09/06/2026
Ethiopia is tearing toward a new ocean, and geologists explain how the rift is pulling the crust apart millimeter by millimeter until the map of East Africa changes
Something unusual happened under Ethiopia’s Afar region between late December 2024 and mid-March 2025. Ground that normally pulls apart at less than an inch a year shifted by nearly 24 inches, a sudden burst in one of Earth’s most important rift zones.
The new analysis, led by Chanel A. Deane at the U.S. Geological Survey, points to a 31-mile-long magma d**e between Fentale and Dofen volcanoes rather than a volcano erupting at the surface. The finding matters because it shows how a continent can split not only in slow increments, but also in sharp pulses that jolt roads, wells, and nearby communities.
A rift with a long future
Afar sits at a rare place where the Arabian, Nubian, and Somalian plates meet. The Geological Society describes it as a Y-shaped rift system, where the hard outer shell of Earth is being stretched and split.
Think of a wooden ruler being pulled from both ends. Most of the time, the bend is too subtle to notice; then a crack can jump open when pressure finds a weak spot. Earlier work by Sean Polun and colleagues at the University of Missouri placed this slow tearing in a broader Afar landscape, where rivers and faults record long-term breakup.
That is why the ocean talk keeps coming up. Over geological time, thinner land can sink below sea level, and water from the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden may eventually help form a new ocean basin. This is not a new ocean on today’s map.
The sudden shove underground
So what happened underground? A d**e is a steep crack filled with magma, the hot molten rock that can feed volcanoes. In this case, the magma stayed below ground and acted like a wedge.
https://www.ecoticias.com/en/ethiopia-is-tearing-toward-a-new-ocean-and-geologists-explain-how-the-rift-is-pulling-the-crust-apart-millimeter-by-millimeter-until-the-map-of-east-africa-changes/33087/
