History classes may one day be teaching students about a sixth ocean forming from the East African Rift.
In 2005, there was a major rift episode spanning 35 miles in an Ethiopian desert. At the time twenty years ago, some geologists believed it would result in the formation of a new ocean down the line.
But those once controversial hypotheses have garnered new traction as global scientists have confirmed that the volcanic process beneath the rift closely resembles those at the bottom of other oceans.
Now, scientists suggest that the rift sitting atop three tectonic plates could eventually split the continent entirely. If this occurs, it wouldn’t be for another five to 10 million years.
So no, we will not be seeing a sixth ocean in our lifetime, but at least we can study the initial formation of one, at “the only place on Earth where you can study how continental rift becomes an oceanic rift,” according to Christopher Moore, who was a Ph.D. doctoral student at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom in 2020. What is being observed is different from the formation of continental crust, he noted.
However, geologists and other researches studying the rift are taking some heat—literally. The rift is located in an area, known as the Afar, that’s home to the hottest inhabited town on Earth, with daytime temperatures reaching 130°F.
Prominent scientist working with the rift, like Cynthia Ebinger, a geophysicist at Tulane University in New Orleans, think rising magma is creating pent up pressure responsible for Africa’s rifting events. Though the tectonic plates are moving at various speeds (some up to 0.3 inches per year), their combined movement can create a “mid-ocean ridge system,” ultimately the potential for an entirely new ocean.
If you’re wondering where water for a new ocean would come from, good question! The possible new ocean would be filled by existing oceans and seas. You can think of it similar to how the Atlantic ocean formed when Pangea split and existing bodies of water flooded in.
Again, if a new ocean forms, it wouldn’t be for millions of years. So until then, scientists will continue to study the tectonic movement in East Africa.