Scientists have identified a vast tectonic boundary beneath East Africa, stretching from Mozambique to Tanzania, revealing new data about how the continent may evolve geologically over millions of years, the Daily Mail reported on Thursday, April 30.
The outlet explains that the structure, known as the Rovuma Transform Margin, is about 500 kilometres long and marks the transition between Africa’s continental crust and the ocean floor. It is considered a significant discovery for understanding tectonic plate dynamics in the region.
According to researchers, this ancient fault may influence the movement of tectonic plates over time, contributing to the gradual process of the African continent potentially splitting into two major landmasses in the distant future.
This phenomenon is already underway through the East African Rift System, a vast fault zone crossing eastern Africa that is slowly pulling apart the Nubian and Somali plates at a rate of a few millimetres per year.
According to Jordan Phethean, co-author of the study, the Rovuma Transform Margin acts as a kind of “geological guide,” shaping the direction and behaviour of tectonic plate movement. Although it is not currently an active fault, it is considered a “fossil” structure, formed around 100 million years ago during the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, and later buried under sediments carried by the Rovuma River.
For decades, the existence of this tectonic boundary was debated by the scientific community, but only with modern technologies such as satellite gravity measurements and seismic reflection techniques was it possible to confirm its location and characteristics.
The data show an abrupt transition between continental and oceanic crust, with a sharp reduction in crust thickness over a short distance—interpreted as a “geological scar” resulting from ancient tectonic processes.
Scientists also believe this structure played an important role in the separation of Madagascar from mainland Africa and could, in the future, become active again, influencing plate movement and contributing to the formation of a new supercontinent over a timescale of millions of years.
Source: Diário Económico
