Because most philosophies that frown on reproduction don't survive.

Monday, June 28, 2010

African Rift Likely to Form New Ocean

Scientists have been paying special attention to the East African Rift since 2005, when a series of rifts began to open at the boundary of the African and Somalian plates. As the series of fissures has continued to develop, and more seismic measurements have been taken, over the last five years, Dr. Tim Wright has come to the conclusion that what we are seeing is the formation of a new ocean -- or of a new island, depending on how you want to look at it.


According to the presentation Wright is presenting to the Roay Society's Summer Exhibition, over the next ten million years we will see part of Somalia and Ethiopia separate from the rest of Africa to form a large island in the Indian Ocean. The process of tectonic divergence being observed on land here is similar to what goes on below the ocean at the Mid-Atlantic Rift and other place of tectonic divergence around the globe. And it makes for some pretty impressive pictures.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, 10M years is what I've heard too, and that bums me out. Geology is a hobby of mine, and I've often wished I could fast forward things to watch the Rift widen, or to see Loihi break the surface, or to find out how much taller the Himalayas will get before they stop growing. It sucks to be mortal.

Joel

Unknown said...

JOEL,
WHY NOT MODEL IT, IF IT HAS NOT ALREADY BEEN DONE SO, WHO NEEDS TO BE AROUND WHEN WE CAN MODEL THE FUTURE WITHOUT THE TREMORS, EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOS.