Has a new ocean begun to form in Africa?
Friday, 24 July 2020
According to scientists from the Royal Society, a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences, the world is starting to witness the birth of a new ocean located in Africa. The process will be finished 10 million years from now but now it is possible to see that the continent is starting to split in two in the remote Afar region of Ethiopia. Let’s learn more about this spectacular event.
The event was described as “truly incredible” by Tim Wright, lead researcher who is presenting the research at the Royal Society’s Summer Exhibition.
It is not usual to experience this kind of event first hand because they are long processes and take millions of years. For that reason, as scientists are used to understanding these kinds of changes in the planet on timescales of millions of years, the international team of scientists have seen breathtaking changes in Afar in the past five years. In this Ethopian region, the continent is cracking open, quite literally underneath their feet.
It was 15 years ago, in 2005, that this process started to be noticed. The earth opened up to a width of eight metres over a period of just ten days in a stretch of 60 metres long.
What is causing this amazing event?
Why is this area rifting and spreading? One explanation is that the Afar plume has been heating the region from below. This mantle plume prompted the African continent to rise and split, creating rift valleys. Much like how the North Atlantic Ocean opened 80 million years ago, there appears to be a close connection between a large mantle plume and the creation of new continental rifts and, eventually, two passive (continental) margins separated by seafloor spreading at ocean ridges.
Geologists have long been able to identify different tectonic settings and plate boundaries. Extensional (divergent), collisional, and transformational boundaries have been recognized for decades.
According to reports by the BBC, “Hot, molten rock from deep within the Earth is trickling to the surface and creating the split.”
“Underground eruptions are still continuing and, ultimately, the horn of Africa will fall away and a new ocean will form” they added.
“A Smaller Africa and a Big Island in the Indian Ocean”
“Parts of the region are below sea level and the ocean is only cut off by about a 20-metre block of land in Eritrea”, stated Dr James Hammonf, a seismologist from the University of Bristol who has been working in the area.
"Eventually this will drift apart," he said. "The sea will flood in and will start to create this new ocean.
"It will pull apart, sink down deeper and deeper and eventually... parts of southern Ethiopia, Somalia will drift off, create a new island, and we'll have a smaller Africa and a very big island that floats out into the Indian Ocean."
Researchers have expressed how extremely lucky they are for being able to witness the birth of this ocean because, normally, the process is hidden beneath the seas.
They plan to conduct experiments that will allow them to understand how the surface of the Earth is shaped. They believe this will allow them to understand natural hazards like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Are you interested in Breathtaking Events like this one?
If you would like to be one of those researchers working in this field and getting to experience these interesting kinds of events firsthand, then consider pursuing the following degrees offered by some of the best universities in South Africa:
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