Continent giving birth to ocean: The Arabian geological plate, the land mass that is now Saudi Arabia and Yemen, is struggling to break free and drift north of the fixed Nubia and Solalia plates, which also hold Ethiopia, Eritera and Djibouti, scientists say. The tectonic battle has raged for 30 million years, according to Isabelle Manighetti, a researcher in active rectonics at the Paris-based Institute de Physique de Globe.