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New Study Reveals That The Gulf Of Suez Has Never Stopped Opening: The Separation Between Africa And Asia Has Been Active For Millions Of Years, Advancing 0.5 Mm Per Year And Raising Previously Ignored Seismic Risks
For many years, geology taught that the Gulf of Suez, the narrow strait that partially separates Africa from the Middle East, was a “failed” rift. The classic narrative said that the tectonic fault had tried to open about 28 million years ago, when the Arabian plate began to move away from the African plate, but that this process would have stopped 5 million years ago, leaving the region as a simple gulf, rather than a new ocean in the making.
It turns out that this story is changing. A lot.
Recent research shows that the Gulf of Suez has never stopped opening. The separation has just slowed down. According to a new study published on November 3 in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters (AGU), the rift is still expanding at about 0.5 millimeters per year.
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While it may seem small, for tectonic processes this is significant, and it redefines how scientists understand the evolution of these structures.
The study is led by David Fernández-Blanco, a geoscientist at the Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He told the portal Live Science (source) that the findings shake the binary notion that rifts either “succeed” (like the Red Sea, which is opening an ocean) or “fail” completely.
According to him:
“We are showing that there is an intermediate path, where a rift can slow down, but without actually dying.”
What Seemed Quiet Never Really Was Stopped
The Gulf of Suez has always been treated as the perfect example of a rift that did not evolve into an ocean. However, the region has been showing small signs of tectonic life. Some sections exhibit ancient coral reefs elevated above sea level, something that does not happen without structural forces pushing the ground upwards. Mild tremors still occur occasionally. And there are geological faults that seem to be lifting chunks of land.
For Fernández-Blanco, there was a gap between the dominant discourse and physical indications:
“What struck us was the contrast between the narrative of total tectonic inactivity and the scattered signs of ongoing activity.”
These “clues” motivated the team to analyze in detail the entire extent of the rift, about 300 kilometers, observing the geography and the paths of the rivers that cut through the rocks. When a river exhibits an irregular profile that cannot be explained solely by erosion, the likely culprit is tectonic movement.
Additionally, the researchers investigated ancient interglacial reefs, formed when sea levels were higher during warm periods. Many of them are now 18 meters above the current level. The explanation? Slow and continuous movements of the crust.
Rifting Has Slowed But Has Not Stopped, And This Changes Everything
Combining all this data, the study concluded that the rift did indeed reduce its speed about 5 million years ago, when part of the tectonic activity transferred to the area of the Dead Sea, where a new boundary emerged between the African and Arabian plates. Even so, the process in the Gulf of Suez has not ceased.
The current rate of extension even resembles that occurring in the western United States, where crustal expansion forms the famous set of mountain ranges and valleys known as the Basin and Range Province.
For Fernández-Blanco, this reinforces something important:
“Changes in tectonic boundaries do not necessarily mean that a rift will be shut down. The forces driving rifting are more persistent and complex than the simple movement of plates.”
Implications: More Seismic Risk And Many “Failed” Rifts May Not Be Dead
The discovery has practical effects. If rifting has never stopped, then the Gulf of Suez may be more vulnerable to earthquakes than previously thought. The region, which includes coastal areas of Egypt and major industrial facilities, may need a review of risk assessments.
Moreover, the study opens the door for other rifts considered “failed,” in various parts of the world, such as East Africa and even Europe, to be reevaluated with modern mapping and dating technologies.
In the words of the researcher:
“We may find that the tectonic systems of the Earth are more dynamic and persistent than we thought.”
In other words, what was believed to be geologically dead may, in fact, just be sleeping, or better yet, slowly opening a path that one day could become an ocean.
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