The "biggest scar on Earth" is still expanding and may lead to the birth of new continents in the future

The largest fault zone

In the far east of Africa, the world's largest fault zone, the "Great Rift Valley of Africa", is slowly expanding. One day in the future, the Great Rift Valley of East Africa may completely "tear" the African continent apart, forming a new continent and ocean! About 200 million years later, the Great Rift Valley of Africa will be at least ten times longer than it is now, and the "Horn of Africa" ​​will break away from the continent and become a new continent. The common saying "the sea changes a lot" is actually just like this.

The Great Rift Valley of East Africa is the largest fault zone in the world. There are many unique wonders here. Unlike ordinary fault zones, the Great Rift Valley of East Africa is not formed by rain erosion, but is a fault zone caused by the "continental plate drift movement". The movement of the continent causes the crust to break, forming this huge rift valley.

Because the crustal movement near the rift is very frequent, the magma buried deep underground will flow out along the cracks, forming multiple volcanic groups. Some areas of the rift are low-lying, forming many lakes. The diverse environment makes the Great Rift Valley of East Africa a world-class wonder.

What is even more amazing is that scientists believe that the Great Rift Valley of East Africa may be one of the oldest birthplaces of mankind! Our ancestors achieved the evolution from "ape" to "man" near the Great Rift Valley of East Africa! Near the Great Rift Valley, scientists have discovered some skulls that are very similar to modern humans. They are typical "homo habilis" in the early stages of the transition from ape to man. The "African origin theory" believes that "late Homo sapiens", the ancestors of modern humans, appeared near the Great Rift Valley of Africa about 200,000 years ago and spread to the world 100,000 years ago.

Scientists believe that it was the emergence of the Great Rift Valley that turned the forest into plains. In order to adapt to life on the plains, our ancestors gradually evolved the characteristics of upright walking. If the Great Rift Valley of East Africa had not appeared, perhaps humans would not have evolved wisdom and civilization.

The biggest scar on Earth

Observing from the sky, the Great Rift Valley of East Africa is like a "scar" on the earth. By observing this huge rift, one can intuitively experience how violent the movement of the earth's plates is. For humans, the environment around them will basically not change much. After all, human life span is only about 100 years, and the Great Rift Valley of East Africa expands only a few millimeters or tens of millimeters each year. Over our lifetime, this rift has not expanded much. Even though human civilization was born not long ago, the environmental changes on Earth are often calculated in tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years.

A long time ago, the earth's continent was a whole. This ancient continent was called "Pangaea". About 165 million years ago, Pangaea began to slowly disintegrate and eventually became what it is today on Earth. There are many reasons for the disintegration of Pangaea. First of all, the movement of the earth's plates itself is the biggest behind-the-scenes culprit. The centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the earth, the tidal force generated by the moon, etc., have all had a certain impact on the division of this continent.

For the creatures on Earth, the biggest impact of continental plate shift is "climate". The climates in different regions of the Earth are very different, and the drift of continental plates will change the original climate and environment of the Earth, and even turn land into ocean and ocean into land.

If humans can continue to exist, we will witness the emergence of new continents and new oceans. From a certain perspective, we are witnessing history. For humans today, most of the Earth's geological activities are unpredictable, and strong earthquakes can cause the Great Rift Valley to split faster.

Most of the fault zones on the earth are actually hidden in the ocean, and the activities of these fault zones are difficult to observe. The Great Rift Valley of East Africa is a complete observation object, which can indirectly help us understand and study the internal activities of the earth. For us, it is definitely a good thing that the earth has active geological movements. This means that our planet is full of vitality. There are a large number of meteorite craters on the surface of the moon, but it is difficult to find particularly large meteorite craters on the earth. Frequent geological activities and biological activities quickly cover up these impact craters.

Future changes in Earth's continents

What is even more amazing is that the Earth's continents may undergo even greater changes in the future. About 250 million years later, the Earth's continents will become a whole again. This new continent is called "Pangaea Ultimate". Scientists who support this theory believe that in the future the American continent will collide with Europe and Africa to form a supercontinent. Because the continental plates are too large, the center of the continent may have a dry climate with little rain, forming a large semi-desert area.

What kind of changes will happen to the Earth's continental plates in the future? No one knows the answer, because humans have not yet explored the Earth's interior. Most of the movements inside the Earth are unpredictable. Only after more in-depth drilling work in the future can we get the correct answer.

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