Huge crack splitting Africa in two

Africa's eastern edge has begun to crack away along a 60-kilometre rift that appeared virtually overnight.

According to a new study, the continent will eventually split along a 5,000-km line between Ethiopia in the north and Mozambique in the south. A huge new ocean will fill the gap between the resultant land masses.

The surface fault in the arid, sparsely populated region of Afar in Ethiopia appeared over the course of 10 days in September 2005, according to seismologist Atalay Ayele of Addis Ababa University. It was prompted by underground volcanic activity.

At its widest, the so-called Afar Depression is roughly a football field across. At its deepest, it goes down two kilometres.

Ayele described it Thursday "as the most exciting place on Earth" to study the large-scale seismic effects of tectonic shifting. Most faults this size appear beneath the oceans.

"It is very hostile to study under the sea," said Ayele from his office at the university. "There are only two places on the planet where you can see the transition between oceanic and continental rifts on dry land. They are Iceland and Afar. And Afar is not contaminated by glaciation."

The split is not expected any time soon. Ayele referred to a "geologic time scale" running to a million years. However, he said, "a series of volcanic events" might push that timetable up significantly, to a thousand years or so.

For now, the rift is the province of a small group of academics and the desert people who live alongside it. Some villages running alongside the rift are as much as 70 metres below sea level, putting them in danger from an opening that stretches down more than 600 storeys.

"There is life going on around (the rift)," Ayele said. "It is like a big water tower which is protected by volcanic walls. And the process is still continuing."

Are the villagers in danger?

"Yes, but the good thing is that there are nomads," he said. "They're always portable."

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/...g-africa-in-two

HOW can they be so confident in saying this when the crack appeared "virtually overnight" ?? Is "virtually overnight" part of the "geologic time scale"?

Another continent in the making.

HOW can they be so confident in saying this when the crack appeared "virtually overnight" ?? Is "virtually overnight" part of the "geologic time scale"?

Did you ever see the movie: "The Gods Must Be Crazy?" At the end, the Bushman star of the movie throws the Coke bottle into the Great Rift. It's quite a scene. He thinks the valley is the end of the world. If you haven't seen it, there's a synopsis here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080801/

It's one of my all-time favorite movies.

Anyway, the point is that the African Rift Valley has been known for thousands of years, and has been "understood" for about 50 years since the advent of "plate techtonics." The article is just talking about a recent event that opened a new part so it can be seen at the surface now.

Here's more info than you probably want to know:

http://www.platetectonics.com/oceanfloors/somali.asp

and

http://geology.com/articles/east-africa-rift.shtml

Or you can just take Sean's word for it. A new continent forming. But don't hold your breath.

OooooKay, not quite what I imagined. I knew about THAT Rift Valley (a teeny-tiny bit), but made the wrong assumption that this was a whole new "overnight" break/crack somewhere else.
Thanks for clearing that up, Earthist. Fascinating place, fascinating stuff.

~~~~ETA:
No, have not seen that movie, but will put it on my "list".

This post has been edited by Skookum on Nov 8 2009, 12:11 AM

Fascinating... thanks for starting this thread, Mav. I had heard a little about the rift but not much.

And great info, Earthist! I tried to watch that movie once, when I was a lot younger. At the time I didn't "get it." I think I sort of shrugged and went on my way. I will have to watch this now that I'm a little older and wiser... or at least a little more aware! It was probably too profound for my punky self to take in...

That was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. It was great.