“Africa is Splitting: Scientists Claim Formation of a New Ocean as Continent Divides”

The African continent is slowly splitting in two, with scientists pointing to tectonic shifts along the East African Rift System as the catalyst for a new ocean’s eventual formation. This process, occurring over millions of years, could reshape Africa’s geography, potentially giving landlocked countries like Zambia and Uganda access to coastlines.

A massive crack that appeared in Kenya’s Rift Valley in 2018 and a 35-mile-long fissure in Ethiopia’s Afar region in 2005 are among the most visible signs of this tectonic activity. According to a 2018 report by PBS NewsHour, the East African Rift System is “evidence of the tectonic forces pulling apart the Somali and Nubian plates.”

Dr. Ken Macdonald, a marine geophysicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, explained to NBC News: “Eventually, over tens of millions of years, the ocean will flood in and this part of East Africa will become a separate continent.”

The Ground Report highlights that this process is slow but inevitable, noting, “The plates are moving apart at a rate of a few millimeters per year, but the result will eventually be a completely new ocean basin.”

While this monumental transformation is far beyond the timescale of human observation, these fissures are providing a glimpse into the Earth’s dynamic and ever-changing geology.

The claim that Africa is gradually splitting into two landmasses due to tectonic activity is supported by geological evidence. The East African Rift System (EARS) is a significant tectonic feature extending over 3,000 kilometers from the Gulf of Aden in the north towards Zimbabwe in the south, effectively dividing the African Plate into the Somali and Nubian plates. 

Notable manifestations of this tectonic activity include a massive crack that appeared in Kenya’s Rift Valley in 2018, which caused part of the Nairobi-Narok highway to collapse, and a 35-mile-long fissure that emerged in Ethiopia’s Afar region in 2005. 

Over millions of years, the continued divergence of these plates is expected to lead to the formation of a new ocean, potentially granting currently landlocked countries like Zambia and Uganda access to coastlines. However, this process is exceedingly slow, occurring at a rate of a few millimeters per year, and is estimated to take between 5 to 10 million years to result in significant geographical changes. 

In summary, the geological processes leading to Africa’s gradual split and the eventual formation of a new ocean are well-documented, but these transformations will unfold over an extended geological timescale, far beyond the span of human lifetimes.

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