Geologists have found what they believe is a slab of Africa still stuck under America, 250 million years after the two were squeezed together by a giant tectonic collision to form a single ‘super-continent’.
Unusual magnetic readings from deep below the earth’s surface suggest that Florida and parts of the south-eastern US states comprise ancient rock from what is now Africa, which broke away from the land mass that is now North America 250 million years ago to form a separate continent.
“This is just the start to understanding the structure of the south-east US,” said Elias Parker, a geophysicist at the University of Georgia who led the study.
The new findings could settle scientific debate over the origins of the Brunswick Magnetic Anomaly, a