# Turkana Rift crust in East Africa thinned to 13 km versus over 35 km nearby, Nature Communications study

- Published: 2026-11-11 04:45 UTC
- Section: Planet › Earth sciences
- Tags: Turkana Rift, East African Rift, crustal thickness, continental rupture, crust thinning, new ocean basin, tectonic plates, Nature Communications
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-5259e0f2abee4314ad8ee785_turkana_rift_crust/

**Researchers measured crust about 13 km thick at the centre of the Turkana Rift between Kenya and Ethiopia. Thinning began about four million years ago; the study sets no date for a new ocean.**

![Turkana Rift crust in East Africa thinned to 13 km versus over 35 km nearby, Nature Communications study](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/7e0f5bfa86499d43.jpg)
*noticiasambientales*

An international team of researchers has analysed the Turkana Rift, a region between Kenya and Ethiopia that belongs to the East African Rift system, and found that the crust there is much thinner than in neighbouring areas. The results were published in Nature Communications, according to noticiasambientales [1]. In the centre of the rift the crust is about 13 kilometres thick, while in nearby regions it exceeds 35 kilometres [1].

## Crust thinning in the Turkana Rift

The authors say the difference shows that tectonic forces have stretched and thinned the continental structure in this specific zone [1]. For geologists, a progressive reduction in crustal thickness is among the clearest signs that a region is undergoing continental rupture. The researchers estimate that this phase of concentrated thinning began about four million years ago [1].

Since then, deformation has focused in a relatively narrow strip of the rift. This suggests that the separation of the plates is more clearly defined here than in other sectors of the African fracture system [1].

## What the study does not claim

The authors are cautious about timing. The study sets no date for a final split of the African continent or for the appearance of a new ocean [1]. The crust would have to keep fracturing until material from Earth's interior rises and new oceanic crust forms. Only then could the space between the continental masses widen and be filled with seawater, as happened with the Atlantic after the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea [1]. Such processes could last millions of years.

The Turkana Rift is also of scientific interest for another reason. Tectonic activity there contributed, over millions of years, to the accumulation and preservation of sediments containing fossils of early hominids and other prehistoric species [1]. The region is therefore used to study both the evolution of continents and the early history of humanity.

## Sources

1. [noticiasambientales](https://noticiasambientales.com/ciencia/cientificos-descubren-senales-de-que-africa-se-esta-dividiendo-y-podria-dar-origen-a-un-nuevo-oceano)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-5259e0f2abee4314ad8ee785_turkana_rift_crust/