Beneath Ethiopia, the Earth’s mantle is pulsing like a slow, steady heartbeat, slowly tearing Africa apart and laying the ...

Strata: Stories from Deep Time’ explores the origins of the air we breathe and untangles some of our planet’s oldest stories.

Researchers mapped a pulsing mantle plume under Afar that channels molten rock upward, stretching Africa’s crust until it cracks and an ocean basin begins.