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Science News

New Ocean being Formed in Africa 261

Posted by CowboyNeal from the puddle-jumping dept.
PenguinRadio writes "The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting on a 37-mile long fissure that split open in September in the Afar desert in Ethiopia that could be the start of a new ocean forming. The fissure, which grew 8 meters wide in 3 weeks following an earthquake on Sept 14, is now splitting at about 0.8 inches per year, would eventually lead to Ethiopia eastern portions becoming an island in a million years or so. The findings were presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting taking place in San Francisco this week. The BBC reports that formation of a ocean basin is the first step toward developing an ocean, but that it will be millions of years before that could occur."
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New Ocean being Formed in Africa More

New Ocean being Formed in Africa

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  • Great (Score:5, Funny)

    by SilverspurG ( 844751 ) * on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:36PM (#14228585) Homepage Journal
    It's easier to form a new ocean than it is to ask the company for a raise.
    • The fissure grows 8 meters wide in 3 weeks following an earthquake on Sept 14, and then increases at a rate of about 0.8 inches per year. Given the first metric is even possible, it's absurd to think that the the second rate will remain constant so projection to millions of years is invalid. It would be just as valid to conclude that the increase is decelerating and eventually close back up.

      • Re:Million Year estimates... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by patternjuggler ( 738978 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @03:36PM (#14229419) Homepage
        The fissure grows 8 meters wide in 3 weeks following an earthquake on Sept 14, and then increases at a rate of about 0.8 inches per year. Given the first metric is even possible, it's absurd to think that the the second rate will remain constant so projection to millions of years is invalid. It would be just as valid to conclude that the increase is decelerating and eventually close back up.

        'millions of years' sounds vague enough to fit the evidence. You'll notice that when someone says 'a million years from now' they don't mean A.D. 1,002,005 - the missing zeros are an indication of a lack of precision.

        I assume there are more inputs to the claim than a couple of observed rates- like corroboration with knowledge of plate movements there and in adjacent regions from other sources, e.g. given that the plate is moving, and there are no other causes to show that the movement will be opposed by other plates or whatever processes are thought to govern this, it seems pretty safe to say the plate will continue to move at some average rate (though speeding up and slowing down is certainly possible) in the same direction.

  • bookmark this (Score:5, Funny)

    by BibelBiber ( 557179 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:37PM (#14228592)
    Shall I tell my kids to bookmark this article then? Just in case they forget when it all started?

    • Re:bookmark this (Score:5, Funny)

      by Ricky Cousins ( 119722 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:47PM (#14228659)
      Don't worry, I'm sure it will be duped a few times.

    • Re:bookmark this (Score:5, Funny)

      by roman_mir ( 125474 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @01:02PM (#14228705) Homepage Journal
      Shall I tell my kids to bookmark this article then? Just in case they forget when it all started? - useless. Imagine Kansas one million years from now.

      Student: I just found this /. bookmark from a MILLION years ago! It says that an ocean started in Africa from a fissure or something like that.
      Teacher: Nonsense, the Earth is only 6000 years old. This so called /. article and the fissure you are talking about were all created in an instant back then, it is the god's way of testing your believing in him.
      All Students: Oooooooo! Aaaaaaa!
      Teacher: Yes, we are in Kansas.
      • Actualy wouldn't that be one milion six thousand years ago not 6000?

        I mean, the 6000 year hasn't always been 6000 has it?
        • I mean, the 6000 year hasn't always been 6000 has it? - Yes it has. That's the point :)
          • Re:bookmark this (Score:1, Troll)
            I mean, the 6000 year hasn't always been 6000 has it? - Yes it has. That's the point :)

            ---
            Aaaaa :) Kansas educational system hard at work.

      • Re:bookmark this (Score:4, Insightful)

        by roman_mir ( 125474 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @02:04PM (#14229010) Homepage Journal
        Something about the moderation of this post teaches me about the realities of the world. The parent post was moderated as 'Troll' at least 5 times by now. It was then moderated as Funny also just as many times.

        What we are observing here on this miniscule scale is the gigantic battle that is taking place in this world. The battle between the forces of stupidity, obedience, fanatism, blind religiouos principles versus the forces of logic, humour, personal responsibility, scientific principles, and tolerance. /. can be viewed as reflection of the world.

        .
        BTW. I wanted everyone to note, that yesterday we lost a person [slashdot.org], who was one of the people fighting this same battle. I don't need to tell you which side of the battle he was on.

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion
          • Mike, nothing special is happenning here. It's just another place like every other place. Like work, politics, economy, science, religion.

            And by the way, I know it is all futile, I didn't get a minor in Astronomy for nothing :)
        • As far as I can figure out, the post got three times as many "funny" mods as it got "troll" mods. Which pretty much reflects the distribution of opinion amongst slashdotters.

          The ID versus Evolution battle is "gigantic" only if you live in Kansas or are a zealot on either side. It makes good news copy, but aside from that it's just not very important.

          What we really have is a small but militant religious movement that is rejected by most people — including Christians. Their strident intolerance is m

      • of course, by then Kansas will be an island... :-)

  • Buy Rea Estate Now (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:37PM (#14228597)
    Hey I have some great Ocean View Property in the middle of Africa. Email me if you're interested.
    • "Hey I have some great Ocean View Property in the middle of Africa. Email me if you're interested."

      The newest Nigerian email scam is going to be an Etheopian ocean scam? Who'd have seen that coming?
      • Who'd have seen that coming?

        I remember reading 20 years ago about how the eastern edge of Africa was going to break off from the rest, over the next few dozen million years. So, I guess the answer is: lots of geologists :)

  • Real estate (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tx ( 96709 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:38PM (#14228600) Journal
    Time to snap up some cheap ethiopian desert land. Will be valuable beachfront holiday developments in a few hundred millenia or so.

  • Photo at the BBC (Score:4, Informative)

    by geeber ( 520231 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:38PM (#14228601)
    BBC article [bbc.co.uk]

  • Global warming (Score:3, Funny)

    by voicecrying ( 774890 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:39PM (#14228608) Homepage
    Maybe we should hurry global warming along to melt the polar ice caps sooner so we have enough water to fill that new ocean.

  • A little info on what's going to happen (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:43PM (#14228628)

    In East Africa, spreading processes have already torn Saudi Arabia away from the rest of the African continent, forming the Red Sea. The actively splitting African Plate and the Arabian Plate meet in what geologists call a triple junction, where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden. A new spreading center may be developing under Africa along the East African Rift Zone. When the continental crust stretches beyond its limits, tension cracks begin to appear on the Earth's surface. Magma rises and squeezes through the widening cracks, sometimes to erupt and form volcanoes. The rising magma, whether or not it erupts, puts more pressure on the crust to produce additional fractures and, ultimately, the rift zone.

    East Africa may be the site of the Earth's next major ocean. Plate interactions in the region provide scientists an opportunity to study first hand how the Atlantic may have begun to form about 200 million years ago. Geologists believe that, if spreading continues, the three plates that meet at the edge of the present-day African continent will separate completely, allowing the Indian Ocean to flood the area and making the easternmost corner of Africa (the Horn of Africa) a large island.

    From Understanding Plate Motions [usgs.gov]

  • Where's the money... (Score:5, Funny)

    by __aaclcg7560 ( 824291 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:44PM (#14228635)
    Where do I sign up for the $1 billion government grant to study this new "ocean"? Since it's going to take a while, I should build a nice palace -- uh, research station -- to observe this natural event.
    • Do you need a research associate?
    • Where do I sign up for the $1 billion government grant to study this new "ocean"? Since it's going to take a while, I should build a nice palace -- uh, research station -- to observe this natural event.

      That is not too far from the truth. There is so much grant money, and it is so easy to get. There is a lot of red tape, and paperwork, but once you learn the system, you can have a nice stream of never-ending cash for whatever research you wish.

      After seeing others get grants, I think I want to go back to

      • After seeing others get grants, I think I want to go back to university and get a Ph.D. in sociology. I'll do my Ph.D. on the effects of having a million dollar trust fund and driving a ferrari. Now I just need to fill out that application for the grant.

        Within the past couple of years the rate of acceptance for NSF proposals has dipped to as low as 2-3%. Recently, I heard that their new goal is to increase their acceptance rate to a whopping 5%. Also, do not totally buy into the belief that peer-revie

    • Where do I sign up for the $1 billion government grant to study this new "ocean"? Since it's going to take a while, I should build a nice palace -- uh, research station -- to observe this natural event.

      Step one, change your name to Haliburton.

      Step two, massive profits.

  • God (Score:4, Funny)

    by Webs 101 ( 798265 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:44PM (#14228638) Homepage
    God is obviously trying to cover up all those embarrassing hominid fossils he missed obliterating in the last flood.
    • If you're assuming the fossils we entitiled "hominid" are a true mixture of the two species. Pages such as this [talkorigins.org] try to explain. Bones are good to look at. Today our world is much smaller because of technology. In today's world living evidence of the intermediate form does not exist. Most often people assume science refutes creationism and vice-versa; not true. Our world is complex enough that science has not been able to explain a lot (yet), has barely scratched the surface of figuring out many topics and y
  • The fissure, which grew 8 meters wide in 3 weeks following an earthquake on Sept 14, is now splitting at about 0.8 inches per year, would eventually lead to Ethiopia eastern portions becoming an island in a million years or so.

    Dear God, look out! An ocean is forming. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo *gasp* oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooo...

  • Today's swimming pool could turn into an ocean in a million years! Maybe a prophet or fortune teller could enlighten us further in subsequent comments?

  • Sort of jumping the gun here (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ebuck ( 585470 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:45PM (#14228649)
    Within the article it states that many prospective ocean basins fizz out and never really develop into ocean basins.

    So, are there reasons to expect that this one will develop into a full fledged ocean? I mean, it is not easy to predict future events, but without some measure of certainty, wouldn't a more appropriate title have been "Giant Fissure in Ethiopia Continues to Grow"?
    • No, because the article's focus is that it may be the birth of an ocean. Ignoring that in the title would be misrepresenting the aim of the article.
      • Sort of like posting:

        (from Slashdot) Science: New Ocean Being Formed in Africa
        (from BBC NEWS) Geologists Witness 'Ocean Birth'

        And then explaining that really it MAY be the birth of an Ocean, or MAY be a big rift that will settle down.

        Fortunately, doing a bit of research shows that it's just lazy reporting, as many people with detailed knowledge of Geology have been aware of this "triple-junction" of plates, and the events that tend to indicate that the some of the plates will start moving away from each oth
    • You're right in that it may not happen. What the scientists are excited about is that they get to actually see and record the inital process. I would imagine it's really exciting, like watching Sun 6800 console output during POST. After that, who knows what could happen.
    • All that water from melting glaciers has to go somewhere.

    • Entertain yourself somewhere with a few interesting things. www.nealadams.com has a discussion on geology one might like to look at on this topic of spreading open rifts etc.

      Try looking at the Platt, Republican and Democrat Rivers in Nebraska some time. I have some stunning photos that show this taken from 37,000 feet. These rivers run in rifts. (Yes these are names of rivers not a political statement) Such rifts are stunning because they fit like puzzles from side to side.

      Mods -- if you disagree, g

  • umm (Score:2, Interesting)

    by routerguy666 ( 926506 )
    Can't predict with any degree of certainty wether it will rain or snow a few days from now but they can predict that a crack in the ground now will form an ocean in a million years. In the middle of a desert. Ok.

    • Re:umm (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Duh. Air has infinitely more degrees of freedom than rock. The atmosphere is a chaotic, infinite-dimensional, fluid dynamics problem. Ever hear of the butterfly effect? Tectonic plates, on the other hand, haven't changed their general direction of motion in millions of years, and they're not about to do so now. I mean, can you imagine the momentum those things have?

      • They can't have all that much momentum. It's the product of mass and velocity, and while the mass may be huge, the velocity is infinitesimal.

        I do agree with your major point, though, that their motion is much easier to predict than that of the air.

    • Can't predict with any degree of certainty wether it will rain or snow a few days from now but they can predict that a crack in the ground now will form an ocean in a million years. In the middle of a desert. Ok.

      The weather is rapidly changing and chaotic. The movement of tectonic plates is slow and steady.

    • Re:umm (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Daniel Dvorkin ( 106857 ) *
      Can't predict with any degree of certainty wether it will rain or snow a few days from now but they can predict that a crack in the ground now will form an ocean in a million years. In the middle of a desert. Ok.

      Idiot.

      First of all, this has nothing to do with climatology. But even if it did ...

      I can't predict with any degree of certainty where, when, or how you're going to die. I can, however, predict with a fair degree of certainty that in a million years, you'll be dead.

      Do you see the difference now?

  • In Other News... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Chaffar ( 670874 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @12:51PM (#14228673)
    New Oceanfront Property for sale in the middle of the Afar Desert. Don't miss this Once in a Lifetime long-term Investment Opportunity! Timeshare opportunities also available. Check out our Brochure! [alovelyworld.com]
    • If someone were to buy all the land that's eventually going to be at the bottom of this new ocean does that mean they'll own the water over it? I've always wanted to own an ocean. Hey Ethopia, you want access to the ocean? It's going to cost you.
  • Interesting that the guy in the article compared it to the Red Sea, as that is considered to be a failed ocean rift.

  • It must be Bush's fault (Score:3, Funny)

    by Cascading ( 904356 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @01:03PM (#14228714)
    And now back to natural disasters.

  • Future Lake? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by nurb432 ( 527695 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @01:03PM (#14228716) Homepage Journal
    Given the timefram here, how do we *know* its going to be a ocean?

    Oceans are pretty damned large. This thing may never surpass 'lake' stage. Or even just a big mud puddle that reverts back to 'land' when it dries up.
    • They never said that they know. I saw "could be" used a couple times though. They figure if it is a new ocean, it'll take a million+ years to form. That gives them lots of time to change their findings if the growth slows ;)
    • yeah, but that would not make a good story, and wel'll all be dead before anyone knows if its right or wrong.

      Never let the truth get in the way of a good story - An Editor near you.

    • The term "ocean" when used by an Earth Scientist has a specific meaning which isn't quite the same as the common, everyday usage meaning a large expanse of water.

      Geologically, an ocean is a region of the Earth's crust composed of basaltic rocks (of MORB composition) which is generated at a spreading ridge. Because the thickness of this type of crust is pretty uniformly 15Km thick, it's somewhat lower than sea level, hence the expanse of water. This is very different from continental crust which is granitic

  • Post-Eritrean Independence (Score:3, Funny)

    by MrZaius ( 321037 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @01:17PM (#14228780) Homepage
    Three Days Before the Fissure Formed:
    Ghost of Haile Selassie: Oh Lord, restore my home. Allow them access to the sea, that they might flourish again.
    God: Sure thing, mac.

    Three Days After:
    God: Happy yet?
    Ghost: I meant give us back Eritrea!
    God: That'll teach you to pray

  • Madagascar (Score:3, Interesting)

    by FudRucker ( 866063 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @01:30PM (#14228836)
    i wonder if the Island of Madagascar got its start this way, if you look at it like a jigsaw puzzle it would fit right in to the east coast of the continent Africa

  • Old news ... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 10, 2005 @01:37PM (#14228878)
    The Afar region has been stretching apart, in the process of forming a new ocean, for the last 10 or 20 million years. Stretching rates in various parts of the rift vary from 6 to 12mm per year. Parts of the Afar region [google.com] are already >100m below sea level and filled with salt deposits [google.com], and the area is faulted extensively, with many tilted blocks of older material [google.com] and extensive volcanoes (e.g., Erte Ale [google.com]) related to the stretching (imagine the effect if you stretched a piece of candy with a brittle crust). So, the headline isn't really news at all.

    The new part is the establishment and growth of such an obvious fissure where one did not exist before. The new one is fascinating, but only the latest example of a process that has been ongoing for a long time, and which will probably continue for millions of years more before the ocean eventually invades.

  • Science extrapolating out....are you sure? (Score:3, Informative)

    by billnad ( 206934 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @01:38PM (#14228886) Homepage
    So let me get this straight. There was an earthquake that opened a crack in the earth three months ago and now the scientists involved can tell, after only three months that there will be a sustained widening of this crack by less than one inch per year. After one million years of this exact widening of one inch a year there will be a new ocean created.

    Maybe it is hjust me but most real scientific fact going out a million years would likely be based on more than a three month snapshot of data.

  • They're wrong (Score:5, Informative)

    by amightywind ( 691887 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @01:43PM (#14228903) Journal

    The Afar area is a triple junction where upwelling magma is driving 3 continental crust apart - the Arabian plate, West Africa and East Africa. The plates crack in 120 deg pieces because the configuration relieves plate extensional stress with minimal displacement. What typically happens when the basin expands is that one of arms is abandoned, again for thermodynamic reasons. Spreading along a single great circle requires less membrane deformation of the outer crust than spreading along 3. The principle of least action at work. In this case the active arms of the triple junction are the Red Sea and the East Indian ocean which are sites of rapid spreading of oceanic crust. Th East Africa Rift is clearly spread more slowly than the active arms and will fail. The North Sea, Mississipi delta, Camaroon rift, Connecticut Valley, etc are examples of rift valleys and failed arm abandonment during the opening of ocean basins. Sure, volcanism and rifting can still occur in the failed arm. The extensional faults that define these areas assures this. We see this in Afar, and deeper in the African rift. Camaroon is another example. The triple function there opened 120 Mya and it is still active. But is will never form a wide ocean basin. Afar tectonics are still a very interesting phenomen.

  • What drives plate motions? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Reverse Gear ( 891207 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @01:47PM (#14228926) Homepage
    I wonder if this event will help provide some clue as to what is driving the plate motions.

    When I last had lectures in a subject that had to do with plate-tectonics (~1 year ago) there still wasn't any theory that could "give" enough force to create the plate motions that are observed today and should have happened in the past (at least to the knowledge of my professor).
    For example India should have stopped it's northwards motion long ago but it is still not moving it's way northwards into Eurasia.

  • ironic (Score:2, Funny)

    by icepick72 ( 834363 )
    I left my garden hose turned on -- the knob broke and I cannot turn it off. My lawn is growing squishier at an unknown rate but the squishiness is definitely increasing. In millions of years it may be enough to form the start of an ocean. During my lifetime I think I can get away with rubber boots, but future generations will need hip waders.
    • I don't know what dunderhead modded this as offtopic, but damn, that's funny stuff! I don't care who you are that's a funny joke!

      Lord forgive icepick72, pray for all the Pygmies in Africa ...

  • Another article with MORE PICTURES (Score:5, Informative)

    by scalveg ( 35414 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @02:40PM (#14229153) Homepage
    http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0 201-113&volpage=var [si.edu]

    Speaking as an amateur geologist, I think I can safely use the geophysical jargon and say, "MAN that is FREAKY!"
  • Dereje said that the split is the beginning of a long process, which will eventually lead to Ethiopia's eastern part tearing off from the rest of Africa, a sea forming in the gap. The Afar desert is being torn off the continent by about 0.8 inches each year.

    The ocean will take a long time to form I would guess. Maybe they could stock it well with natural/regional fish and plant species and replenish a source of food?

    I am not sure if this is the same Boina, but it is an interesting picture of an act
  • Does anybody know if there exist any nifty visualizations of what the earth's continents and oceans might look like in the distant future (that of course takes this recent development into account)? I know they have plenty of ones showing how Pangea became todays world, but I haven't seen any that go past today.

  • Yes, Lex Luthor! Look for the secret map with Costa Del Lex, Luthorville, Marina del Lex, Otisburg, etc ...
  • Does that mean it'll contain NEWater [pub.gov.sg]?

  • TV series about this effect. (Score:3, Funny)

    by ScrewMaster ( 602015 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @03:08PM (#14229300)
    There's a new TV series out this season, called "Surface", that describes what's going on in Ethiopia. Eventually the big green creatures will make themselves known and it will all become obvious.
  • This is old news and not a recent development. The land there has been splitting apart for millions of years.

  • Climate? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by crivens ( 112213 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @06:04PM (#14230132)
    How will this affect the climate, assuming it does become an ocean? I know humans probably won't exist by then.

  • I'll Check Out The Progress (Score:3, Funny)

    by Master of Transhuman ( 597628 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @06:16PM (#14230185) Homepage
    in about a million years.

    Later.

  • New ocean? Stupid idea! (Score:3, Funny)

    by grcumb ( 781340 ) on Saturday December 10, 2005 @07:26PM (#14230465) Homepage Journal

    A new ocean, you say? Jeepers, what's wrong with the oceans you've already got? You've got hot ones and cold ones and windy ones and... sheesh! Back in my day, we only had one ocean, and we all had to share it - 'cept for the Lankowitz kid. Never could be too sure about him. And it was small. Couldn't barely fit a ship into it. But did we complain? Hell no! Just made a canoe out of a hollowed out log and called it the Titanic. And we liked it that way. Didn't have no ice to sink it with, neither. Had to use up our only glacier just to keep the drinks cold in the summer time.

    But we never complained. We was proud then, didn't take guff from nobody. Why I remember when the bank came to repossess our desert. Fine desert it was. Some of the best damn Gila monsters ever came outa there. Craftsmanship, that's what we called it. But the bank didn't care. I still remember my pappy standing there with a big timber from our rain forest in his hand, telling that fat-ass banker that he'd come for the wrong desert.

    Ocean! Feh! You kids don't even know what an ocean is any more. Buncha perfectly good ones here, and you still need another. Crybabies waste all the cod in one and then it's 'wah wah wah, gimme 'nother ocean!'

    Tell yer mother to fetch me 'nother glass of my rheumatism medicine, boy. All this talk 'bout oceans is making me tetchy.

  • When the San Andreas Fault failed to fulfill the hope of all coastal Californians that everything East of it would collapse into the Atlantic ocean, leaving them with one big Baha all the way from Vancouver to Tijuana?

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