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Science 30 April 1971:
Vol. 172. no. 3982, pp. 468 - 469
DOI: 10.1126/science.172.3982.468
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Articles

Final Desiccation of the Afar Rift, Ethiopia

Enrico Bonatti 1, Cesare Emiliani 1, Göte Ostlund 1, and Harold Rydell 1

1 Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, Virginia Key, Miami, Florida 33149

Stable and radioactive isotope studies of ancient corals and mollusks from a fossil atoll in the Afar Rift indicate that final separation of the Afar Depression from the Red Sea occurred not earlier than 32,000 years ago. Desiccation followed within a few thousand years. The events recorded in the Afar Rift illustrate the processes occurring in the incipient stages leading to the formation of an oceanic body by rifting of a continental block.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)