26 Jun 2010

New ocean forming in Africa

5:54 pm on 26 June 2010

Scientists in Britain say a new ocean developing in Africa will split the continent in two over the next 10 million years.

A 60km crack opened in the Afar region of Ethiopia in 2005. It reached a width of 8 metres in 10 days and has been expanding ever since.

James Hammond from the University of Bristol, who has been working in the Afar region, says the effects will be dramatic.