1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey Brainstuff. 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,240 Speaker 1: Lauren Bolga Baum Here of the vast ocean that covers 3 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: of the planet. It's five distinct regions, Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:22,440 Speaker 1: and Antarctic are memorized by school children, navigated by sailors, 5 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: and inhabited by some of the most biologically diverse species 6 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: in the world. But could Earth ever develop a new ocean. 7 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 1: It seems unlikely given the monopoly that the existing ocean 8 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 1: regions have had on the liquid portion of our planet's 9 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: surface for about four million years. Yet the formation of 10 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: this new ocean may already be underway. A huge rift 11 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 1: forming in the Ethi open off Our Depression is expected 12 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: by some researchers to become the world's newest ocean someday. 13 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: The forty mile or sixt crack, which is in some 14 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: places more than twenty ft or six meters wide, sits 15 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: along a boundary of Earth's shifting tectonic plates. At the 16 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: rift's northern end lies an active volcano whose two thousand 17 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: five eruption helped spawn the first thirty five miles or 18 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: kilometers of the rift in just ten days. The eruption 19 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,839 Speaker 1: was preceded by earthquakes that caused magma, that is, molten 20 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: rock from inside the Earth, to gush up through the 21 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: center of the crack, quickly splitting it in both directions. 22 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: Since that time, magma has continued to flow like toffee, 23 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: volcanoes have continued to erupt, and the deep fissure has 24 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,040 Speaker 1: continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate that has 25 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:43,320 Speaker 1: increased the split by several miles. The scientists are studying 26 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: the process both for its remarkably fast timeline and the 27 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: fact that it mirrors a process that normally takes place 28 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: on the ocean floor at depths too remote to reach 29 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: and study effectively. Until two thousand five, the Somali and 30 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,559 Speaker 1: Arabian plates that border each other in this remote desert 31 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: region had been spreading apart at a snail's pace of 32 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: less than one inch or two and a half centimeters 33 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: a year. Over the past thirty million years, the opposing 34 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: masses had only managed to form a one eighty five 35 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,119 Speaker 1: mile or three kilometer depression in addition to the adjacent 36 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: Red Sea, but there had been no dramatic shift like 37 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: the one that began in two thousand five. Eventually, many 38 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: scientists expect the Afar Rift to connect the Red Sea 39 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: to the north and the Arabian Sea to the south. 40 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: If this happens, the Far Rift will become a new 41 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: ocean that will split the African continent and release the 42 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,919 Speaker 1: Horn of Africa from its land mass. Even though this 43 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: new ocean that may be splitting the African continent is 44 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: only growing about as fast as a fingernail, scientists are 45 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: monitoring the changes with bated breath. After all, the ability 46 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: to witness a process that's typically inaccessible has the makings 47 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: of a once in a career opportunity. Well that is 48 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:03,919 Speaker 1: until you've consider the fact that at its current rate, 49 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: this new ocean will probably take another five to a 50 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: hundred million years to fully form, and that's if it 51 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: does at all. Other researchers contend that the complex plate 52 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: tectonics going on in the region where the aforementioned Somali 53 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: and Arabian plates connect with a third plate, the Nubian plate, Oh, 54 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: We'll have the opposite effect in the long term. They 55 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: think that the three plates will come together instead of 56 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: pulling further apart, erasing the Red Sea instead of expanding it. 57 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article could Earth ever 58 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: get a New Ocean on how staff Works dot Com 59 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: written by Laurie L. Dove. Brain Stuff is production of 60 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: by Heart Radio and partnership with how stuff Work dot 61 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: Com and is produced by Tyler Clang with assistance from 62 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: Ramsey Young. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the 63 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 64 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.