A gulf separating Africa and Asia is still pulling apart — 5 million years after scientists thought it had stopped

A picture taken from orbit of the Gulf of Suez.

The Gulf of Suez, which partially divides Africa and Asia, may still be widening, researchers have discovered.

Beginning about 28 million years ago, the Arabian tectonic plate pulled away from the African plate, opening up today's Gulf of Suez. This kind of rift is how new oceans are born — but about 5 million years ago, the rifting stopped, and Suez stayed a gulf, not an ocean.