Africas Great Rift Valley

1
Africas Great Rift Valley
2
Rift?

• The crust is pulling apart due to Plate Tectonics
• As the crust is moved the land sinks into a large
  valley or depression.
• This is called a Graben.
• These can be several miles wide and thousands of
  feet deep

3
Africa Rift Zone

• Africa is being rifted or pulled apart in three
  different directions
• The Red Sea was created by a rift that started 20
  million years ago.

4
Landforms

• This rift has caused volcanic activity, low
  valleys, and several large lakes
• There are 20 Volcanoes in the Southern portion of
  the Rift Valley
• Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania elevation 19,335 ft

5
Lake Tanganyika
6
Ol Doinyo Lengai
7
What Will Happen

• Eventually the rift will widen enough to allow
  the Indian Ocean to flow into the area
• Eastern Africa will become an island
• This same rifting process created the Atlantic
  Ocean and the break up of Pangaea