New Ocean Is Being Born As Africa Splits Into Two Continents

Africa’s throwing the slowest, most dramatic breakup ever: the continent is literally cracking in half along the East African Rift, and in a few dozen million years, it’ll birth a shiny new ocean. Picture the planet going through a messy divorce—Somalian plate packing its bags, Nubian plate staying put, and the Afar region as the awkward triple-junction custody battle zone. It’s moving at a blistering 0.28 inches per year, so don’t cancel your safari plans just yet, but volcanoes and quakes are the messy side effects. Mother Earth is out here playing the long game like, “You kids wait, this ocean’s gonna be epic.”