A massive rift is splitting the second-largest continent on Earth

 Africa is beginning to split in two

It's like science fiction... Africa is beginning to split in two

The entire map of the world is about to be radically transformed due to changes occurring within the Earth. Scientists have concluded in their latest findings that Africa will split in two, in a scenario reminiscent of science fiction.

According to a report published by the British newspaper "Daily Mail"," a massive rift is currently splitting the second-largest continent on Earth, from northeast to south. This means that in the future, it will split into two parts, and the map of Africa as we know it today will disappear.

In a new study, researchers have uncovered evidence of regular upwellings of molten rock from deep within the Earth's surface, beneath Ethiopia. These pulses are gradually tearing the continent apart and forming a new ocean, according to researchers from Swansea University. Dr. Emma Watts, lead researcher, said: "The split will eventually extend all the way down to Africa."

Scientists say the rift has already begun and is happening now, but at a slow rate of between five and 16 millimeters per year. In terms of timescale, the rippling of Africa will take millions of years to complete.

Dr. Watts and her colleagues point to the Gulf of Aden, a relatively narrow body of water separating Africa to the south from Yemen to the north. They say it's a small tear in a piece of clothing. The gradual rippling event may begin in the Gulf of Aden and gradually spread downward.

By the time the rippling event is complete, perhaps five to ten million years from now, Africa will consist of two landmasses. The larger landmass will be in the west, encompassing most of the 54 modern African countries, such as Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana, and Namibia.

Meanwhile, the smaller landmass to the east will include Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and much of Ethiopia. Dr. Watts stated, "The smaller part separating eastward will be about one million square miles in area, and the larger landmass remaining will be just over 10 million square miles in area."

To conduct the study, the team collected more than 130 samples of volcanic rock from across the Afar region. This region is home to three tectonic plates—the Main Ethiopian Rift, the Red Sea Rift, and the Gulf of Aden Rift—that are "divergent," meaning they are moving away from each other.

Experts used these samples, along with available data and advanced statistical modeling, to study the structure of the Earth's crust and the underlying mantle. The mantle, the thickest layer of the planet, is mostly solid rock but behaves like a viscous fluid. Divergence (plate separation) helps the mantle rise.

"We found that the mantle beneath the Afar is neither homogeneous nor static, but rather pulsates," said Dr. Watts. "These upward pulses of the partially molten mantle are driven by the ruptured plates above it." Over millions of years, as tectonic plates move apart in rift zones like the Afar, they stretch and thin until they rupture, marking the birth of a new ocean.