A band o scientists led bi Professor Fin Stuart fae the University o Glesga his unkivert fresh clues on e forces aat shape East Africa. Their wirk leuked at gases fae the Menengai geothermal field in central Kenya. E study appears in Geophysical Research Letters an lends wecht tae the idea aat a vast mass o deep Yird material lies far aneath e rift region.

E scientists, includin experts fae the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre an e Kenya Geothermal Development Company, eesed heich-precision mass spectrometry. Analysis o noble gas neon in e samples pynts tae an origin deep in e mantle – at e boondary wi the core. In a strickin wey, e gas mix mirrors aat fun in volcanic rocks ower a streek fae the Reed Sea up tae Malawai. Iss match hints aat a similar het rock mass drives e volcanic activity alang e lang rift glens aat rin throu Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda an Malawai.

Scientists hae lang wunnert aboot fither e rift valleys stem fae near-surface wirk or if forces fae the deep Yird tak pairt in e process. Professor Stuart stated, “We hae lang bin interested in foo the deep Yird rises til e surface, foo muckle is transported, an jist fit role it plays on formin e lairge-scale topography o the Yird’s surface. Wir research suggests aat a giant het blob o rock fae the core-mantle boondary is present unnerneath East Africa, it is drivin e plates apairt an proppin up e African continent sae it’s hunners o metres heicher than normal.” Biyin Chen o the University o Edinburgh an SUERC explained, “These gases fae wir geothermal walls hae provide valuable new insicht intae the Yird’s deep interior, helpin us better unnerstaund nae jist e geological forces shapin East Africa but the fundamental processes fit drive the formation o wir planet’s surface ower millions o years.”

E finnins serve as e first clear geochemical pruif o a single deep mantle soorce feedin activity unner soothren Africa. Iss deep rock mass, labelled a ‘superplume’, micht mirror similar features unner pairts o the Pacific near Hawaii. E wark deepens wir unnerstaunin o foo michty forces fae ablow can shape lairge pairts o oor land an spark volcanoes.