Geologists believe that part of the African continent will break off in the next 50 million years primarily because it is part of a rift valley. The East African Rift Valley is a tectonic plate boundary where the African Plate is splitting into two smaller plates: the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate. This process of rifting is characterized by volcanic activity, earthquakes, and the stretching of the Earth's crust.
As the plates continue to move apart, the rift can widen, and over millions of years, this could lead to significant geological changes, including the possibility of a segment of the continent breaking off and eventually forming a new ocean basin. While severe earthquakes and active volcanoes are indeed associated with rifting, the rift valley itself is the key element underpinning the belief in the potential future breakup of the continent.
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