Geological characteristics of coffee geomorphology in Ethiopia

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Ethiopian plateau

Ethiopian Plateau (16)

The Ethiopian plateau is formed by crustal faults, uplift and lava accumulation. Generally 2500-3000 meters above sea level, many extinguishing volcanoes are more than 3500 meters, and the highest Dashang peak is 4620 meters. It is the highest plateau in Africa and a typical lava platform. It covers an area of more than 800,000 square kilometers, with an average elevation of more than 2500 meters. Many extinguishing volcanoes are above 3500 meters above sea level, of which Dashang Peak in the west is 4620 meters above sea level, the highest peak. It is a part of the African paleo-continent composed of Cambrian basement complex, overlying Mesozoic marine sediments. during the Tertiary, the dome rose and crustal faults and lava gushed out, resulting in a basalt cover up to several hundred to 2000 meters thick. The northern part of the eastern branch of the East African Rift Valley cuts longitudinally from northeast to southwest and divides the plateau into east and west parts. The west is the main body of the plateau, the terrain is high, most of it is covered by basalt, and there are many extinct volcanoes; in the east, the terrain is relatively gentle, and the height decreases from 1500 meters to about 800m. The rift is 40-60 kilometers wide and about 1000 meters deep, and the bottom of the rift forms a famous lake area. The birthplace of many rivers.

Geological feature editing

The Ethiopian plateau is geologically part of the ancient continent of Africa. Overlying Mesozoic sedimentary rocks occurred in Tertiary

Ethiopian plateau

Ethiopian plateau

The dome rises, along with crustal faults and magma gushing out, accumulating into basalt caprocks hundreds to 2000 meters thick. Generally, 2000 meters to 2500 meters above sea level, some extinguishing volcanoes are above 3500 meters above sea level, and the highest peak is 4620 meters above sea level. The central part is the north section of the northeast-southwest to the east branch of the Great Rift Valley belt of East Africa, with a width of 40mm 60 km and a depth of 580m 1000m. It has become a natural corridor on the plateau, with a series of lakes at the bottom and lava widespread.

The late formation of the Ethiopian plateau is beneficial to human evolution for 3 million years.

In 2007, a new study in the United States showed that the formation of the Ethiopian plateau in Africa was millions of years later than previously thought, a clue that would promote the evolution of ancient humans.

University of Utah geologist Nasheed Ghani and her husband and University of Missouri Mohamed Abdel Salam led the study. "through this study, we confirmed that the Ethiopian plateau is very young," Ghani said. It is reported that Ghani's husband is also a geologist. Their study is now published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Geological Society. It is reported that researchers had estimated that the Ethiopian plateau was formed 30 million years ago, a period that was too early to affect early humans in Africa.

Through the collation and analysis of data collected by space shuttles and satellites and radioisotope data from different rock layers in the Nile Grand Canyon, scientists believe that the elevation of the Ethiopian plateau was formed later, about 3 million years later than earlier researchers thought. The elevation of topography caused by the formation of the Ethiopian plateau directly led to the increasing drought in eastern Africa and the formation of savanna suitable for hiking, which provided living conditions for early Homo erectus and promoted human evolution.

Martin Williams, a geologist at the University of Adelaide in Australia, said the formation of the Ethiopian plateau raised the terrain and led to an increasingly dry climate in eastern Africa. After that, under the influence of the formation of the plateau, the dry climate in Ethiopia began 30-2.5 million years ago, which drove the evolution of early humans, who entered the savanna life suitable for hiking.