'Pulsing, like a heartbeat': Rhythmic mantle plume rising beneath Ethiopia is creating a new ocean

Active lava flows spilling out of the Erta Ale volcano in Afar, Ethiopia.

Rhythmic pulses of molten rock are rising beneath eastern Africa, according to a new study.

The pulsing plume of hot mantle beneath Ethiopia, driven by plate tectonics, is slowly pulling the region apart and forming a new ocean near the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, researchers reported June 25 in the journal Nature Geoscience.