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The Rare Birth of an Ocean: Geographic Evolution in Africa

sciam.com — Formation of an ocean is a rare event, one few scientists have ever witnessed. Yet this geophysical nativity is unfolding today in one of the hottest and most inhospitable corners of the globe. Visit the site in safety through this extraordinary photographic essay

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  • spoonsman, on 09/29/2008, -2/+12It's not everyday that you get to see an ocean forming.

    Very interesting read.
  • EpicSelekta, on 09/29/2008, -5/+5this isn't so much an ocean forming as it is the horn of africa splitting off, much like california's escape from north america.

    still, very interesting.
    • epadafunk, on 10/01/2008, -1/+12actually, its not so similar. california is split in two by a transform fault between the pacific plate and the north american plate, which means that the two are sliding past each other. What is happening in africa is that the african plate is splitting into two separate plates which will be moving away from each other.
      • yacks, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1Yes.. part of Southern California is just moving north.
  • scubaman5000, on 09/29/2008, -2/+7I wonder what the globe will look like in another billion years? It kind of sucks that I won't be around to see it.
  • nmanguy, on 10/01/2008, -1/+2I'll see it via the Walt Disney freezerburn method.
  • itskennard, on 10/01/2008, -0/+3This article... I've never seen so many "That's what she said" opportunities in one place
  • HarryBauzonia, on 10/01/2008, -0/+13From the article:
    "Formation of an ocean is a rare event, one few scientists have ever witnessed. "

    ohreeeeaaaally?
    Exactly who are those few scientists who DID witness it?
    • SQLserver, on 10/01/2008, -0/+8That's what I was thinking...
    • CrushThemTorg, on 10/01/2008, -1/+4Thank you. I'd like the meet these scientists, since they can probably also prove or disprove whether man and dinosaur once walked the earth together.
    • xyllar, on 10/01/2008, -1/+2Well, since it has been going on for millions of years in Africa, I suppose one could argue that a lot of scientists have witnessed part of the process. If they've been to Africa I mean.
  • fegul, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1This is in one of the driest places in the world too. Sub-Saharan Africa is the second driest area of the world behind Australia.
  • abajaj2280, on 10/01/2008, -0/+6http://www.sciam.com/slideshow.cfm?id=birth-of-an- ...

    if you like stories with pictures
  • scoottie, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1i blame global warming
    • SpankkBankk, on 10/01/2008, -1/+5Thank you Al Gore...
      • scoottie, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1what does the inventor of the internet have to do with this?
      • HarryBauzonia, on 10/01/2008, -1/+3The Goracle says that changes that happen to the earth are man-made, and that George Bush is that man. So that and the fact that I read it on DailyKOS makes it true.
        George Bush (and his army of Hummer owners) is pulling Africa apart and flooding it with an ocean because he hates black people /wants their oil. Bush likes floods. That's why he used his evil superpowers to make Hurricane Katrina and then steered it to New Orleans.

        First global warming, now this. Is there any stopping that man?
  • Namaha, on 10/01/2008, -1/+2Three pages and only one picture =/
    • scoottie, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1well you know a picture is worth a thousand words ....
    • candykidd, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1Not really. There's a whole slideshow with 17 pictures.
    • JakeW, on 10/01/2008, -1/+13 pages... and all you want to see is the pictures...

      Kindergarten much?
  • SFBWork, on 10/01/2008, -0/+2I think John McCain was around when the first oceans started forming.
  • rawg, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1FTA: "parts of the area are over 100 meters below sea level. Low hills to the east are all that stops the Red Sea from encroaching."

    Presumably, one day water from the Red Sea will break through the hills and flood the area to make it an actual ocean. I bet that would be a sight.
  • rdvon, on 10/01/2008, -0/+2You can't paint flames on the ocean.

  • Digital.Totem, on 10/01/2008, -0/+2The moral of the story is live in the desert long enough and maybe just maybe if the right geological conditions persist you will end up with beach front property, that or die from those damn deadly fumes or lava.
  • hineschr, on 10/01/2008, -0/+0Pretty damn cool
  • geekoid, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1The birth of an ocean & the death of a website showing the birth of an ocean!
  • 2oonhed, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1In Google Earth the crack runs right through Djibouti......didja know that?
  • fx666, on 10/01/2008, -5/+1Geographic evolution is a hard fact. However, some idiots see it as a proof of the evolutionary theory, which means that their brain is malfunctioning. As I have shown on numerous occasions, the theory of evolution is pseudo-scientific and, because of that, it should be expelled from the high school curriculum (I did not say that it should be replaced with Intelligent Design because it is also wrong).
    • omgwtflawl, on 10/01/2008, -0/+2"Geographic evolution is a hard fact."

      Theories and facts do not mean what you think they mean.

      "However, some idiots see it as a proof of the evolutionary theory, which means that their brain is malfunctioning."

      Again I refer you to the discussion of theories, facts, and "proof". I don't think they mean what you think they mean.

      "As I have shown on numerous occasions, the theory of evolution is pseudo-scientific and, because of that, it should be expelled from the high school curriculum"

      Thank goodness you have shown it on numerous occasions! Please, let us bask in your boundless knowledge...

      • fx666, on 10/02/2008, -1/+1Prominent evolutionists, including Dobzhansky and Mayr, believed that the undeniable cosmic evolution is a proof of the theory of evolution put forward by Darwin and his neo-Darwinist followers -- that is the meaning of my comment. You might disagree with them, but do not blame me for their stupidity.
    • nitsuj, on 10/02/2008, -0/+2"However, some idiots see it as a proof of the evolutionary theory, which means that their brain is malfunctioning."

      Really? Who? I haven't seen anybody try and make that kind of link. Maybe if we saw continents replicating...

      "As I have shown on numerous occasions, the theory of evolution is pseudo-scientific"

      You have shown no such thing.
      • fx666, on 10/03/2008, -1/+1You should read the books by Dobzhansky and Mayr to see that I'm right. In his book The God Delusion Dawkins expresses similar view. Just because you haven't seen something does not mean it does not exist.
  • wunksta, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1awesome stuff, very interesting
  • edpapavitch, on 10/02/2008, -0/+0amazing coincidence that the crack where this ocean is created is along the edge of the african and somolian plates of the plate tecctonic theory.
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