Scientists on alert: Africa is splitting and an ocean is emerging at record speed

Geologists are closely monitoring the eastern coast of Africa where all of the continent’s tectonic activity is taking place. For the past few decades, the region has been the most active in Africa due to seismic-related events and the gradual shifting of the three tectonic plates which is creating deep fissures and ravines in the Ethiopian desert. Both are related.

The East African Rift (EAR) system, the largest active continental rift on Earth, is a fissure, which stretches 4,000 miles long and 30–40 miles wide along the deserts of Ethiopia. This plate fragmentation has been ongoing for billions of years and its effects are now clearly visible with deep 10-meter fissures appearing as landmasses separate.

Three African plates moving apart

The EAR consists of numerous sedimentary basins, two large plateaux (Ethiopian and East African), and many volcanic formations.

The Nubian Plate makes up most of mainland Africa, while the smaller plate that is pulling away has been named the Somalian Plate. These two plates are moving away from each other and also away from the Arabian plate above the Red Sea to the north.

If the two tectonic plates continue to shift and the EAR system widens further, eventually a large basin will form. Due to the close proximity of the Indian Ocean, it’s likely that the basin would flood which ultimately could lead to the birth of a new ocean.

“We can see that oceanic crust is starting to form, because it’s distinctly different from continental crust in its composition and density,” Chris Moore, a Ph.D. graduate at Leeds University told NBC.

The East African Rift is not a new phenomenon. It has been active for millions of years, and is behind the formation and breakup of several of the region’s most iconic landmarks such as Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Victoria.

So when could we see the creation of a sixth ocean? Maybe not in our lifetime. The plates are moving very slowly - about eight millimeters per year which means that while separation is inevitable, it is believed the process won’t be fully complete for another 50 million years...

However, we have seen two events in the last two decades that created major changes to the landscape in a very short space of time. In September 2005, the Dabbahu volcano erupted, triggering hundreds of other smaller seismic events. Over the course of 10 days, a huge 35-mile fissure opened up in the Ethiopian Desert.

Something similar happened in April 2018, a huge 50 feet deep and 65 feet wide crack opened up in Kenya swallowing up several houses along Mai Mahiu-Narok Road.

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