The world map will change forever: a continent has begun to split in two

Researchers have detected signs of a process that could completely reshape one of the continents. The African continent is slowly undergoing a process that, in the distant future, could entirely alter the planet's map. In East Africa, the Earth's crust in certain areas has become so thin that further development of the rift system may ultimately lead to the emergence of a new ocean basin. According to ScienceAlert, citing a study by scientists at Columbia University, geologists have focused particular attention on the Turkana rift zone, which runs through Kenya and Ethiopia. Measurements have shown a huge difference in crustal thickness: in the central part of the rift it is about 13 kilometers, while along its edges it exceeds 35 kilometers. This thinning is the result of lithospheric stretching. The East African Rift System is an area where parts of the African Plate are gradually moving apart. This process involves the large Nubian Plate to the west and the Somali Plate to the east. Geologist Christian Rowan explained that this mechanism can sustain rift development: the more the crust thins, the easier its stretching continues. However, current generations will not see Africa split into two continents. Geological changes occur extremely slowly, so the completion of the process is estimated on a scale of millions of years. If stretching continues long enough, the continental crust may eventually rupture, and magma from the Earth's depths will form new oceanic crust. The study of Turkana is also interesting for another reason. Active tectonics may have played an unexpected role in why East Africa has provided scientists with such a rich collection of ancient human evolutionary remains. The modern phase of the Turkana Rift's development began about four million years ago, and tectonic movements created basins where layers of sedimentary rock accumulated, covering the remains of organisms.