L'Afrique Se Fracture Beaucoup Plus Rapidement Que Prévu

Sympa

L'Afrique se scinde en deux, et cela se produit bien plus rapidement que ce que les scientifiques pensaient ! 🌍⚡ Une fissure massive se forme le long de la vallée du Rift est-africain, brisant lentement le continent. Un jour—dans des millions d'années—un nouvel océan pourrait se former en plein milieu ! 🌊 Les scientifiques suivent ce déplacement, et des études récentes montrent que le processus s'accélère. Les plaques terrestres se déplacent sous nos pieds en permanence, mais il s'agit là d'une transformation énorme. Qui sait ? Dans un futur lointain, nous pourrions avoir un tout nouveau continent flottant dans l'océan !  Animation créée par Sympa. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Musique par Epidemic Sound https://www.epidemicsound.com   Pour ne rien perdre de Sympa, abonnez-vous!: https://goo.gl/6E4Xna​ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nos réseaux sociaux : Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sympasympacom/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sympa.officiel/  Stock de fichiers (photos, vidéos et autres): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Si tu en veux encore plus, fais un tour ici:  http://sympa-sympa.com

Transcript

00:00Experts explain that Africa is split in two, and this is what it could look like.

00:06Observed closely, the phenomenon is even more striking.

00:09A gigantic fault stretches from Mozambique to the south to the Red Sea to the north.

00:15It continues to grow year after year, fracturing the soil and destroying habitats.

00:21Today, it is estimated that this continental separation could occur much more quickly than expected.

00:27Africa is dislocated as the Somali plate moves.

00:31Imagine a spectacular separation between tectonic plates.

00:34To the east, the Somali plate. To the west, the Nubian plate.

00:38And in this process of rupture, the Somali plate moves inexorably,

00:43taking its distance with the Nubian plate.

00:47This movement is at the origin of the East African rift,

00:50a region where the plates disunite,

00:53where the magma rises relentlessly from the depths of the earth

00:56and where many volcanoes are active during the day.

00:59It is an extreme heat zone, where the diurnal temperatures can reach 55°C,

01:05while at night they only go down to 35°C.

01:09At the heart of this furnace is the Lafarge Triangle, also called the Lafarge Depression.

01:15Its relief is of great singularity.

01:17The rift process generates valleys, faults and impressive cracks that never cease to expand.

01:24Take, for example, this colossal 56 km long fault located in the Ethiopian desert.

01:30Its width is such that a human being could slide there without difficulty,

01:34but the most worrying thing is its constant expansion.

01:38It widens by more than 1 cm every year.

01:42The progressive expansion of the Nubian and Somalian plates

01:45could also give birth to a new ocean in Africa.

01:49Such a phenomenon is nothing new.

01:51About 150 million years ago, while the dinosaurs still populated the earth,

01:56a comparable tectonic movement led to the formation of the Atlantic Ocean.

02:00Originally, the continents formed only one block,

02:04but the appearance of a fault within the rift caused their distance,

02:08thus dividing the eastern and western hemispheres.

02:11A similar process is at work in this African fracture.

02:15According to specialists, the waters of the Indian Ocean could eventually

02:19submerge the valley of the East African rift,

02:22thus giving birth to what would be the 6th ocean.

02:25However, it is unlikely that you could one day bathe in these waters.

02:30According to geophysicist Ken MacDonald, an expert on tectonic faults,

02:34this spectacular rupture could occur within 1 to 5 million years.

02:38On a geological scale, it is a rapid evolution,

02:41much more than most researchers had anticipated.

02:45Even if you are not a witness to the dislocation of Africa,

02:48local populations will fully feel the effects.

02:52They will have to face violent volcanic eruptions and powerful earthquakes,

02:56direct consequences of this progressive geological upheaval.

03:00A striking example is this impressive fault in the Ethiopian desert,

03:04which we have already talked about.

03:06It appeared in 2005, after the region underwent two volcanic eruptions

03:11and 163 earthquakes, all of them of a magnitude greater than 3.9.

03:17Usually, such a large fracture takes centuries to form.

03:22But in this case, it developed in the space of a few days only,

03:26thus revealing the extreme intensity of the phenomenon.

03:30In reality, such an intense seismic activity

03:33can accelerate the process of fragmentation of Africa,

03:36making any precise estimate of the extremely complex delay.

03:40What we know, however, is that this new land

03:44is already designated under the name of the Nubian continent.

03:47If the forecasts are verified, it will encompass Somalia, Kenya,

03:51Tanzania and part of Ethiopia.

03:53This phenomenon is as fascinating as it is worrying.

03:56With the emergence of new coasts,

03:58the concerned countries will have to make significant adjustments

04:01in terms of infrastructure and land development.

04:04Many roads, houses and other buildings located nearby

04:09or directly in the East African Rift Valley

04:12may be destroyed.

04:14In Kenya, for example, cracks have created a very busy road,

04:18forcing the authorities to try, in vain,

04:20to fill the gaps with rocks and cement.

04:23In another case, an elderly woman was eating quietly with her family

04:27when her house suddenly split in two.

04:30More recently, in the Afar region, in Ethiopia,

04:33earthquakes ravaged 37 schools,

04:35forcing nearly 5,000 students to leave their classrooms.

04:39Unfortunately, such tragedies

04:41may become more and more frequent in the years to come.

04:45However, this transformation does not only present disadvantages.

04:49Countries like Zambia and Uganda

04:51may have to build coasts,

04:53which would be a major opportunity for them.

04:56Access to a coast would allow them to open new commercial routes

05:00and diversify their economy.

05:02Not to mention tourist development.

05:04With these freshly formed paradisiacal beaches,

05:07these nations could become destinations

05:09desired by travelers.

05:11In addition, the biodiversity of this new ocean

05:13will undergo significant upheavals,

05:15perhaps favoring the emergence of new marine species.

05:19Let's take a closer look.

05:20This is the area where the fault is currently the most advanced.

05:23In other words,

05:24this is probably where the separation of the African continent will occur.

05:28However, the process could be more complex than it seems.

05:32Some time ago, Michael Daly,

05:34a geologist at the University of Oxford,

05:36hypothesized that this fault could spread further to the west.

05:40Recent discoveries support this theory,

05:43suggesting that the crack could extend to the south,

05:46crossing Botswana to South Africa,

05:48and to the west, through Namibia,

05:50to the Atlantic Ocean.

05:52If these fractures were to expand

05:54and turn into deep crevasses,

05:57the ocean could be engulfed

05:59and fill its voids.

06:00According to experts,

06:01Africa could crumble to the point of becoming

06:04a vast archipelago.

06:06But once again,

06:07we will not witness any of this,

06:09because such a phenomenon will spread over tens of millions of years.

06:12It is already established that Africa

06:14may split into a multitude of imposing islands,

06:17or even into several small continents.

06:19The situation is also delicate for Madagascar.

06:22The fourth largest island in the world

06:24could eventually split.

06:26But could we see the opposite?

06:28In other words,

06:29the removal of the Nubian and Somalian plates

06:31could cause the formation of new emerging lands.

06:35In reality,

06:36as these tectonic plates diverge,

06:38the magma from the earth's mantle

06:40can rise to the surface.

06:42By cooling,

06:43it solidifies and gives birth to new lands.

06:46This is how regions such as Iceland and the Azores

06:49were born.

06:50Thus,

06:51it is quite conceivable

06:52that the same process will occur

06:54in the East African Rift Valley,

06:56and that in the long term,

06:57new islands will be formed.

07:00To this day,

07:01all that can be said

07:03is that the geology of the Lafarge Depression

07:05is truly unique.

07:07It is the most active rift system on the planet.

07:10When we speak of rift,

07:11we mean an area where the tectonic plates diverge.

07:14In fact,

07:15this region is home to a multitude of phenomena,

07:17faults in the earth's crust,

07:19volcanic zones,

07:20and even the possible birth of a sixth ocean.

07:23For experts,

07:24it is a unique opportunity to closely observe

07:26the evolution of rifts.

07:28Due to its intense volcanic activity,

07:30this zone also has an immense potential

07:33for the exploitation of geothermal energy,

07:36which consists of using the heat

07:38from the earth's entrails

07:39to produce electricity.

07:41Two power plants

07:42are operational in Ethiopia.

07:43One is located in the Ethiopian Rift Valley,

07:46the other in the Lafarge region.

07:48At present,

07:49geologists are looking for new potential sites.

07:52When we observe this deep crack in the ground,

07:55we know that it results from the movement of the tectonic plates.

07:58There is no doubt about that.

08:00However,

08:01what remains unexplained

08:03is the precise reason

08:04why these cracks appear

08:05in well-determined places.

08:08Let's take the example of a fault

08:09that formed in Botswana

08:11after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake in 2017.

08:14Contrary to expectations,

08:16the epicenter was not in the rift zone,

08:18where the plates are in motion.

08:20It was much further south.

08:22However,

08:23a rift that develops without volcanic activity

08:25is an anomaly,

08:26which questions our traditional models

08:28of the fragmentation of continents.

08:31Determining the exact reasons

08:33for the appearance of these cracks

08:34remains a mystery to elucidate for scientists

08:37who seek to understand

08:38how Africa is sinking.

08:41Let's hope that answers will emerge

08:43before the continent ends up

08:45turning into a huge archipelago.

Category

Transcript

Recommended