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Birth of a New African Ocean

Posted by kdawson on from the interesting-times-interesting-places dept.

Khemisty writes "Formation of an ocean is a rare event, one no scientist has ever witnessed. Yet this geophysical nativity is unfolding today in one of the hottest and most inhospitable corners of the globe. Africa is splitting apart at the seams. From the southern tip of the Red Sea southward through Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique, the continent is coming unstitched along a zone called the East African Rift." This stretching of the earth's crust has been going on for 20 million years, and within another 10 million the Red Sea will have broken through to create a new sea.

12 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. This thread is useless... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... without relief maps.

    I don't want to read some art's grads long winded verbose description of something that can be shown to me in 2 diagrams.

    1. Re:This thread is useless... by lysergic.acid · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't want to read some art's grads long winded verbose description...

      as opposed to a long winded terse description?

  2. Someone will blame this on... by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Before long, someone will blame this on GlobalWarming.

    Mention of this split WILL show up in someone's eco-speech.

    1. Re:Someone will blame this on... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      It's actually a solution for the problem of melting ice caps...all that extra water, instead of flooding low coastline cities, can be sucked up by this "ocean" in the making. Of course that's just a temporary fix to one of the problems of global warming, and we'll have to wait 10 million years for that fix.

      Meanwhile, during a presidential debate, one party suggest that by drilling for oil there, we can solve two problems at once...get the oil, and simply replace it with melting ice. It will be called, the "Drill, baby, drill" solution, and it is expected that the President will point to this emergency problem, and congress will vote the rest of the money the US has in Ft. Knox to be directed to oil companies to solve the problem. Congressman Dennis Kuchinich will object.

    2. Re:Someone will blame this on... by Detritus · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Maybe it's because the average environmental activist is an idiot. Then again, the average human being is an idiot. For too many people, environmentalism is the new religion, filling the hole left by the decline of traditional religions.

      --
      Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
  3. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  4. Re:Africa Become Flooded? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Please don't feed the trolls.

  5. Didn't I learn this 20 years ago by dayton967 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This isn't news, unless you state it has created a new ocean today. Which if it has, we better put our heads between our legs and kiss our butts goodbye.

  6. Re:Red Sea tag suggestion: by Poltras · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As the disconnected logic of believing that if something hasn't been proven, it doesn't exist? People believe because they have to, and they have the right to believe what they want.

    --
    Of Code And Men
  7. Re:Red Sea tag suggestion: by ryanguill · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If you would like to point me to which part of my "sacred text" describes the earth as being 6000 years old I would be happy to agree with you, but just because some Christians believe that the Bible points to the earth being 6000 years old, and I believe incorrectly, does not mean that we should all be painted with the same brush.

  8. Re:Red Sea tag suggestion: by operagost · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Really by definition ALL christians believe in ghosts. Ever heard of the holy spirit?

    Yes, and he isn't a "ghost" because he was never human.

    Of course atheists will have a higher number, we READ more.

    That is ad hominem garbage.

    --

    Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  9. Re:Red Sea tag suggestion: by et764 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    From my dictionary "Atheist - One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods." Yet the study says 21% of atheists believe in God.

    The conclusion I got from this is that 21% of atheists have absolutely no idea what atheism means, but they just call themselves atheists because they think it's cool. I'm pretty sure even on Slashdot I've read self-proclaimed atheists say they're open to the possibility of there being a god, they just don't know of any evidence for said god's existence. Anyway, not having any idea what your religion or lack thereof is really about seems to be a pretty common trait in America these days.