It's known as the cradle of civilization, and now it's in the process of giving birth to a new ocean. The continent of Africa is breaking apart, and, compared to most geological phenomena, the new body of water is forming with staggering speed. This is just the kind of event that really gets the attention of geologists like Dr. Estella Atekwana. "We have never really witnessed this before," says Atekwana, a professor of geophysics at UMR. "We expect geological processes to be slow...Depending on how fast the plates are moving apart, we expect the area to eventually become like the Red Sea." Not too long ago, Atekwana co-organized a workshop on the East African Rift System in Ethiopia, and she continues to have a scholarly interest in the fascinating geology of the region.