5 ms·

A single inlet, attached to the Red Sea -- wouldn't this be a Sea and not an Ocean? Also a story like this without a map is very annoying; my best guess as to

A single inlet, attached to the Red Sea -- wouldn't this be a Sea and not an Ocean? Also a story like this without a map is very annoying; my best guess as to where it is is here: https://www.google.com/maps/@10.1384475,40.4893819,818636a,20y,26.6t/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@10.1384475,40.4893819,818636a,2...

dragonwriter 10y ago
In the long term, the rift (which is an example of what is, in other contexts, referred to as a "mid-ocean spreading center") will produce much more than a narrow inlet attached to the Red Sea. But, yes, the initial body of water that will form will not be what anyone would characterize as an ocean.
btilly 10y ago
The Earth has a continental drift cycle where we form a supercontinent, which changes the circulation pattern, the supercontinent breaks up, the pieces drift around the world, and then recombine into a supercontinent again. The last supercontinent was Pangea Asia, Europe and Africa are what is left and they are continuing to break up. The next one will meet where the Pacific plate now is. So this starts as a rift, then a valley, then an inlet, then that will widen into an ocean, and then the barriers between oceans will disappear. So yes, this will be a sea before it is an ocean. But it is also correct to talk about it as the birth of a new ocean. (The Red Sea is also on its way to being an ocean. It is just farther along. And the Atlantic is farther along still.)
- samplatt 10y ago
  Isn't it a bit early to be calling it a cycle? I mean, we've not even completed one full iteration yet. Unless I'm wrong, and the tectonic plates existed and were moving long before the oceans did?
  - FreeFull 10y ago
    The cycle has already completed many times. At all points there were oceans somewhere, it's not like the water materialised out of nowhere recently.
  - Tushon 10y ago
    One full iteration of continent formation and breaking up? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_supercontinents#Prehistoricals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_supercontinents#Prehis... Seems to indicate otherwise, but I'm certainly no expert on geology or whatever sub-specialization is concerned with plate tectonics and history of them.
  - sjwright 10y ago
    By that logic, it's a bit early to conclude that Pluto orbits the sun. We haven't even seen it go half way around yet.
  - bcraven 10y ago
    No we have plenty of evidence of previous cycles. It's called the Wilson Cycle: http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/Fichter/Wilson/Wilson.html http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/Fichter/Wilson/Wilson.html For further reading I can recommend 'Supercontinent' by Ted Nield.
- hyperpallium 10y ago
  Is there evidence for continent/ocean placement affecting convection currents in the mantle (and thus plate movements)? Is there evidence for any changes in convection currents? i.e. what do we have to go on, besides back-extrapolation of observed drift (happening today, and in "recent" geologic past, e.g. reversal of magnetized direction)? Why should the continents recombine into a supercontinent, rather that drift arbitrarily? Is the idea that, sooner or later, a traffic jam will occur, where first two bang into each other and can't move, creating a larger obstacle, which another then collides with... but since there's some process for a supercontinent to separate, what's the neccessity for this process to not tear apart the collided continents before a full supercontinent is formed?
djsumdog 10y ago
I was going to mention the lack of map as well. I had hoped someone may have drawn one in the comments.
- bcraven 10y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Rift https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Rift and the image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/EAfrica.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/EAfrica....
themitchnz 10y ago
This is the rift here. The three features running top to bottom from slight left to slight right. https://www.google.com/maps/@11.6842232,40.6702185,80711a,20y,36.8t/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@11.6842232,40.6702185,80711a,20... This is where the explosion was https://www.google.com/maps/@12.642073,40.5202369,1118a,20y,40.7t/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@12.642073,40.5202369,1118a,20y,...
- bcraven 10y ago
  "three features"? No the rift is here: https://i.imgur.com/opOaQUp.jpg https://i.imgur.com/opOaQUp.jpg
beautifulfreak 10y ago
This version of the story included a map. http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-03-31-bye-bye-east-africa-the-african-plate-is-splitting-in-two http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-03-31-bye-bye-east-africa-t... Here's the map image alone: http://cdn.mg.co.za/crop/content/images/2015/03/31/easplitmain_landscape.jpg/633x356/ http://cdn.mg.co.za/crop/content/images/2015/03/31/easplitma...
- has2k1 10y ago
  Sudan and Egypt do not like that outcome. They would have no more Nile.

dragonwriter 10y ago

In the long term, the rift (which is an example of what is, in other contexts, referred to as a "mid-ocean spreading center") will produce much more than a narrow inlet attached to the Red Sea. But, yes, the initial body of water that will form will not be what anyone would characterize as an ocean.

btilly 10y ago

The Earth has a continental drift cycle where we form a supercontinent, which changes the circulation pattern, the supercontinent breaks up, the pieces drift around the world, and then recombine into a supercontinent again. The last supercontinent was Pangea Asia, Europe and Africa are what is left and they are continuing to break up. The next one will meet where the Pacific plate now is. So this starts as a rift, then a valley, then an inlet, then that will widen into an ocean, and then the barriers between oceans will disappear. So yes, this will be a sea before it is an ocean. But it is also correct to talk about it as the birth of a new ocean. (The Red Sea is also on its way to being an ocean. It is just farther along. And the Atlantic is farther along still.)

samplatt 10y ago
Isn't it a bit early to be calling it a cycle? I mean, we've not even completed one full iteration yet. Unless I'm wrong, and the tectonic plates existed and were moving long before the oceans did?
- FreeFull 10y ago
  The cycle has already completed many times. At all points there were oceans somewhere, it's not like the water materialised out of nowhere recently.
- Tushon 10y ago
  One full iteration of continent formation and breaking up? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_supercontinents#Prehistoricals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_supercontinents#Prehis... Seems to indicate otherwise, but I'm certainly no expert on geology or whatever sub-specialization is concerned with plate tectonics and history of them.
- sjwright 10y ago
  By that logic, it's a bit early to conclude that Pluto orbits the sun. We haven't even seen it go half way around yet.
- bcraven 10y ago
  No we have plenty of evidence of previous cycles. It's called the Wilson Cycle: http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/Fichter/Wilson/Wilson.html http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/Fichter/Wilson/Wilson.html For further reading I can recommend 'Supercontinent' by Ted Nield.
hyperpallium 10y ago
Is there evidence for continent/ocean placement affecting convection currents in the mantle (and thus plate movements)? Is there evidence for any changes in convection currents? i.e. what do we have to go on, besides back-extrapolation of observed drift (happening today, and in "recent" geologic past, e.g. reversal of magnetized direction)? Why should the continents recombine into a supercontinent, rather that drift arbitrarily? Is the idea that, sooner or later, a traffic jam will occur, where first two bang into each other and can't move, creating a larger obstacle, which another then collides with... but since there's some process for a supercontinent to separate, what's the neccessity for this process to not tear apart the collided continents before a full supercontinent is formed?

djsumdog 10y ago

I was going to mention the lack of map as well. I had hoped someone may have drawn one in the comments.

bcraven 10y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Rift https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Rift and the image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/EAfrica.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/EAfrica....

themitchnz 10y ago

This is the rift here. The three features running top to bottom from slight left to slight right. https://www.google.com/maps/@11.6842232,40.6702185,80711a,20y,36.8t/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@11.6842232,40.6702185,80711a,20... This is where the explosion was https://www.google.com/maps/@12.642073,40.5202369,1118a,20y,40.7t/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@12.642073,40.5202369,1118a,20y,...

bcraven 10y ago
"three features"? No the rift is here: https://i.imgur.com/opOaQUp.jpg https://i.imgur.com/opOaQUp.jpg

beautifulfreak 10y ago

This version of the story included a map. http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-03-31-bye-bye-east-africa-the-african-plate-is-splitting-in-two http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-03-31-bye-bye-east-africa-t... Here's the map image alone: http://cdn.mg.co.za/crop/content/images/2015/03/31/easplitmain_landscape.jpg/633x356/ http://cdn.mg.co.za/crop/content/images/2015/03/31/easplitma...

has2k1 10y ago
Sudan and Egypt do not like that outcome. They would have no more Nile.