Scientists Studying the Breaking Up of the African Continent Addis Tribune (Addis Ababa)
January 10, 2003 Posted to the web January 10, 2003 A group of Ethiopian, European and American scientists are in their third stage of the project that investigates how the African continent is splitting along the Ethiopian Rift Valley. The scientists believe the African continent is in the early stages of breaking up and in several million years' time a new ocean will have formed along the line of the East African Rift. "Understanding how continents break apart is fundamental to understanding the plate tectonic processes that control the shape of the Earth's surface. The Ethiopian Rift Valley provides a unique opportunity for a detailed scientific study of these processes because it is in the transitional stage between the initial stretching and faulting of the continent and the final formation of a new ocean (like the Red Sea)," said a statement from the Ethiopia Afar Geoscientific Lithospheric Experiment (EAGLE). The EAGLE project involves recording seismic waves from controlled sources and natural earthquakes to provide a three dimensional image of the northeast section of the Ethiopian Rift Valley from the surface to depths of around 100km. The project is the largest seismic project ever undertaken in Africa, with over 70 scientists contributing to the field data collection. ------------------------------------------------------------- He it is Who created for you all that is on earth...He is the All-knower of everything. Swaddaq Allahu Al-Adhim. Michael Bwambuga. __________________________________________________________________ The NEW Netscape 7.0 browser is now available. Upgrade now! http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/
