Scientists say new ocean forming in Ethiopia

Scientists led by Ethiopian researchers today said a fissure in a desert in the remote north-east could be the “birth of a new ocean basin”.

Researchers Britain, France, Italy and the US have been observing the 37-mile fissure that is 13 feet wide since it split open in September in the Afar desert and estimate it will take a million years to fully form into an ocean, said Dereje Ayalew of Addis Ababa University and the leader of the team of 18-scientists.