Africa Is Slowly Splitting Into Two Creating A New Ocean

According to a study, Africa is slowly splitting in two, creating a new ocean due to a process called “rifting.”

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.

A paper published in Science describes a 3 million-year-old discovery that may rewrite the history of intelligent life on earth that was uncovered at a site in Nyayanga, Kenya.

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