In the geologic history of Earth, shifting plate tectonics are commonplace, and Africa's impending rift is but another chapter in that story. The Earth's continents are far from constant.

A quiet and slow-moving change is unfolding beneath the surface of East Africa– one that could, over millions of years, ...

These convergent boundaries also occur where a plate of ocean dives ... On land, giant troughs such as the Great Rift Valley in Africa form where plates are tugged apart. If the plates there ...

They represent the least well-studied of the three major plate boundaries, which include divergent boundaries, like East Africa, where plates move apart forming new crust; and convergent ...