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Africa’s Slow Breakup Revealed | Science News
Scientists are witnessing eastern Africa’s crust stretch and thin like taffy in the Turkana Rift Zone, a rare real-time glimpse of continental breakup. Using sound wave imaging, researchers found the crust thinning to under eight miles — faster than expected — and discovered this stretching may explain why the region is so rich in ancient human fossils. If the “necking” continues, the area could eventually oceanize, forming new oceanic crust and possibly splitting off a piece of Africa into its own island continent — a slow-motion geological revolution unfolding over millions of years. Listen…
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