Africa is splitting in two, which will lead to the formation of a new ocean
(ORDO NEWS) — Africa is slowly but surely splitting into two parts.
This is an extremely long process that will take millions of years, but eventually part of East Africa will separate from the rest of the continent, likely creating a new ocean between the two land masses.
The colossal breakup is associated with the East African Rift System (EARS), one of the largest faults in the world, which stretches down thousands of kilometers through several countries in Africa, including Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique.
According to a 2004 study, this rift system means the African plate is splitting into two plates the smaller Somali plate and the larger Nubian plate that are moving apart at a snail’s pace of millimeters per year.
As early as 2018, the news of a crack in Kenya began to gain traction, with many claiming it was evidence that Africa was splitting in two before our very eyes. However, it would be a little erroneous to consider it as clear evidence of the great division of Africa.
At the time, this was probably just a highly localized manifestation of the valley’s regular rifting activity. The crack in Kenya was only a tangential hint at what is happening on the continent.
However, in another 5-10 million years, changes could lead to the fact that the world will look completely different.
Around this time, we are likely to see a new oceanic form between the Somali and Nubian plates. The great African continent will lose its eastern arm, and a vast sea will cut off East Africa.
As strange as it may seem, it is worth remembering that the surface of the Earth is in a continuous process of change. It happens so slowly that all the accumulated experience of human civilization cannot explain it.
The appearance of the world is relatively new. The land and sea that we see today – Eurasia, America, Africa, Antarctica and Oceania – are the product of huge tectonic plates that fit together like a puzzle. However, on a scale of millions of years, these pieces of the puzzle are slowly moving.
Just think of the split that took place on Earth about 138 million years ago when South America and Africa separated.
If you look at the west coast of Africa and the east coast of South America, you will notice that they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, perfectly highlighting how these continents were once combined into one.
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