Rift Valley

Introduction

The Great Rift Valley is a geographical and geological feature running north to south for around 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers), from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in East Africa. The valley is characterized by unique and diverse geological attributes, including a series of deep trenches, volcanic mountains, and a variety of landforms created by the tectonic activity in the region.

Geology

The formation of the Rift Valley is associated with a branch of geology known as plate tectonics. This scientific theory explains the large-scale motion of the Earth's lithosphere, which is divided into several large and small tectonic plates. The Rift Valley is a result of divergent plate boundaries, where the Earth's lithosphere is being pulled apart, leading to the creation of a rift.

The Rift Valley is part of the East African Rift System (EARS), which is an active continental rift zone. The EARS is one of the great geological structures on the planet, and it is the only rift system that is currently in the process of breaking a continent apart.

Geographical Features

The Rift Valley is home to a variety of geographical features. These include a series of lakes, some of which are among the deepest in the world. These lakes include Lake Tanganyika, Lake Malawi, and Lake Victoria, which is the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in the world.

The Rift Valley also features several volcanic mountains, including Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, and Mount Kenya, the second highest. These mountains are a result of the tectonic activity in the region and are part of the East African Rift System.

Biodiversity

The Rift Valley is renowned for its high levels of biodiversity. The region is home to a vast array of wildlife, including a significant number of Africa's endangered species. The unique geographical and climatic conditions of the Rift Valley have led to the evolution of unique species that are not found anywhere else in the world.

See Also

- Plate tectonics - East African Rift System - Lake Victoria - Mount Kilimanjaro

References

1. Chorowicz, J. (2005). The East African Rift System. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 43(1-3), 379-410. 2. Fernandes, R. M. S., Ambrosius, B. A. C., Noomen, R., Bastos, L., Combrinck, L., Miranda, J. M. A., & Spakman, W. (2004). Angular velocities of Nubia and Somalia from continuous GPS data: implications on present-day relative kinematics. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 222(1), 197-208. 3. Tiercelin, J. J., & Lezzar, K. E. (2002). A 300 million years history of rift lakes in Central and East Africa: an updated broad review. In The East African Great Lakes: Limnology, Palaeolimnology and Biodiversity (pp. 3-60). Springer, Dordrecht.