Our planet hasn’t at all times regarded like this. Over billions of years, shifting tectonic plates, rising mountains, and retreating oceans have always reshaped Earth’s floor. Continents have drifted aside, ecosystems have emerged and vanished, and the planet’s panorama continues to evolve. In this context, the world is at present witnessing the sluggish emergence of a sixth ocean. Scientists additional declare that if this continues there can be a drastic change within the planet’s geography and economic system of the globe.
The formation of this new ocean is the consequence of interplay between main tectonic plates: the African plate, the Arabian plate, and the Somali plate. For almost 30 million years, the Arabian plate has been regularly drifting away from the African continent. Simultaneously, the Somali plate is pulling away from the African plate, making a rift by means of the East African Rift Valley. As a end result, a water physique will emerge between these landmasses.
The location of the brand new ocean is estimated to be within the East African Rift, a geological area working by means of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. According to the examine, over a interval of thousands and thousands of years, water from the ocean will flood the rift, finally forming a brand new ocean. This will trigger a significant reorganization of nations within the continent. For occasion, at present landlocked nations like Zambia and Uganda may turn out to be coastal nations.
These dramatic adjustments can be gradual and as talked about above can take thousands and thousands of years. However, with our newest technological developments, we’ve been capable of predict the longer term course of occasions earlier than they’ve even unfolded. Experts state that GPS devices can detect plate actions with an accuracy of only a few millimeters per yr. This knowledge permits scientists to watch the event of the African Rift and forecast the eventual creation of a brand new ocean. GPS permits correct monitoring of tectonic plate actions, with knowledge being collected repeatedly to offer a complete view of the adjustments.
It can also be fascinating to notice that this occasion mirrors the breaking up of the supercontinent Pangea some 230 million years in the past. It included virtually all of Earth’s landmasses, which have been joined collectively in a single huge landmass earlier than they drifted aside to kind the continents we all know as we speak. This breaking is most evident within the case of South America and Africa because the coastlines of each nations match collectively. Fossilized proof, like that of Cynognathus, at each continents additional cement the speculation.
