Scientists just discovered Africa is closer to breaking apart than we thought
Researchers say the crust is about 13 kilometers thick in the rift center, a threshold that points to eventual continental breakup and new ocean formation.
- A new study published in Nature Communications reports the Turkana Rift reached a "critical threshold" of thinning, indicating the African continent will split apart sooner than previously expected.
- Stretching across Kenya and Ethiopia, the East African Rift System is experiencing "necking," a process where crustal thickness has dropped to about 13 kilometers in the center.
- About 4 million years ago, the necking phase began, creating optimal sedimentation conditions that preserved more than 1,200 hominin fossils in the Turkana region.
- The African plate is currently splitting into the massive Nubian plate and the smaller Somali plate, a process that will eventually lead to oceanization and form a new seafloor.
- Researchers intend to feed these results into tectonic models coupled with climate data to explore how shifting landmasses influenced human evolution and future continental separation.
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A NEW study finds that Africa is breaking apart faster than expected. Thin crust in the Turkana Fault is accelerating the process, leading to the creation of a new ocean in a few million years.
A new geological study conducted by Columbia University has revealed that tectonic rift in the African continent is occurring much faster than previously thought, and the Earth's crust has crossed a critical threshold. Analyzing data from the Turkana Rift, scientists have stated that a new ocean will form on the continent once the process is complete.
Scientists just discovered Africa is closer to breaking apart than we thought
Beneath East Africa’s Turkana Rift, scientists have found the crust is thinning to a critical point, suggesting the continent is gradually breaking apart. This “necking” process marks an advanced stage of rifting that could eventually lead to a new ocean forming millions of years from now. Surprisingly, the same geological forces that are splitting the land may also explain why the region holds such a rich fossil record. Instead of being the birthplace of humanity, Turkana may just be where the story was best preserved.
Science Alert
Hasan JasimAfrica Is Breaking Apart Faster Than We Thought, Forming a New Ocean
It's reached a "critical threshold".ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.
Geologists have discovered that the African continent will split much sooner than previously thought. The active tectonic rift zone has reached a "critical threshold" and soon.
Geologists have discovered that Africa, the continent, will fragment faster than thought. An active rift has reached a "critical prag" and will break soon, forming a new ocean – although "soon" means a few million years, geologically.
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