New ocean in making? Africa slowly splitting into two, scientists predict nature's rarest move

As Africa splits into two pieces, scientists predict the beginning of the rarest natural phenomena. Researchers believe that in the distant future, the creation of a new ocean may result in the division of Africa into two pieces. The separation of two significant portions of the continent may eventually lead to the formation of a new body of water. In millions of years, landlocked nations like Zambia and Uganda might have their own coasts.

The splitting of an one tectonic plate into two or more tectonic plates divided by divergent plate borders is known as rifting, according to Science Direct. Where the Earth's tectonic plates separate, a lowland area known as the rift valley arises, according to National Geographic.

These rift valleys can be found both on land and on the ocean's floor. According to IFLScience research, this event dates back at least 138 million years to the time when South America and Africa became separated into separate continents. According to NBC News, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden were formed as a result of the Arabian plate moving away from Africa for the past 30 million years.

READ | Iceberg larger than size of Delhi: Scientists issue warning, may impact...

Why is Africa dividing into two parts?

East African Rift, 56 kilometres (35 miles) long break that appeared in Ethiopia's desert in 2005, is associated with the division of the continent. A new sea will form as a result of this. According to the seismic data used in the study, tectonic events comparable to those occurring at the ocean's bottom caused the rift to form.

According to the Economic Times, the split was found near the intersection of three tectonic plates that had already begun to separate: the African Nubian, African Somali, and Arabian. The East African Rift Valley stretches about 3,000 km from Zimbabwe in the south to the Gulf of Aden in the north. The Somali and Nubian plates are the two components that make up the African plate.

According to Moore, who has been deploying satellite radar to track volcanic event in East Africa that is related to the continent's split, it was detected that oceanic plates is beginning to develop since it is clearly separate from earth's crust in their structure and density, told NBC News in 2018.

READ | Did you miss the ‘green’ comet? New brighter comet likely to visit Earth in 2024, check details inside

How soon will Africa be splitted?

Africa will be divided into two unequal halves in a few million years and so the new ocean will not form for at least 5–10 million years, Zambia and Uganda, who are landlocked nations, may ultimately have their own coastlines. According to USA Today, the fissure will divide Africa into smaller continents that will encompass nations like modern-day Somalia and portions of Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.

Ken Macdonald, an emeritus professor of marine geophysics at the University of California, said that the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden will merge to form a new ocean and flow across the Afar area and into the East African Rift Valley, separating that portion of East Africa into a new, tiny continent.