The Afar Rift in Ethiopia is marked by enormous gashes that signal the breakup of the African continent and the beginnings of a new ocean basin, scientists think. The fractures appear eerily similar ...

Active lava flows spilling out of the Erta Ale volcano in Afar, Ethiopia. The Afar Rift zone is one of the few examples on Earth where three tectonic rifts converge. Experts previously theorized this ...

In one of the hottest places on Earth, along an arid stretch of East Africa’s Afar region, it’s possible to stand on the exact spot where, deep underground, the continent is splitting apart. This ...

Scientists are observing a new ocean forming in Africa's Afar region, a unique geological hotspot. Early magnetic surveys from 1968, combined with recent data from the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, reveal ...

As continental rift zones mature the tectonic and volcanic processes associated with crustal extension become confined to narrow magmatic rift zones, reminiscent of oceanic spreading ridges. The ...

To those who live there, east Africa’s Afar region is “the place the devil plows.” One of the hottest and lowest areas on Earth, it is a landscape of baking desert and barren lava flows. To scientists ...

Tim Wright, from the University of Leeds' School of Earth and Environment, heads the international Afar Rift Consortium. "The dramatic events we have been witnessing in Afar in the past six years are ...

The Afar region in northeastern Africa represents one of the few locations on Earth where a new ocean may be forming over the next several million years. Situated at a unique triple junction where the ...

The Afar Rift in Ethiopia is marked by enormous gashes that signal the breakup of the African continent and the beginnings of a new ocean basin, scientists think. The fractures appear eerily similar ...

Two new studies into the "plumbing systems" that lie under volcanoes could bring scientists closer to understanding plate ruptures and predicting eruptions—both of which are important steps for ...