Shocking images: the crack in Africa that could split the continent in two

Though no one currently on Earth (or even their great-great-great grandchildren) will live to see it, one day, the African continent could be cut in half and separated by a new body of water.

The initial separation between the two plates has been captured by geologists, who estimate that it will take millions of years for a sea to form, dividing much of East Africa from the remainder of the continent. The two plates in question are the Somali and Nubian.

Not all can be blamed on tectonic shifts

In 2018, when news of the crack emerged online, interest in the geological phenomenon grew, and many were looking for answers. The crack is located within the boundaries of the East African Rift System (EARS), which IFL Science explains stretches down the eastern portion of the continent, spanning more than eight countries. The system begins in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda in the north, and extends to Mozambique and Zimbabwe in the south.

However, some geologists have said that the location is coincidental and that the emerging fissure is not a result of tectonic shifts, but rather soil erosion. A Kenyan news station, NTV, covered the debate and pointed to other cracks caused by soil erosion that have formed in the area, critical data that further contextualizes the fact that even if there are tectonic movements far beneath our feet, soil erosion can create these fissures on a much more rapid timeline.

How long could it take for the continent to separate?

However, since 2018, some scientists argue that there is evidence that the oceanic crust is starting to form, as evidenced by samples taken that are distinctly different from continental crust, as Chris Moore, a Ph.D. graduate at Leeds University, explained on NBC.

Nevertheless, the entire process will take as long as 50 million years, and as Lucía Pérez-Díaz, a Senior Geodynamics Specialist at Halliburton, explained in a post published on The Conversation, the rift is only in its early stages of separation. As time passes, the force that moves these plates, including volcanoes and earthquakes, will continue to exert pressure on the rift. This is the same process by which South America and Africa broke apart around 138 million years ago.

Pérez-Díaz noted that though “dramatic events, such as a sudden motorway splitting,” create a “sense of urgency‚” the process is “very slow” and “most of the time, goes about splitting Africa without anybody even noticing.” So while there is evidence that the oceanic crust that will eventually dominate the area is beginning to form, social erosion remains a greater threat to the residents of the within the EAR system’s boundaries.

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