Spanning some 3500 miles of the african continent, from ethiopia in the north to mozambique in the south, the great rift valley is home to an astounding array of flora and fauna, including a great concentration of glassland animals amd three of the worlds four great apes. On land, giant troughs such as the great rift valley in africa form where plates are tugged apart. The great rift valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately 6,000 kilometres 3,700 mi in total length, that runs from the beqaa valley in lebanon which is in asia to mozambique in southeast africa. Spanning some 3500 miles of the african continent, from ethiopia in the north to mozambique in the south, the great rift valley is home to an astounding array of flora and fauna, including a great concentration of glassland animals amd three of the world s four great apes. The great rift valley lakes download ebook pdf, epub. Africa s great rift valley is the largest, longest, and most conspicuous feature of its kind on earth. Great rift valley simple english wikipedia, the free. Internet archive contributor internet archive language english. East african rift valley countries burundi comoros djibouti eritrea ethiopia kenya madagascar malawi mauritius mayotte mozambique reunion rwanda seychelles somalia tanzania, united republic of uganda zambia zimbabwe. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it is considered an imprecise merging of separate though related rift and fault. Possible worlds trailer ann druyan and worldrenowned astrophysicist neil degrasse tyson takes us on a cosmic adventure from the ancient heretic who opened our way to the stars to. The producers of life, galapagos and yellowstone bring us the great rift. Nonvolcanic in origin, the cherangany hills resulted from faulting in the rift valley.
The volcanics of the gregory rift valley, east africa springerlink. Pdf on jan 1, 2005, jean chorowicz and others published the east african rift system find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. The great rift valley is a name given to the continuous geographical trench, about 6,000 kilometres 3,700 mi in length, that runs from northern syria in southwest asia to central mozambique in east africa. Structure, paleolimnology and basin history of the east kivu. The great rift valley in africa is a divergent boundary. Africa teaching materials, resources, and lessons for. The great rift valley is part of a huge geological fault in east africa. African rift system an overview sciencedirect topics. It is part of the gregory rift, the eastern branch of the east african rift, which starts in tanzania to the south and continues northward into ethiopia. Africas changing valley by smith, anthony, 19262014. Dig deeper into the geography of subsaharan africa with this engaging, crosscurricular 5e lesson.
It was formed on the kenyan dome a geographical upwelling created by the interactions of three major tectonics. Giwa regional assessments east african rift valley lakes. If the plates there continue to diverge, millions of years from now eastern africa will split. What youre looking at is what occurs when two tectonic plates move away from one another. A complex rift system african great rift valley file.
The discovery of the great rift valley, where africa is. Explore southern rift valley holidays and discover the best time and places to visit. Most of the great lakes of eastern africa are located in the rift valleys, except notably lake. The landscape ranges from searing salt flats 500 feet below sea level to snowcapped mountains towering over. Plate tectonics information and facts national geographic. The largest populations are concentrated where soils are fertilealong the nile river and in east africas great rift valleyand in. But this slice of africa s great rift valley is, for the most part, cool and calm, swathed in forest and watered by moody mineral lakes that blanch and blush with the movement of pelicans and flamingos. Africas great rift valley, 2001, isbn 0810906023 tribesofthegreatriftvalley,2007,isbn9780810994119 east african rift valley lakes, 2006, oclc 76876862 photographic atlas of the midatlantic ridge rift valley,1977,isbn0387902473 riftvalleyfever.
Great rift valley the great rift valley is a series of geographic trenches spanning from lebanon to mozambique, including the red sea and the gulf of aden. The lakes of the great rift valley travel guide east. From a height of over 2400m, the land tumbles away nearly m into the suguta valley, the domain of nomadic pastoralists, before rising again 120km away to form the great rifts western escarpment. Its not the african pink flamingos strutting gracefully in the shallows of kenyas lake nakuru that capture the attention of hamadi. The rift valley of eastern africa and asia sometimes called the great rift valley grv or east african rift system ear or ears is an enormous geological split in the crust of the earth, thousands of kilometers long, up to 125 miles 200 kilometers wide, and between a few hundred to thousands of meters deep. Lake kivu, located at the topographic high point of the western branch of africa s great rift valley, is regularly subjected to largemagnitude seismic events, violent volcanic discharges, and possible limnic eruptions which pose substantial geohazards to the two million congolese and rwandan people living around its basin. Media in category topographic maps of africa the following 50 files are in this category, out of 50 total. The system is some 4,000 miles 6,400 km long and averages 3040 miles 4864 km wide. This is in the slow process of splitting the african tectonic plate into two new plates. Flamingos, microbes and more in africa s great rift valley. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. The location of the east african rift system was influenced by the preexisting lithospheric. The great rift valley ranges in elevation from 1,300 ft 395 m below sea level at the dead sea to 6,000 ft. Two arms of the triple junction will open to an ocean by forming new oceanic crust and the third arm will be a failed rift.
At a divergent plate boundary in the middle of a continental plate such as africas great rift valley. Sociocultural and economic dimensions of rift valley fever. Great rift valley wikipedia african great rift valley east africa s great rift valley. Students build on their knowledge of plate tectonics from science class by analyzing the great rift valley from a social studies perspective, focusing on humanenvironment interactions. Media in category great rift valley the following 121 files are in this category, out of 121 total. East african rift system, also called afroarabian rift valley, one of the most extensive rifts on earth s surface, extending from jordan in southwestern asia southward through eastern africa to mozambique. Apr 03, 2018 this area is part of the great rift valley, where africa is slowly pushed and pulled apart by uprising material in earth s mantle. Find highquality rift valley stock photos and editorial news pictures from getty images. East african rift system geological feature, africaasia. The rift valley, also known as the great rift valley or eastern rift valley, is a geological feature due to the movement of tectonic plates and mantle plumes that runs south from jordan in southwest asia, through east africa and down to mozambique in southern africa. It stretches some 3,500 miles, from ethiopia in the north to mozambique in the south.
The great rift valley, with its associated escarpments and mountains, is a major feature. Great rift valley located mostly in africa, the great rift valley is a 3,000milelong gash in the earths surface. The great rift valley stretches 3,500 miles from ethiopia to mozambique and is over 35 million years old. It runs the length of the country from lake turkana in the north to lake natron on the southern border with tanzania. Rift valleys are found both on land and at the bottom of the ocean, where they are created by the process of seafloor spreading. Filled with active volcanoes and vast lakes, the great rift valley is populated by a wide variety of unique species and many different tribes of people, most of whom make their living off of. Eduard suess thoughts on the east african rift system encouraged john gregory to further explore the faulted basins of kenya in 1893, and subsequently expressing the term rift valley. Rift valley feverrvf virus is an arbovirus in the bunyaviridae family that, from phylogenetic analysis, appears to have first emerged in the mid19th century and was only identified at the.
The ear began developing around the onset of the miocene, 2225 million years ago. Download premium images you cant get anywhere else. The rift valley floor encompasses the archetypal east african safari panorama of acaciadotted savannah, studded with jewellike lakes that are sometimes rimmed with huge flocks of pink. In simple terms, a rift can be thought of as a fracture in the earths surface that widens over time, or more. Download the great rift valley or read online books in pdf, epub, tuebl, and mobi format. Important bird areas in africa and associated islands kenya table 1. Introduction to rift valleys excerpt from national geographic education. East african rift system, also called afroarabian rift valley, one of the most extensive rifts on earths surface, extending from jordan in southwestern asia southward through eastern africa to mozambique. The map below shows the physical features of africa. The great rift valley offers spectacular scenery, through kenya and tanzania as the east african rift, hosting the great lakes. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Rift valleys differ from river valleys and glacial valleys in that they are created by tectonic activity and not the process of erosion.
Jun 09, 2009 the great rift valley, africa matt bunker slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. The great rift valley involves one such tremendous breadth, extending crosswise over a great many miles from mozambique to the middle east. The great rift valley olduvai gorge, in tanzanias great rift valley, is one of the most important sites for the study of human evolution. Click download or read online button to get the great rift valley book now. Chris carlson slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising.
The great rift valley ranges in elevation from 1,300 ft 395 m below sea level at the dead sea to 6,000 ft 1,830 m above sea level in southern kenya. The east african rift system comprises a unique succession of graben basins linked and segmented by intracontinental transform, transfer and accommodation zones. It forms the western half of the great rift valley and extends northwest in a broken chain to mount moroto in uganda. In simple terms, a rift can be thought of as a fracture in the earth s surface that widens over time, or more. Sep 16, 2017 the rift valley, also known as the great rift valley or eastern rift valley, is a geological feature due to the movement of tectonic plates and mantle plumes that runs south from jordan in southwest asia, through east africa and down to mozambique in southern africa. It extends from mozambique in the south, cuts through the east african plateau, and continues through ethiopia before becoming the red sea. Today, the term is most often used to refer to the valley of the east african rift, the divergent. Rift valley running between mozambique and jordan, africas great rift valley displays some of its most dramatic landscapes where its eastern arm carves through kenya from north to south. Cherangany hills, mountain range in western kenya, east africa. Once in the middle east, the crack forms the dead sea and jordan river valley. Visible from space, africas great rift valley runs four thousand miles from the red sea to the mouth of the zambezi a diverse landscape of erupting volcanoes, forestclad mountains, spectacular valleys, rich grasslands, vast lakes and mighty rivers. The great rift valley central bucks school district.
After the discovery of rvf rvfv in 1930 among sheep on a naivasha farm in the rift valley of kenya, 19 extensive outbreaks were not reported until 1951, when an estimated 20,000 persons were infected during an epizootic of cattle and sheep in south africa. The great rift valley is a region in east africa, which is the location of the emergence of homo sapiens between 100,000 and 400,000 years ago. The east african rift system ears is one the geologic wonders of the world, a place where the earth s tectonic forces are presently trying to create new plates by splitting apart old ones. A complex rift system great rift african world heritage sites east africa s great rift valley. These two branches together have been termed the east african rift ear, while parts of the eastern branch have been variously termed the kenya rift or the gregory rift after the geologist who first mapped it in the early 1900 s. The great rift valley ranges in elevation from 400m below sea level to 1900m above sea level in. It is a site of faults and earthquakes basically, the western part of africa is rifting away from the. The great rift valley, running from the red sea through the volcanic afar triangle to the southern lake district, may split apart the continent.
The east african rift system ears is one the geologic wonders of the world, a place where the earths tectonic forces are presently trying to create new plates by splitting apart old ones. The two ear branches are often grouped with the ethiopian rift to form the east africa rift system ears. Mar 30, 2019 the rift valley of eastern africa and asia sometimes called the great rift valley grv or east african rift system ear or ears is an enormous geological split in the crust of the earth, thousands of kilometers long, up to 125 miles 200 kilometers wide, and between a few hundred to thousands of meters deep. It was formed when extreme heat and pressure forced a 1,000 milewide bubble of molten lava to the surface. The great rift valley download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Eventually, the rift will become deep enough to host a new ocean. Africa s great rift valley stretches from the northern tips of eritrea and ethiopia down to mozambique and as far east as the democratic republic of congo. Please try again later or contact us if the issue continues. Documentary about the lakes of the great rift valley in east africa. The great rift valley is a geological fault, almost 5,000 km in extention from north syria to the central parts of mozambique. A rift valley is a lowland region that forms where earths tectonic plates move apart, or rift. The title is extremely misleading, as this is but a. Midatlantic ridge and africa s great rift valley are examples.
The great rift valley is the longest rift valley in the world at 3,600 miles running vertically through africa. In africa, it stretches from the red sea, south west across ethiopia and south into kenya, tanzania and malawi to beira in mozambique. For students to recognize that it is hard to generalize about africa, because its diversity is great, and each of its over 50 countries is unique. Question 1 in what part of africa is the great rift. The east african rift ear or east african rift system ears is an active continental rift zone in east africa. Africas great rift valley by nigel pavitt, hardcover. Possible worlds trailer ann druyan and worldrenowned astrophysicist neil degrasse tyson takes us on a cosmic adventure from. This area is part of the great rift valley, where africa is slowly pushed and pulled apart by uprising material in earths mantle. The great rift valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately 6,000.
These collide, forming a subduction zone wast coast of the americas or a continental collision india with asia. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Despite this slow rate of divergence, the east african rift valley and the davie ridge are. Plate boundary simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The great rift valley lakes download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl.
They create this void that gets filled with water and eroded sediment and forms these basins. Click download or read online button to get the great rift valley lakes book now. The great rift valley is part of an intracontinental ridge system that runs through kenya from north to south. The east african rift system ears is one the geologic wonders of the world, a place where the earths tectonic forces are presently trying to create new plates. Download pdf files of individual articles andor entire issues. Olduvai, also known as oldupai, was the site of a large lake 500,000 years ago. Environmental assessment of the east african rift valley lakes. In the past it was considered to be part of a larger great rift valley. This film reveals how the formation of the rift valley forced a crucial evolutionary step for humankind. Flamingos, microbes and more in africas great rift valley. The great rift valley, africa matt bunker slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising.
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