Africa may eventually become two continents
Image 1. Vehicles drive next to a deep split on a repaired road that had been washed away during a heavy downpour at Maai-Mahiu, Kenya, on March 15, 2018. Photo by: Tony
Karumba, AFP/Getty Images
By USA Today, adapted by Newsela staff, Published:05/03/2018
Before you read
1. HIGHLIGHT the title.
2. HIGHLIGHT the news company and the date.
3. LOOK at the first picture. WRITE 1-2 words that it makes you think of beside the picture.
Africa is going to split. It will not be one continent, but two.
This will not happen for a very long time, though. It is millions
of years from now.
Geologists knew about this possibility for a while. A geologist is
a type of scientist. Geologists study Earth and what it is made
from. Now many people living in Kenya know it, too. Kenya is a
country in eastern Africa. Kenya had heavy rains. Then a large
crack appeared in the ground. It was very long.
Going to split
very long time
1. CIRCLE what Africa is going to
do.
2. DRAW a picture of what “split”
means.
Large crack appeared in the
ground
3. CIRCLE how long from now that
will happen.
4. HIGHLIGHT what geologists
study.
5. UNDERLINE what Kenya had.
6. CIRCLE what appeared in the
ground in Kenya.
1. HIGHLIGHT what a rift valley is.
Crack In The Ground Photo: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty
Images
This kind of crack has its own name. It is called a rift. A rift
valley is a
low-lying area.
It goes down
many feet into
the ground.
Over time
rifting will
happen. Rifting
means that the
plates there will
move apart.
What is a plate?
Plates are what make the continents and ocean floors. Long
ago, they all touched. They made up one big continent or plate.
Over a very long time, this changed. The plates broke apart.
The pieces moved away from each other. Oceans filled in the
spaces between.
Low-lying area - near the
ocean level
2. HIGHLIGHT what rifting
means.
3. HIGHLIGHT what plates are.
4. CIRCLE what the plates made
long ago when they touched.
5. UNDERLINE what happened to
the plates.
Move apart - go opposite
directions
Broke apart
moved away
Filled in the spaces between
6. CIRCLE what filled in the
spaces between plates.
7. DRAW a picture of what you
think this looks like.
Strong Earthquakes
Lucia Perez Diaz studies plates at a university in England. There
were strong earthquakes near the rift, she said. People could
not drive on the roads. Even now, it continues growing larger.
The crack is in the East African Rift Valley. This valley is very
long. It cuts Africa in two. The two pieces are different sizes. The
smaller piece is called the Somali plate. The larger is called the
Nubian plate.
Image: USA TODAY
1. CIRCLE the name of the expert
in England.
Growing larger
2. HIGHLIGHT where the crack in
Africa is.
3. CIRCLE the names of the two
plates.
4. CIRCLE what Africa will break
into.
5. HIGHLIGHT where this
breaking has happened before.
Small And Large Parts
Break into two continents
Someday Africa will break into two continents. One continent
will be very small. The other will be very large.
The rift will break Africa into these two parts. This will take
millions of years to happen. But it has happened before. Africa
and South America used to be connected. Then a rift separated
them. Now, Africa and South America are not connected. They
are far away from each other.
The United States has its own rift. The rift goes from Mexico to
Colorado. It helped make the Rio Grande River. This river runs
between the United States and Mexico.
2. CIRCLE what the US rift helped
to make.
Used to be connected
Far away
Grow
Roads are destroyed
Sometimes people in Africa see the rift grow. It causes big
earthquakes. Roads are destroyed. But most of the time, "it goes
about splitting Africa without anybody even noticing," said Ms.
Perez Diaz. It will be a long time before Africa breaks in two.
1. HIGHLIGHT where the rift in
the United States is.
Splitting
Without anybody even
noticing
3. CIRCLE what the rift in Africa
causes.
Jigsaw Information
Answer the following questions about your article:
What is a FAULT? What happens at a
FAULT? What does this cause?
A fault is…
At a fault,...
This can cause…
What are scientists trying to do?
What do scientists need?
Scientists are trying to…
What is one fault or earthquake the
article mentions? Describe it.
The article mentions…
Explain the gist of the article. What
is the main idea?
This article explains to readers that…
How does this article show a
connection between the litho/
geosphere and other spheres?
This article shows how the litho/geosphere is connected to the … because …
Scientists need…