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Posted Fri Jun 25 2010: from
BBC:
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Africa 'witnessing birth of a new ocean' http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1277485248
Africa is witnessing the birth of a new ocean, according to scientists at the Royal Society.
Geologists working in the remote Afar region of Ethiopia say the ocean will eventually split the African continent in two, though it will take about 10 million years.... In 2005, a 60km long stretch of the earth opened up to a width of eight metres over a period of just ten days.
Hot, molten rock from deep within the Earth is trickling to the surface and creating the split.... "It will pull apart, sink down deeper and deeper and eventually... parts of southern Ethiopia, Somalia will drift off, create a new island, and we'll have a smaller Africa and a very big island that floats out into the Indian Ocean."
Lead researcher Tim Wright who is presenting the research at the Royal Society's Summer Exhibition, described the events as "truly incredible".
Used to understanding changes in the planet on timescales of millions of years, the international team of scientists including Dr Wright have seen amazing changes in Afar in the past five years, where the continent is cracking open, quite literally underneath their feet.
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'Doc Michael says:
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Ok, this doesn't belong in the ApocaDocs. But if a continent splits and there's no one left to name it, does it have a name?
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And still, it's cool.
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