"Ethiopian, American and European researchers have observed a fissure
in a desert in the remote northeast that could be the "birth of a new
ocean basin," scientists said Friday.

Researchers from Britain, France, Italy and the U.S. have been
observing the 37-mile long fissure since it split open in September in
the Afar desert and estimate it will take a million years to fully form
into an ocean, said Dereje Ayalew, who leads the team of 18 scientists
studying the phenomenon.

The fissure, now 13 feet wide, formed in just three weeks after a Sept.
14 earthquake in a barren region called Boina, some 621 miles north
east of the capital, Addis Ababa, said Dereje.

"We believe we have seen the birth of a new ocean basin," said Dereje
of Addis Ababa University. "This is unprecedented in scientific history
because we usually see the split after it has happened. But here we are
watching the phenomenon."

The findings have been presented at a weeklong American Geophysical
Union meeting taking place in San Francisco that ends Friday."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...i164014S06.DTL

I can't remember much about what I was thinking could happen in
September. Here is something from another site:

AUG. 26 15 18 = Wet spell.
SEPT. 3 18 45 = Too unsettled to say. Ordinarily a dry spell.
SEPT. 11 11 37 = A very unsettled, likely wet spell.

SEPT. 18 2 01 = I'm not sure. A weak, dry spell perhaps that might be
overwhelmed. May have a large quake but I doubt it.

SEPT. 25 6 41 = Unsettled wet spell.
OCT. 3 10 28 = Very wet spell.
OCT. 10 19 01 = Very wet spell.

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.sci.weather/browse_thread/thread/fb2aa2128837e1a0/ae2b29723270f55c?lnk=st&q=SEPT.+18++2+01+%3D+I'm+n ot+sure.+A+weak%2C+dry+spell+perhaps+that+might+be +overwhelmed&rnum=2&hl=en#ae2b29723270f55c

Well, I suppose I am the only one here likely to find this interesting.
But I find it interesting.