Africa may split into two parts faster than expected - Bild

Africa may split into two parts along the East African Fault, which is more than 3,200 kilometers long, creating a sixth ocean at the break. The fault is expanding faster than scientists had previously assumed.

Bild writes about it. The process is caused by the displacement of tectonic plates that are in constant motion. The first signs appeared back in 2005: a crack over 50 kilometers long opened in the Ethiopian desert.

Another fissure appeared in Kenya in 2018 - 15 meters deep, 20 meters wide and several kilometers long.

Until recently, scientists believed that the continent would take 5 to 10 million years to split. However, according to recent data, it is happening much faster.

"We've reduced the time frame to about a million years, maybe even half that," said Cynthia Ebinger, a geologist at Tulane University in New Orleans.

According to her, a powerful seismic event, such as an earthquake, can accelerate this process, although accurate prediction of such events remains a challenge. The scientist added that even if everything seems extremely long in human time, it happens quickly in geology.

The fissure is growing by 0.8-2.5 centimeters every year. As a result, Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and part of Kenya will form a huge island off the coast of Africa. On the other hand, landlocked states such as Zambia and Uganda will gain a coastline.

This process is associated with magma flows that weaken the crust, for example, in Ethiopia, where liquid rock is only 10 km below the surface.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, back in 2005, geologists confirmed that Africa would split into two parts and a new ocean would appear on the planet. Among the Ethiopian deserts, a fault of more than 56 km was discovered, which, according to geologists, is the beginning of a new sea.

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