The discovery of gases released from deep beneath the Earth’s crust could help to explain Southern Africa’s unusual landscape, a study suggests.
The discovery of gases released from deep beneath the Earth’s crust could help to explain Southern Africa’s unusual landscape, a study suggests.
Scientists have long puzzled over why areas such as South Africa’s Highveld region are so elevated and flat, with unexpectedly hot rocks below the surface.
Geologists have revealed that carbon dioxide-rich gases bubbling up through natural springs in South Africa originate from a column of hot, treacle-like material – called a hotspot – located deep inside the Earth.
Hotspots are known to generate volcanic activity in Hawaii, Iceland and Yellowstone National Park.
In South Africa, the hotspot pushes the crust upwards, generating the distinctive landscape, which consists mostly of tablelands more than one kilometre above sea level, the researchers say.
Read more at: University of Edinburgh
Researchers doing fieldwork in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. (Photo Credit: Stuart Gilfillan)
