East African Rift Widens Up to 6.9 Millimeters a Year, Opening Path to 6th Ocean

3 articles · Updated · The Brighter Side of News · May 29

GPS-based research found the Nubian and Somalian plates are actively pulling apart, with the East African Rift opening along the full plate boundary and reaching 6.9 millimeters a year in Afar.
14 GPS stations underpinned the model, which closely matched observed motion—residuals were just 0.7 millimeters a year for Nubia and 1.0 for Somalia—strengthening evidence that the split is directly measurable.
The boundary is not a clean break: the rift’s eastern and western branches show deformation between them, and one Lake Victoria site moved in a way consistent with ongoing strain rather than a rigid tectonic block.
Southern sections remain less certain, with competing models suggesting opening, sideways motion or compression, though the new study still favors continued opening.
Over millions of years, scientists say the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden could flood into the rift, eventually creating a new ocean basin and separating part of East Africa into a distinct landmass.

Could Africa’s continental split unexpectedly fail, leaving a vast scar instead of a new ocean?

Is Kenya’s 'necking' crust the final, irreversible step before a new ocean is born in Africa?

Did the violent tearing of Africa's crust help preserve the fossils of our earliest human ancestors?