Story highlights

• A new ocean is slowly forming on Africa’s east coast.
• The split could eventually divide the continent into two landmasses.
• The process mirrors how the Atlantic Ocean formed millions of years ago.

A dramatic geological event is unfolding beneath Africa’s eastern edge, where tectonic forces are gradually pulling the continent apart. Scientists say this slow split could eventually create a brand-new ocean, reshaping the planet’s geography forever.

The process is taking place along the East African Rift, which runs from Ethiopia’s Afar region down to Mozambique, passing through Kenya and Tanzania. Over millions of years, this rift could cause parts of eastern Africa, including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia, to drift away from the main continent.

Where the new ocean is forming

The East African Rift marks a massive fracture in the Earth’s crust where two tectonic plates, the Nubian Plate (to the west) and the Somali Plate (to the east), are moving apart. This slow but steady divergence is gradually widening the cracks in the land, creating deep fissures and valleys.

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Eventually, these widening gaps will allow seawater from the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to pour in, forming a new ocean basin and a unique tri-junction of large water bodies, much like how the early Atlantic Ocean was born when South America drifted away from Africa.

How an ocean is born

The formation of a new ocean begins deep underground. In regions like the Afar Depression, where fault lines are active, magma from beneath the Earth’s surface pushes upward through cracks. This molten rock forces the land apart, creating dikes, underground intrusions that push surrounding rock aside and deepen the rift.

As the crust stretches and thins, the land eventually sinks, forming a depression that seawater can later fill, giving rise to a new oceanic basin.

When will Africa split completely?

Although the process sounds monumental, it’s happening at a glacial pace, only a few millimeters each year. At this rate, scientists estimate it could take between 5 and 10 million years for the East African Rift to fully open up and form a new ocean between the two future landmasses.

When that happens, the eastern part of Africa could become a vast island, separated from the main continent by a body of water that may rival the Atlantic or Indian oceans.