Christopher Scotese / Ian Webster / Paleomap / University Of Sydney
A new poll indicates that more than 16 million cubic kilometers of magma have erupted during the separation of South America and Africa 135 million years ago.
A new published in Earth-Science Reviews clarified the dramatic and burning nature of continental separation between South America and Africa, revealing that the slit, there is 135 million yearstriggered one of the largest volcanic events in earth history.
According to the investigation, more than 16 million cubic kilometers De Magma erupted during the break, forming vast layers of volcanic rock that are still visible today in South America, Africa and at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean Sea. In regions such as Namibia and Angola, these layers are even 1 kilometer thick.
The study, led by geologist Mohamed Mansour Abdelmalak of the University of Oslo, points out that the most intense volcanic activity occurred between 135 and 131 million years ago, with a peak around 134.5 million years ago. This exact moment is significant, since Align with climate disturbances and extinction events known during the same period.
“We have some extinctions and also some climate disturbances,” Abdelmalak told. By dating the magma eruptions, scientists can better understand the environmental consequences of this geological event.
The investigation also reinforces the theory that a mantlic plume – an upward rocket column overwhelmed by the terrestrial cloak – played a crucial role in the triggering of fracture. This feather would have caused adelgation and heating from the continental crust, eventually leading to a violent separation of the earth masses.
Although the evidence of a “thermal anomaly” under the south of Pangeia supports this theory, Abdelmalak warned that more samples are needed, especially from the deep ocean off the back of Argentina and Uruguay, to confirm the connection.
This continental separation is part of the widest disintegration of the supercontinent Pangeia, which started 200 million years ago. The separation between South America and Africa occurred 135 million years ago, while North America only completely separated from Europe about 55 million years ago.
Interestingly, today’s Iceland offers a glimpse of how the manto feathers continue to shape our planet. THE Atlantic average crest It continues to slowly separate the terrestrial crust, fueled by a pluma that created the island’s volcanic landscape.
The study appeals to the realization of deeper drilling in the deep sea and the analysis of rocks to fully understand the scale and impact of these giant eruptions.
