On our planet, the constant movement of the earth's crust shapes the face of the Earth's surface. From the ancient supercontinents to the dynamics of modern plate tectonics, the geological history of the Earth is an epic of continuous evolution.
The structure of the Earth can be divided into three main levels: the crust, the mantle, and the core. The earth's crust is the outermost layer of the earth, which includes the land and sea floors where we live. The mantle is located beneath the earth's crust and is a thick layer of rock, and although it is solid, the high temperature makes it somewhat fluid. The Earth's core is the innermost layer of the Earth, which is composed of iron and nickel, and is divided into a solid core and a liquid outer core.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the German scientist Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift, and he observed that the coastlines of different continents seemed to be able to be pieced together, like a giant puzzle. Wegener speculated that over the past hundreds of millions of years, a huge primordial continent – a pan-continent – gradually became the continent we see today. Due to the lack of a mechanism to explain the forces of continental drift, this theory was not widely accepted at the time.
As time went on, scientists found more evidence to support Wegener's theory. Especially after the discovery of seafloor spreading, the theory of plate tectonics came into being.
French geologist Le Pichon et al. proposed that the earth's surface was divided into six huge plates, which moved under the flow of the mantle. The interplay of collisions, extrusions, and separations between tectonic plates shapes the mountains, trenches, and zones of the Earth's surface.
According to this theory, the formation of the Himalayas is the result of the mutual compression of the Eurasian plate and the Indian Ocean plate. Over tens of millions of years, the Indian plate moved northward and collided with the Eurasian plate, causing the Earth's crust to bend and uplift, forming one of the world's tallest mountain ranges.
But instead of a single stable layer of rock, the Earth's crust is made up of several huge plates that move slowly under the flow of the mantle. According to geologists, the annual velocity of the plates is roughly between 0 and 150 millimeters. For example, the separation of the American plate from the African plate has led to an increase in the area of the Atlantic Ocean and an expansion of the oceanic crust. The relative motion of the Eurasian plate, the Indian Ocean plate, and the Pacific plate has caused the Pacific Ocean crust to continue to insert under them, causing the Pacific Ocean to shrink.
Within the large plates, several sub-plates can also be divided, which appear between two continental plates, or in the collision zone of the continental and island arcs. The Turkish-Aegean Plate, which lies between the Eurasian and African continents, and the New Hebrides and Tonga Plates, between the Australian and Pacific plates, are the result of the movement of secondary plates.
* The formation. The plates are squeezed against each other or the underground rock strata are fractured, and the vibrations are transmitted to the surface to form **. The zone at the junction of plates and plates, some of them are stretched and stretched, some are collided and extruded, and the earth's crust is relatively active, and it is prone to volcanoes, collisions between the Indian Ocean plate and the Eurasian continent, so that the height of Mount Everest is increasing, which is the direct evidence of the internal movement of the plates.
In 2005, geologists observed very active geological activity in the eastern part of the African continent, particularly the Alpha Depression, which could become a new continent in the next 5 million to 10 million years and possibly form a new ocean.
The Alpha Depression is very geologically active and can lead to plate separation. In particular, the discovery of human fossils in the Alpha Depression and the Red Sea Basin suggests that these areas are connected by land and land.
In this process, the average height of the Alpha depression is lower than the sea level, and seawater often intrudes into the depression, forming abundant salt resources at high temperatures. This high level of geological activity makes the Alpha Depression one of the most active geological areas on Earth.
In eastern Africa, the rifts in the earth's crust are gradually widening, a slow but irreversible process. Scientists****, these fissures will eventually lead to the ** of the African continent, which could form a new continent in the next few million years.
And the Alpha Depression is a key area in this process. It is located in the northern part of the Great Rift Valley and is a geologically active area consisting of multiple active volcanoes and hotspots. The earth's crust here is very thin, and geological activity has caused frequent ** and volcanic eruptions. These natural phenomena not only alter the landscape, but also provide scientists with a window into the deep structure and dynamics of the Earth.
In the Alpha Depression, geologists have found many human fossils that document the early stages of human evolution. These discoveries suggest that millions of years ago, it was once a vast grassland with a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. However, over time, the movement of the earth's crust changed the face of the land, making it what we see today.
Scientists believe that the future of the Alpha Depression is uncertain. As the rift widens, this region may separate from the African continent to form a separate continental plate. New oceans will also be formed along with this process, just as the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden have formed over the past millions of years.