Scientists say new ocean in formation in Ethiopia

Ethiopian, American and European researchers have observed a fissure in a desert in the remote northeast that could be the 'birth of a new ocean basin,' scientists said Friday.

Researchers from Britain, France, Italy and the U.S. have been observing the 60-kilometer (37-mile) long fissure since it split open in September in the Afar desert and estimate it will take a million years to fully form into an ocean, said Dereje Ayalew, who leads the team of 18 scientists studying the phenomenon.

Full report (AP/ST) 10 Dec 2005.