Evidence of Catastrophic Geology: Case 7

Rifting of tectonic plates can occur much faster than understood by many laymen.  As reported in the journal Nature in 2006, the crust on the side of the Red Sea rift moved apart by 26 feet over a period of just 3 weeks.

Magma entered the crack forming new crust.  Images from the European Space Agency's Envisat radar satellite were used (before and after) to validate the measurement.

A series of small earthquakes had occurred in east Africa the previous year, separating the rift in Ethiopia along a 37 mile long segment (East African Rift).  The Red Sea Rift can be seen in the illustration below.

(image from Saudi Arabian Geological Society)


Satellite monitoring technology has only been recently available to track movement of land masses, and many more events will be examined with keen interest.