The general agreement between the predicted and the observed stress fields suggests that the principal long-wavelength features of the intraplate stress field, including the observed extension in eastern and southern Africa can be explained in terms of stresses arising from lithospheric density variations without appeal to poorly determined sublithospheric processes. The state of stress in continental regions with elevation greater than 70 m is predicted to be extensional, providing an alternative source of continental tension which has important implications for the dynamics of continental break-up. Predicted tectonic stresses for African plate at selected element locations.
Solid bars indicate compression, open arrows indicate tension.