Researchers: Giant rift in Ethiopian desert will create a new ocean

(Picture: University of Rochester)

A very interesting news caught my attention this morning. It's about the 35-mile-long rift that broke open the desert ground in Ethiopia. This actually happened in 2005 and some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean, but the claim was controversial the report said.

Now, scientists from several countries found similiarities in the volcanic processes beneath the Ethiopian rift and those at the bottom of the world's oceans which made them believe that a new ocean is in the making. This study is published in the latest issue of Geophysical Research Letters. Researchers say that Ethiopia will become an ocean-ridge laboratory for them if it will be established that what is happening in Ethiopia is like what is happening at the bottom of the ocean.

The group of researchers is led by Atalay Ayele (professor at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia), Ghebrebrhan Ogubazghi (professor at the Eritrea Institute of Technology), and Jamal Sholan (National Yemen Seismological Observatory Center). This group of researchers have installed seismometers and measured 12 similar events since the rift was discovered in 2005.

The 35-mile rift believed to happen in just days is being monitored by Cindy Ebinger, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester, and her colleagues.