a theory. There is still, after many decades of looking, no real evidence that the earth is as old as so called "scientists" say it is. Meanwhile discoveries like the resting place of noah's ark and the dead sea scrolls continue to point to biblical truth and the continuation of prophecy preparing the way for His return.
Although pretty much anyone who's read much about the Rift Valley knows that Africa is splitting there.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
Cue the ass-hat blaming this on global warming in 3...2...1...
As a Latino, as a group we are getting fed up with being "Brown" when it suits the liberal agenda, yet suddenly we are "White" whenever there's an issue between one us and one of Hillary's precious Blacks...
The only new thing is the crack. The fact that Africa is splitting up along the rift valley has been known for decades - I learnt about it in a first year geology lecture as an undergrad.
We have to get a grip on the geopolitical implications.
DOE SecretaryPruitt said science has nothing to do with the rift, claims plate tectonics is unproven science
That seems to be the go-to excuse anymore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://africa-arabia-plate.we...
[Zec 14:4 KJV] 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
https://discussions.godandscie...
https://www.tomorrowsworld.org...
https://www.blueletterbible.or...
http://www.biblesearchers.com/...
And, as a bonus, I'll leave this for the math nerds to dissect... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... http://www.telusplanet.net/pub...
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law he tore his robes.2Kings22:11
Everyone who injects anything about race, skin color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, etc. into any discussion should be removed from society permanently. We are either color/race/gender blind or we aren't. Stop with the SJW/identity bullshit and just live your fucking life. If someone comes after you, come back at them harder. Person to person. Mano e Mano y Hombre e Hombre.
I support what you are saying. Fuck the "Brown" bullshit. It smells like shit no matter when it is used. Fuck "white" doesn't even have any meaning. What used to be "not white" (Italian, Greek, Spain-Spanish, Mediteranean, Irish, etc) is now considered "White" in all but the most egregious instances of SJW/identity politics bullshit games. "Latino", which to me means, those of Spanish/Portuguese descent (likely mixed with Native American and/or African) primarily from the Carribean, South America, and Central America is on the precipice of folding from "Not White" to "White" in most discussions (depending, of course, on the exact SEEMINGLY EVIDENT heritage involved). In other words, "Whiteness" is defined as whatever is mainstream in N. America/U.S. for all practical purposes. The whole term is fucking meaningless and those who insist on it having any meaning are completely self-absorbed full-of-shit fuckwads. Simples as that.