From this date, each new article in the blog, “Feeding the Curious Mind”, will appear on Saturday evenings at 1900 UK time. This is so that Europe, the USA and many other parts of the world will be able to receive it at a reasonable time. But the same eclectic stories about many subjects will not change, except I hope that they will educate and entertain even more.
This is not a joke or fake news. However, do not panic. This may not happen but if it does, it could be a long way into the future. But the latest scientific research does show signs that this is beginning to happen. So, what is the latest evidence? The Great Rift Valley stretches south to north along East Africa. I have driven along the edge of it in Kenya and it is a sight not to forget. But it is also volcanic and that is where the problem may lie.
There is no real debate that the forces at work will affect the East African Rift or EAR. The question is by how much? It has been known for some time by geologists that a plume of hot gas and lava is rising up under the EAR. This will have some effect on the splitting of the land in line with the EAR. However, the latest research has produced figures that say that a superplume of molten matter is rising.
The team of geologists used high specification instruments to measure some inert gases, such as neon. The results showed that there were similar markers to what has been discovered under the Hawaiian Islands, which are volcanically active. It is believed this superplume originated around one thousand eight hundred miles below the surface.
The geologists believe the rising superplume has now replaced the Earth’s mantle beneath the Earth. It is thought that it has now met with the colder lithosphere. This has had the effect of spreading out over a very large area. Remember that the East African Rift stretches over two thousand miles. The lithosphere is relatively thin, and this spreading out is creating a great force. As it breaks through the lithosphere, the effect is active volcanic activity.
This process is not new. The lithosphere has been breaking up for around thirty-five million years. The worry is that there could be a tipping point, and in the worst-case scenario, a vast chasm will split a large region of the African continent.
John Pullen 