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Every now and then certain stable parts of the continents on Earth begin to rise and develop into some stunning topographic features. The reason why this happens has now been revealed. Scientists at the University of Southampton studied plate tectonics to find out how did this happen. They say that tectonic plates often break apart, and this triggers powerful waves deep within the Earth. This event causes continental surfaces to rise, sometimes by over a kilometre.
Scientists have been trying to understand for years how these topographical features known as "escarpments" and "plateaus" come into existence. The findings published in the journal Nature are a result of studying the impact of global tectonic forces on landscape evolution over hundreds of millions of years.
"Scientists have long suspected that steep kilometre-high topographic features called Great Escarpments—like the classic example encircling South Africa—are formed when continents rift and eventually split apart," Tom Gernon, Professor of Earth Science at the University of Southampton and lead author of the study said.
The researchers from the University of Southampton - Dr Thea Hincks, Dr Derek Keir, and Alice Cunningham - collaborated with colleagues from the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam—GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences and the University of Birmingham. They tried to understand why stable parts of continents sometimes move vertically.
