Africa is gradually splitting in two. Like anything in geology, it will take millions of years, but ultimately, a portion of East Africa will separate from the rest of the continent, most likely leading to the formation of a new ocean between the two land areas.
The East African Rift System (EARS), is one of the world’s largest rifts that extends thousands of kilometers downward through several African nations, including Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique, is linked to the colossal breakup.
According to a 2004 research, this rift system indicates that the African plate is separating into two plates, the smaller Somalian plate and the bigger Nubian plate, which are pulling apart at a super-slow snail’s speed of millimeters per year.
Many claimed that the news of a fissure appearing in Kenya in 2018 was proof that Africa was splitting apart right before our eyes. Even though this shocking event was connected to the EARS, it’s a little deceptive to use it as live proof of Africa’s vast division.
The EARS has been in this state for approximately 25 million years, and the fracture in Kenya was a hint of what was happening elsewhere on the continent.
The planet may appear very different in another 5 to 10 million years due to changes in the EARS, though. A new ocean is expected to develop between the Nubian plate and the Somalian plate around this period. East Africa will be cut off by a huge sea, and the big continent of Africa will lose its eastern shoulder.
Even though it may seem odd, it’s important to keep in mind that the Earth’s surface is constantly changing; however, because it moves so slowly, human experience is unable to explain it.
The universe as we know it has only recently appeared. The continents of Eurasia, the Americas, Africa, Antarctica, and Oceania that we can see today are the result of enormous geological plates that fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. On a time span of millions of years, however, these puzzle parts move around very slowly.
Just consider the separation of South America and Africa 138 million years ago, which occurred during the Earth’s history. The east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa fit together like two jigsaw puzzle parts, gorgeously illuminating how these continents were once united as one.
East Africa’s exit will merely add another chapter to this enormous geological novel. It doesn’t seem too hopeful that humankind will be around to witness any of these shifts, but who knows.
