Nile River Has Flowed For 30 Million Years, Scientists Discover

nightqueen

Nov 25, 2019 6:08 AM EST

New research has discovered that the Nile is not only the longest river in the world, but it's also been flowing - in the same position - for 30 million years since the Oligocene Epoch.

via Wikipedia

The Nile has been a source of fascination for scientists and historians since humans have been on Earth. It's drainage basin covers eleven countries, and it is the main source of water for Egypt and Sudan. The source of it's origins and why it persisted for so long have been widely debated, but a new study presents a solution to the mystery.
via Phys

The Earth's mantle is made up of solid rock, which flows like ocean currents, with particular areas of the mantle having particular circulation patterns. The new study suggests that there's a conveyor-belt-like section of mantle underneath the Nile (called a convection cell) that has kept the river running in the same place for tens of millions of years.
via Trip Savvy

While this hypothesis isn't completely new, the latest study presents new evidence for the theory including new geological modelling. The Ethiopian highlands emerged as a result of shifts in the Earth's mantle, creating a steady drop of about a mile in height by the time the Nile reaches the Mediterranean. This slope has kept the Nile flowing towards the north, and in the same position for so long that without the gradient, the Nile would have shifted westwards, no doubt changing the course of human civilization.
via Amazon

As well as teaching us that the Nile has flowed in the same direction for 30 million years, the study also provides new information about the movement of the deep mantle under the Earth, and how it affects what happens on the surface of the Earth. Researchers are hoping to apply the same study to other major rivers like the Congo and Yangtze rivers.
But for now, we can be pleased that we finally know about the long (pun intended) history of the Nile.