Africa Is Tearing Apart Much Faster Than Expected

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Africa is splitting in two, and it’s happening way faster than scientists thought! 🌍⚡ A massive crack is forming along the East African Rift, slowly breaking the continent apart. One day—millions of years from now—a new ocean could form right in the middle! 🌊 Scientists have been tracking this shift, and recent studies show that the process is speeding up. Earth’s plates are moving beneath our feet all the time, but this is a huge transformation. Who knows? In the distant future, we might have a whole new continent floating in the ocean!  Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ : Plaque Somalienne: By Micheletb, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plaque_Somalienne.JPG Albertine Rift: By Christoph Hormann, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albertine_Rift,_East_African_Rift_(artificial_rendering).jpg CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ : View along the active Manda-Hararo rift: By DavidMPyle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabbahu_Volcano#/media/File:Manda-Hararo_rift,_Afar.jpg Afar Triangle: By CentreLeftRight, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Afar_Triangle_(political_map).png East African Rift System: By TimCowley, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:East_African_Rift_System,_Lake_Malawi_museum.jpg Animated Tectonic Plates Collide Loop: By LasquetiSpice, CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ , https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/animated-tectonic-plates-collide-loop-4a052941a17941b39052fa1451c63928 UNICEF Ethiopia / YouTube garfieldcdss / YouTube Greenlight Africa  / YouTube Gregornot / Reddit Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00Experts explain Africa is splitting in two, and it will look like this.

00:05Up close, the process is even more shocking, with a massive crack stretching from Mozambique

00:12in the south to the Red Sea in the north.

00:15This gap keeps growing every year, tearing apart the land and destroying homes.

00:20Now specialists believe the continent could split much sooner than we expect.

00:26Africa is breaking apart because of the Somali Plate Movement.

00:30Think of it like a dramatic breakup happening with tectonic plates.

00:34On the east side, there's the Somali Plate.

00:37On the west, we have the Nubian Plate.

00:40And during this breakup, the Somali Plate just wants more space, so is pulling away

00:45from the Nubian Plate.

00:47This movement is forming the East African Rift, a region where tectonic plates are splitting

00:53apart, magma keeps rising from deep below, and a bunch of active volcanoes are being

00:58born.

00:59So this place is hot, with daytime temperatures that can soar to 130°F, and at night, they

01:07cool down to 95°F.

01:10Inside this hot zone, we have the Afar Triangle, also known as the Afar Depression.

01:16And its geology is fascinating, as the rifting process is causing valleys, faults, and deep

01:21cracks to form in this region.

01:24Take for example this massive 35-mile-long fissure in Ethiopia's desert.

01:30It's also so wide that a person can easily fit inside of it.

01:35But what's scary is this crack keeps getting bigger, growing about a half an inch every

01:40year.

01:42The Nubian and Somali plates moving apart could also lead to a new ocean forming in

01:47Africa.

01:49This type of process isn't something new.

01:51About 150 million years ago, when dinosaurs were still around, a similar tectonic shift

01:57created the Atlantic Ocean.

02:00The continents were once all clustered together, but when a rift formed in what was Pangea,

02:06it started pulling them apart, splitting the East and West hemispheres.

02:12So a similar thing is happening with this gap in Africa.

02:15At some point, experts say the waters of the Indian Ocean might flood the East African

02:20Rift Valley, eventually creating a 6th ocean.

02:25Now it's a pity you won't be able to swim in its waters during your lifetime, though.

02:29According to geophysicist Ken McDonald, who specializes in tectonic faults, this dramatic

02:35rupture could happen in 1-5 million years.

02:39Trust me, that's considered fast in geologic terms, and way sooner than most experts thought.

02:45Now even though you won't get to watch Africa breaking apart, people there will still

02:50see and feel the signs.

02:52They might experience intense volcanic eruptions and strong earthquakes as this process slowly

02:58unfolds.

03:00One example is related to that scary crack in Ethiopia's desert we mentioned earlier.

03:05The fissure was created in 2005, after the area was hit by two volcanic eruptions and

03:11163 earthquakes, each with a magnitude greater than 3.9.

03:17A crack this deep and long on Earth usually takes centuries to form, but in this case,

03:23it unfolded in just a matter of days.

03:25That's how powerful this event is.

03:30In fact, this kind of intense seismic activity can speed up the African splitting process,

03:36and that's why it's so hard to predict the exact time frame for the event.

03:40What we know is that people are already calling this new land the Nubian continent.

03:46If the predictions are right, it will include Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and part of Ethiopia.

03:53That's exciting and concerning at the same time.

03:56As new coastlines emerge, countries will need to make major adjustments when it comes to

04:01infrastructure and land management.

04:03They might lose a lot of roads, houses, and other constructions currently located near

04:08or right in the East African Rift.

04:11In Kenya, for example, the fissures tore apart a busy road, and authorities desperately tried

04:17to fill the gap with rocks and cement.

04:20In another case, an old woman was sitting and eating with her family when her house

04:24suddenly split down the middle.

04:26Recently, earthquakes that happened near Ethiopia's Afar region demolished 37 schools and forced

04:33about 5,000 students to leave their classrooms.

04:36Unfortunately, stories like this could become more common over the next few years.

04:43But there is a positive side to all this.

04:46Countries located in the middle of Africa, like Zambia and Uganda, could gain coastlines,

04:52and that might be great for them.

04:54Having a coast means they would get access to new trade routes, opening fresh economic

04:59opportunities.

05:00Plus, think about the tourism boom.

05:03With all those newly formed paradisiacal beaches, these countries could become the

05:07next big gateway spot for travelers.

05:10The local ecosystem in this newly created ocean will change as well, and new marine

05:15species may emerge.

05:18So let's look.

05:20This is the path where the rift is most advanced right now.

05:23I mean, we expect this is where Africa will eventually get separated.

05:28But things could get a little more complicated.

05:32Some time ago, Michael Daly, a geologist at the University of Oxford, suggested that

05:37this rift could extend further west.

05:39And some new evidence backs up his theory, pointing out that the crack could extend south

05:44through Botswana's heartland into South Africa, and west through Namibia, all the

05:49way to the Atlantic Ocean.

05:52If these fractures widen into deep cracks, the ocean might come in and fill the gaps.

05:58Experts say Africa could split so much that it becomes an archipelago.

06:03But then again, we won't see that happening.

06:05It will take tens of millions of years for this to play out.

06:09We already know that Africa is at risk of breaking into a bunch of huge islands, or

06:14small continents.

06:16The news isn't great for Madagascar either, as the world's fourth-largest island could

06:20end up being split in half.

06:23But can the opposite process happen?

06:25I mean, can new land appear as the Nubian and Somali plates move apart?

06:30Well, as these tectonic plates get away from each other, the magma from the Earth's mantle

06:36might rise to the surface, and when it cools, it solidifies into new land.

06:41That's how other places in the world emerged, like Iceland and the Azores.

06:46So yeah, the same process could happen in the East African Rift, and over the long term,

06:52it is possible that the Rift could create new islands.

06:57For now, all we can say is that the geology of the Afar Depression is unique.

07:03It is the most active rift system on our planet.

07:06And when I say rift system, I mean a zone where tectonic plates are pulling apart.

07:12This region brings together all kinds of events, from faults in the Earth's crust to volcanic

07:17zones to the potential formation of a sixth ocean.

07:21For experts, it's like studying the evolution of rifts up close.

07:27And since it is such an active volcanic area, it also has enormous potential for tapping

07:32into geothermal energy, that is, using heat from inside the Earth to generate electricity.

07:38Two geothermal power plants are already producing energy in Ethiopia, one in the Ethiopian Rift

07:44Valley and the other in the Afar.

07:47Now geologists are exploring new potential spots.

07:51When we look at that deep crack in the ground, we know it's caused by tectonic plate movement.

07:56There's no mystery there.

07:58But what we still don't fully understand is why the cracks happen exactly where they

08:03do.

08:05For example, a crack that opened up in Botswana appeared after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake

08:11back in 2017.

08:13But the epicenter wasn't in the rift zone, where the plates are moving, like we would

08:17expect.

08:18Instead, it was farther south.

08:21Since it's unusual for a rift to happen without volcanic activity, this fact really

08:26challenges our traditional ideas of how continents divide.

08:31Figuring out why these cracks appear in specific spots is still a missing piece of the puzzle

08:36for experts trying to explain how Africa is splitting.

08:40Hopefully, we get some answers before the continent turns into a massive archipelago.

08:48That's it for today!

08:49So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your

08:53friends.

08:54Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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