Slashdot Mirror
Giant Rift In Africa Will Create a New Ocean
Hugh Pickens writes "Researchers at the University of Rochester believe that a 35-mile rift in the desert of Ethiopia will likely become a new ocean in a million years or so, connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Using newly gathered seismic data, researchers have reconstructed how the rift tore open along its entire 35-mile length in just days. Dabbahu, a volcano at the northern end of the rift, erupted first, then magma pushed up through the middle of the rift area and began 'unzipping' the rift in both directions. 'We know that seafloor ridges are created by a similar intrusion of magma into a rift, but we never knew that a huge length of the ridge could break open at once like this,' says Cindy Ebinger, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester. The results show that highly active volcanic boundaries along the edges of tectonic ocean plates may suddenly break apart in large sections, instead of in bits, as the leading theory had previously held. The sudden large-scale events pose a much more serious hazard to populations living near the rift than would several smaller events."
There is a theory that the flood story of Noah is based on the actual deluge which created the Black Sea.
Yeah there are lots of stupid theories from Christian apologetics who want scientific proof that the Old Testament really happened in one way or another.
Anyone who doesn't have a religious agenda to promote tends to find it pretty dang obvious that the Jewish flood story was based off the Babylonian/Sumerian one. Why any rational person (without an agenda) would need to look for a big, epic reason for why people who were living on a floodplain would have a folk-tale about a giant catastrophic flood, is beyond me.
The point being that ethnic cleansing is ok?
Al Gore is already campaigning to stop this change to earth's structure, and will soon be releasing his new documentary "An Inconvenient Rift" to educate people and gather support.
Scientists tried to explain to Mr. Gore that it's a natural event, not man-made, but he isn't listening.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall