A new ocean in Africa?

New satellite measurements provide valuable data for the study of tectonic faults in one of the most unusual geological locations on the planet, writes the American network NBC on Saturday. In that place, which is one of the hottest spots on Earth - along the Afar region in East Africa - you can stay exactly where, deep underground, the continent is splitting. This place is located at the end of the union of three large tectonic plates, which are gradually separating from each other. This is a complicated geological process, which scientists say will divide Africa in a few million years, creating a new ocean. Right now, the clearest evidence is the new 56-kilometer-long crack in the Ethiopian desert. Tectonic movements on the African continent have been studied for decades, while new satellite measurements are helping to better track and understand these changes. "This is the only place on earth where we can study how an ocean is being created," said Christopher Moore of the University of Leeds in Britain.