Birth of a New Ocean: Unveiling the Emerging Rift in Africa’s Hostile Afar Region
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In 2005, the Afar region, known as one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, experienced a series of 420 earthquakes and volcanic activity that led to the creation of a new ‘ocean’. This surprising phenomenon may eventually divide the continent of Africa, with the emergence of two 60-kilometer-long cracks.
5-10 million years for this process to take place
Experts initially estimated that it would take approximately 5-10 million years for this process to take place. However, recent scientific findings suggest that it might happen sooner than expected. Geoscientist Cynthia Ebinger, who has been researching this issue since the 1980s and is now a researcher at Tulane University in the US, believes that the timeline has been significantly reduced.
“We have managed to cut the time to something like 1 million years, maybe even half that,” explains Ebinger. Her credibility stems from her extensive research on the subject, with her works published in prestigious scientific publications like Nature and cited over 16,000 times by her colleagues.
Ebinger’s research, including her 1998 Nature article titled “Cenozoic Magmatism Across East Africa Resulting from Impact of a Single Plume,” has provided valuable insights into the impact of magma on the Ethiopian plateau. Her studies also indicate that the Ethiopian highlands and East Africa have the largest volumes of magma, spread across a vast region divided by the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the East African rift systems.
One significant factor hindering the formation of a new ocean in this region is an underground volcano in Ethiopia that prevents a large body of saltwater from passing through. However, the tectonic plates in the area, including the Somalian, African (or Nubian), and Arabian plates, continue to exert pressure on the region, potentially leading to the separation of a portion of the Somali plate and its movement towards the Indian Ocean. This separation would create the space required for a new ocean to form.
Birth of a new ocean
While many refer to this as the birth of a new ocean, Ebinger clarifies that it is not always accurate to categorize it as such. The primary evidence supporting this theory comes from the events of 2005, when 420 earthquakes shook the Afar region, accompanied by volcanic activity that released ash into the air.
A 2009 research led by Ethiopian geophysicist Atalay Ayele of Addis Ababa University identified three magma sources in the Dabbahu-Gab’ho and Ado’Ale volcanic complexes, with the largest source being the origin of a significant portion of the volcanic flow. In the scholarly journal Geophysical Research Letters, Ayele explains that this “volcanic-tectonic crisis” will eventually develop into the morphology of an incipient oceanic rift.
Ayele further confirms that many rupture activities are already in progress. As the Eurasian and African plates collide, new mountain ranges similar to the Alps are being formed. However, the entire geological process is expected to take thousands, if not millions, of years to fully complete.
While the seismic map indicates the emergence of an ocean, it is crucial to understand that the timescales involved are vast. Ayele emphasizes that although an oceanic formation is underway, the completion of the process will require millions and millions of years.
In conclusion, the Afar region’s extraordinary geological events in 2005 have sparked the possibility of a new ocean forming in Africa. While the process is expected to take an extensive amount of time, scientists have managed to shorten the estimated timeline significantly. The emergence of this new ocean will reshape the continent and provide valuable insights into Earth’s ever-evolving geological processes.
