African superswell

The African superswell is an extraordinary uplift of the African continent, particularly its southern half; southern Africa on average lies a full kilometer above sea level, with seemingly anomalous uplifts extending well into the south Atlantic ocean. [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994GeoRL..21..765N| (Nyblade and Robinson,1994)] , [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/09/980917080731.htm]

The superswell is a relatively recent phenomenon, probably beginning around no earlier than 30 million years ago, or later than 5 million years ago. [http://www.casp.cam.ac.uk/reports_research/african_research.html] . The most likely cause of the superswell is a mantle plume, though this hypothesis has its detractors; the origin of the superswell remains an active area of research. [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003AGUFM.S51F..01N| (Nyblade,2003)]

References

*Reader, John. "Africa." Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2001.