Archive · 21 Nov 2025
Africa to Split in Two: New Study Reveals Continent's Future
Africa is slowly breaking apart because of strong forces inside the Earth.
This has been happening for a very long time and will continue until Africa becomes two separate pieces of land.
This will also split some big lakes in half.
Africa is splitting in two due to tectonic forces
This process started tens of millions of years ago, separating Africa from Arabia
The split will occur from northeast to the south, involving volcanoes and earthquakes
Future landmasses will be larger and smaller chunks, with Egypt to Namibia in the bigger piece
The East African Rift will split massive water bodies like Lake Malawi and Lake Turkana
- Who
- Researchers from Keele University
- What
- Discovered Africa's splitting process
- When
- Tens of millions of years ago, continuing until the continent splits in two in 5-10 million years
- Where
- Africa, specifically the East African Rift
- Why
- Due to tectonic forces and plate tectonics
Proponents of the Study
Skeptics
Evidence of Magnetic Stripes
Proponents of the Study
Ancient seafloor magnetic marks support the separation theory
Skeptics
Magnetic stripes can have other explanations, not necessarily supporting the split
- Current Size of Africa
- Approximately 30.37 million km²
- Estimated Time for Split
- 5 to 10 million years
- Length of East African Rift
- 6,437 kilometres
- Width of East African Rift
- 64 kilometres
- Lakes to be Affected
- Lake Malawi, Lake Turkana