The African continent could split, position itself on two tectonic plates instead of one and give way to a new ocean, studies suggest. Africa has always thought that it rested on a single tectonic plate. However, scientists have reason to believe that the African plate is splitting into two new plates – the Nubian and Somali plates – along the East African Rift.

This decades-old belief was further strengthened in March 2018 when a huge fissure opened in the ground in southwest Kenya following heavy rains. It engulfed a section of the Nairobi-Narok highway.

The fissure appeared in the Kenyan Rift Valley, part of the East African Rift, considered one of the most tectonically active regions in the world. However, this crack was later attributed to a long-unnoticed crevasse filled with volcanic ash from eruptions in the distant past. Heavy rains exposed it as the ashes collapsed.

The rift began actively developing 25 million years ago and measures 3,500 km, from the Red Sea in the north to Mozambique in the southeast of the African continent.

The region experiences high seismic and volcanic activity which has led to the creation of mountains like Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya.

The reason for this split has been a subject of debate for years. Geologists believe the lithosphere beneath Kenya and Ethiopia is bulging and stretching because of plumes of heat inside the Earth’s mantle.

This triggered huge volcanic eruptions, with lava rapidly gushing from cracks and fracturing the fragile continental crust in a series of faults.

According to the data, the Nubian and Somali plates are diverging at an average rate of 7 mm per year, gradually causing the continent to move further away. Currently the fault is above sea level, but over time it will widen and the land inside the valley will sink.

When this happens, ocean waters are likely to penetrate and separate the entire Horn of Africa from the continent. If the scenario comes true, it will still take tens of millions of years before it becomes reality.