Africa splitting apart faster than expected, scientists warn

Tectonic split in Africa is happening at rate faster than previously expected by scientists, enabling possibility of another continent, but long after we can witness

AFRICA, (MNTV) – Scientists have raised concerns that Africa’s separation into two distinct landmasses is progressing faster than previously thought. 

A 35-mile-long fissure that emerged in Ethiopia’s desert in 2005 is widening at an annual rate of half an inch. While earlier estimates suggested the split would take tens of millions of years, researchers now project it could occur within one to five million years, potentially creating a new ocean and continent.

Ken Macdonald, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, explained to Daily Mail, that the Indian Ocean might flood the East African Rift Valley, eventually forming an ocean as deep as the Atlantic. 

This geological transformation stems from the East African Rift System, a 2,000-mile-long tectonic feature where the Somali and Nubian plates are gradually drifting apart.

The rift passes through Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and parts of Ethiopia, which scientists predict will form a new landmass, dubbed the “Nubian continent.” 

Although the movement is slow, the activity is monumental in scale, involving slippage, faults, and visible signs such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The process is driven by tectonic plate movements, with researchers attributing these to heat-driven circular motions of partially molten rock rising from the Earth’s core. 

The region’s Great Lakes, holding 25% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater and 10% of its fish species, are evidence of the geological separation. 

Alexandra Doten, a former NASA consultant, emphasized that the Somali plate continues moving eastward, creating a widening rift valley.

Recent studies have linked volcanic activity to thinning of the Earth’s lithosphere in regions such as Tanzania and Uganda. 

Researchers suggest the northern rift may see ocean formation first, as it exhibits the fastest rate of extension. 

Following a period of intense rainfall in 2018, fissures also developed in Kenya, where several residents claimed to have felt the earth tremble.

The ongoing plate movements could also lead to Madagascar splitting into separate islands, further reshaping the continent’s future geography.

“Most prior research indicated that the extension is localised in narrow zones around microplates that move independently of surrounding larger tectonic plates,” said D. Sarah Stamps, a professor in the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech. 

While these changes will not be visible within human lifetimes, the Earth’s shifting plates are actively redefining the African landscape.