ASSIGNMENT 1

REPORT WRITING
GEOL 201
THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT

JESSICA THEBE
STUDENT ID: 21000317
MINING ENGINEERING
GROUP G
DATE:15/09/22
ABSTRACT

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This is a report about the East African Rift System (EARS) which is one of the great tectonics of
Africa caused by the fracture of the continental crust. The report talks about geography,
tectonics, formation, sections, volcanism-basalt, and the great lakes. It explains the causes,
features, effects, and current situation in the East African Rift.

Table of Contents

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 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................4
GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT.....................................................................5
TECTONICS OF THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT.......................................................................6
FORMATION OF THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT......................................................................7
VOLCANISM..............................................................................................................................7
PHYSICAL FEATURES FOUND AT EAST AFRICAN RIFT..................................................8
EFFECTS ON THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT SYSTEM..............................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES/CITATIONS........................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
The East African Rift (EAR) is a developing divergent plate boundary in East Africa. Here the
eastern portion of Africa, the Somalian plate, is pulling the rest of the continent, which comprises
the Nubian plate. It is a place where the earth's tectonic forces are presently trying to create new
plates by splitting apart old ones. A rift can be described as a fracture on the earth’s crust that
widens over time and this is caused by plates moving away from each other this is called a
divergent boundary. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million
years ago. In the past, it was considered to be part of a larger Great Rift Valley that extended
north to Asia Minor.

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GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT
The EAR consists of two main branches. The Eastern Rift Valley (also known as Gregory Rift)
which runs from Ethiopia to Mozambique, running eastward from the Afar Triple Junction, and
the western rift valley which runs from Uganda to Tanzania and continues south as the Kenyan
Rift Valley. The system is some 4,000 miles (6,400 km) long and averages 30–40 miles (48–64
km) wide.

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TECTONICS OF THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT
 The rift divides the African plate into two plates called the Nubian plate and the Somalian
plate. Somalian and Nubian plates are pulling away from the Arabian Plate. This method of
continental drift is called divergent boundary. There are other minor plates involved in the rift
namely the Eurasian plate, the Aegean plate, and the Anatolian plate. There is also the Antarctic
plate and the Indo-Australian plate. In between the divergent areas or the spreading areas, there
are lots of transform plate boundaries because the plates aren’t breaking uniformly they are
breaking in sections and pieces that are intertwined with plate transform boundaries. Ridges and
rises are part of the divergent boundaries, ridges are steeper and narrower while a rise is broader
and wider. Examples of ridges are the Carlsberg ridge and the Azores ridge or fracture zone. The
fracture zone is when there is limited movement but there is still a break between the plates.

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FORMATION OF THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT
The rift valley was created and actually is still being created because in this part of east Africa a
deep and very hot layer of the earth called the asthenosphere is pushing up from below into our
planet’s outer crust and as a result one of the giant tectonic plates that make up the earth crust or
the lithosphere is slowly pulling apart. And in this case, the African plate which includes all the
African content is divided into 2 new tectonic plates the Nubian and Somalian plates.  In terms of
rift evolution, many parts of the East African Rift Valley are in different stages, from pre-rift in
the Limpopo valley to the initial-rift stage at the Malawi rift; to the typical-rift stage in the
northern Tanganyika rift region; to the advanced-rift stage in the Ethiopian rift region; and
finally to oceanic-rift stage in the Afar range.

The plumes under the continent initiate bulge heating the crust and causing it to fracture and
expand. The dominant fractures thus created occur in a pattern of fracture zones or three
fractures. The branches radiate from a point in Ethiopia with a 120 degrees separation called the
triple junction. The Afar Triple Junction is in the northern end. It is part of the seismically and
volcanically active portion of the System. It is one of the few places where plate divergence
occurs as the continental crust is continually splitting apart to develop a new ocean.

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VOLCANISM
Rift zones are areas of weakness in the volcano which form early in its lifetime, likely due to the
spreading of the volcano as it settles. This linear area that is being rifted, or pulled apart, remains
active through most of the volcano's building stages. When the continental crust stretches beyond
its limits, tension cracks begin to appear on the Earth's surface. Magma rises and squeezes
through the widening cracks, sometimes erupting and forming volcanoes. The volcanoes occur at
or near the actual plate boundaries. Mostly the type of volcanoes that occur at the East African
rift is the extinct stratovolcano and dormant stratovolcano. Erta Ale is a basaltic shield volcano in
the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia, continuously active since at least 1967, with a summit
lava lake. The East African Rift Zone include several active and dormant volcanoes, among
them: Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, Mount Longonot, Menengai Crater, Mount Karisimbi,
Mount Nyiragongo, Mount Meru, and, Mount Elgon, as well as the Crater Highlands in
Tanzania.
Active Erta Ale volcano

PHYSICAL FEATURES FOUND AT EAST AFRICAN RIFT

Associated with the rift valleys are vast savannas such as the Serengeti Plain, large lakes, high
mountains, and the highlands of Ethiopia. This area is geologically active and hence features like

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volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, and frequent earthquakes. The most famous physical features
here are Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, the two tallest peaks in Africa. It also includes
the world's second-largest freshwater lake, Lake Victoria, and the world's second deepest lake,
Lake Tanganyika. All of these are caused by the diverging of tectonic plates and the seafloor
spreading and also the volcanoes that occur there.

Lake Victoria Mount Kilomanjaro

  

EFFECTS ON THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT SYSTEM

Accompanying volcanic activity has influenced greatly the nature of the soils and the
geochemistry of ground and surface waters, an influence that is reflected in the water and food
quality. The Rift Valley in East Africa has been a rich source of hominid fossils that allow the
study of human evolution. The rapidly eroding highlands quickly filled the valley with
sediments, creating a favorable environment for the preservation of remains. They have pastures
for animals and firewood and fruits.

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WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT IN THE FUTURE?
 Researchers are uncertain about the future of the East African rift—whether the split will
continue and an ocean will eventually be formed. At the rate at which the Afar rift is splitting, it
will take tens of million years for an ocean to eventually be formed.  The three plates are
separating at different speeds.

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CONCLUSION
The East African Rift is a great physical feature that has helped with many things and has also
helped us understand how continents break apart. It is also a great example of how many natural
systems can be intertwined. This special geological setting may have altered the local climate
which may have in turn caused people back in the days to develop the skills necessary to develop
culture and figure out how such a rift came to be

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REFERENCES/CITATIONS

 https://www.thought.com/
 Safari-center.com/termation-of-east-Africa-valley
 https://www.usgs.gov
 https://www.nationalgeographic.org
 https://www.volcanodiscovery.com
 https://en.wikipedia.org
 Link.springer.com(chapter10/
 Slide player.com/slide/
 https://open.lit.umn.edu
 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 https://qz.com>africa

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