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Splitting 

The Mount of Olives is not currently splitting or opening up; viral social media claims suggesting a literal split is happening now are false and misinterpret a biblical prophecy. 

The Prophecy

* The Book of Zechariah prophesies that the Mount of Olives will split in half from east to west.

* Half of the mountain is said to move north and half south, creating a large valley.

* According to biblical text, this event happens when the Lord returns to Earth. 

Current Status

* Social media posts frequently misrepresent natural geological faults, road construction, or old photos as proof that the prophecy is happening. 

* Geologists confirm that any surface cracks or shifts on the mountain are normal results of long-term tectonic activity and erosion, not an active splitting of the mountain. 

* There is no scientific or physical evidence that the Mount of Olives is dividing.

Where is the splitting?

But Africa is slowly splitting into two separate landmasses due to a massive geological phenomenon known as the East African Rift System (EARS).

This continental breakup is driven by a colossal upwelling of hot rock from deep within the Earth’s mantle, known as the African Superplume. As this mantle material pushes upward and outward, it is actively tearing the continent apart. 

The Tectonic Breakdown

The continent sits on a massive tectonic block that is dividing into two smaller plates moving away from each other:

* The Nubian Plate: The larger western block that contains most of the current African continent.

* The Somali Plate: The smaller eastern block that includes the Horn of Africa (Somalia, parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania). 

       ▲ NORTH

       │

┌──────────────┐   ┌────────────┐

│              │   │            │

│  NUBIAN      │ ◄─┼─►  SOMALI  │

│  PLATE       │   │    PLATE   │

│  (West)      │   │    (East)  │

│              │   │            │

└──────────────┘   └────────────┘

        └─── RIFT VALLEY ───┘

          (Future Ocean)

What Will Happen?

* A New Ocean Basin: As the two plates pull apart at a rate of a few millimeters per year, the Earth's crust is stretching and thinning. Studies of the Turkana Rift in Kenya and Ethiopia show that the crust there has reached a critical thinning threshold (a process called "necking"). 

* Island Continent: Eventually, the land valley will sink low enough for the waters of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean to flood in. This will create Earth's sixth ocean and turn the eastern Horn of Africa into a massive island continent.

* New Coastlines: Landlocked nations like Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia will eventually gain ocean coastlines. 

The Timeline

While scientists have found that the process is moving faster than originally modeled, "fast" in geology is incredibly slow for humans. The rift first began forming roughly 25 to 45 million years ago, and it will take another 5 to 10 million years for the ocean to fully form and divide the land. 

(Note: Sudden large ground cracks that occasionally open up in East Africa after heavy storms are usually caused by flash-floods washing away loose volcanic ash, not the continent suddenly snapping in two). 

Explore

* The countries that will be split or gain new coastlines

* How satellite radar is being used to track this movement