In the geologic history of Earth, shifting plate tectonics are commonplace, and Africa's impending rift ... The split will change the world's continental makeup. "Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and ...

This massive crack in the Earth’s crust, precisely, the lithosphere, resides near the boundaries of the African, Arabian, and Somali plates, confirming the start of an impending continental drift.

Six of the majors are named for the continents embedded within them, such as the North American, African ... The plates make up Earth's outer shell, called the lithosphere.