https://www.unilad.com/news/scientists-discovered-new-ocean-forming-africa-split-865593-20230306
Published 20:36, 06 March 2023 GMT
| Last updated 20:36, 06 March 2023 GMT
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Scientists have discovered the formation of a new ocean as Africa begins to split.
Researchers have found that the two parts of land, which make up the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent, have started to separate - making way for a whole new ocean to run through the divide.
Countries like Zambia and Uganda could one day have their own coastlines if the land mass continues to separate.
According to the peer-reviewed journal Geophysical Research Letters, geologists have been able to confirm that a new ocean is being created as the African continent is split in half.
https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=jpeg&quality=70&width=648&fit=contain&gravity=null&dpr=1&url=https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt949ea8e16e463049/blt99f6797385f4cf21/6406359dbb7cb710ed939658/200716-the-rift-ethiopia-ac-1057p.webpScientists have discovered a new ocean beginning to form as Africa begins to split. Credit: University of Rochester
Scientists have been able to locate the exact spot where, very deep underground, the continent - which has a land area of over 30 million square kilometres - first opened up.
The crack is positioned on the borders of three tectonic plates that have been gradually moving away from each other for a while now.
Geologists have noted that this complex tectonic process will make room for a totally new body of water 2 to 3 years from now.
The international effort has discovered that the crack, known as the East African Rift, currently runs 35 miles long after first appearing back in 2005 in the Ethiopian deserts.
“This is the only place on Earth where you can study how continental rift becomes an oceanic rift,” explained Christopher Moore, a Ph.D. doctoral student at the University of Leeds, via NBC News.