New ocean in the making confirmed by scientists

November 3, 7:12 PMFt. Lauderdale Science News ExaminerAnna Sanclement

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Ethiopian rift
Credit: Imagery (c) 2009 TerraMetrics. Map data (c) 2009 Europa Technologies / Courtesy of Google Maps

A 35-mile-long rift that broke open in Ethiopia's desert ground has been confirmed to be the beginning of an ocean by scientists.

Back in 2005, when the rift first broke, a few geologists thought that it was indeed an ocean beginning to form, but their beliefs were very controversial at the time.

But now, scientists have actually confirmed this to be true due to the volcanic processes that are happening beneath the rift being exactly the same as those on the bottom of all other oceans.

The study confirming this is published in the Geophysical Research Letters' latest issue. It states that the active volcanic edge boundaries of tectonic ocean plates may break suddenly and not little by little as is widely believed.

Cindy Ebinger, co-author of the study and a professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester says that these sudden large-scale events pose a much greater risk to those living nearby than would the smaller bit-by-bit phenomenons.

The work in this study is a breakthrough in learning about how continental rifts lead to the creation of new oceans, says Ken Macdonald, professor emeritus in the Department of Earth Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara who is not affiliated with the research.

This study also helps to understand if what is happening in Ethiopia is the same as is happening way deep in the oceans where humans can't go, says Ebinger. "We knew that if we could establish that, then Ethiopia would essentially be a unique and superb ocean-ridge laboratory for us. Because of the unprecedented cross-border collaboration behind this research, we now know that the answer is yes, it is analogous." She adds.

Ebinger and colleagues are still monitoring the Ethiopian area to learn how the rift is continuing to grow. They are also learning more about how the magma system beneath the rift is evolving.

Information on this study was provided by the University of Rochester. Additional institutions collaborating in the research are the University of Leeds, U.K., Columbia University, N.Y. and the Institute de Physique du Globe de Paris.