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The Great Dyke in the southern Zimbabwe Craton is one of the most remarkable rock formations in the world. A “craton” is a term used to describe Earth’s oldest continental regions. These thick and very hard layers of rock are more than 2 billion years old, and form the cores of most of Earth’s continents.
Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke, running vertically through the center of this image, probably formed slowly, over centuries, as molten rock forced its way up from the Earth’s interior through the Zimbabwe Craton. The dyke stretches about 530 km across the craton and varies from between 3 and 12 km wide long its length. The dyke is extremely rich in platinum and chromium deposits. Ref: NASA Earth Observatory
Back to Wx Sat Images
The Great Dyke in the southern Zimbabwe Craton is one of the most remarkable rock formations in the world. A “craton” is a term used to describe Earth’s oldest continental regions. These thick and very hard layers of rock are more than 2 billion years old, and form the cores of most of Earth’s continents.
Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke, running vertically through the center of this image, probably formed slowly, over centuries, as molten rock forced its way up from the Earth’s interior through the Zimbabwe Craton. The dyke stretches about 530 km across the craton and varies from between 3 and 12 km wide long its length. The dyke is extremely rich in platinum and chromium deposits. Ref: NASA Earth Observatory
