Where is the rift valley located? East African Rift System. Adventures of Gombe National Park
In East Africa, the fault line in the earth's crust is marked by numerous rift lakes (usually deep and elongated) - the largest of which are Tanganyika and Nyasa, as well as a chain of extinct volcanoes, including the two highest peaks in Africa - Kilimanjaro and Kenya. The Rift Valley crosses the entirety of Kenya and Tanzania from north to south. Its central part is picturesque, fertile and has been well inhabited for a long time. Among the yellow-green carpet of vegetation, rift lakes stand out, two of which we have already met (Nakuru and Naivashi). The width of the Rift Valley is from thirty to one hundred kilometers, and its landscapes are extremely picturesque.
1. This is what the Rift Valley looks like in Tanzania, in Lake Manyara National Park. Like most rift lakes, Manyara is salty and there are a lot of flamingos.
3. Panoramas of the East African Rift Valley in Tanzania - it cuts through almost the entire country with a deep depression. View from above, from one of the “edges” of the rift.
4. Lake Manyara was almost dry at the end of the dry season, but after the rainy season it will spread for many kilometers around.
7. Dawn over the valley.
8. Let's return to Kenya. This and the next photo are already familiar to you - freshwater Lake Naivasha...
9. And the brackish Lake Nakuru.
10. One of the best viewing platforms of the Great Rift Valley is located in Kenya near Nairobi - when we first stopped here, it was raining, and on the way back from Nakuru to Amboseli the weather was wonderful!
Category materials
Great Rift Valley
(Republic of Kenya)A rift is a linear depression in the earth's crust that forms when it moves apart. The Great Rift Valley is a huge tectonic fault at the junction of the African and Arabian continental plates, which extends from the Dead Sea through Israel, Jordan, Syria, the Red Sea and further across East Africa through Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to Mozambique. The total length of the fault is almost ten thousand kilometers.
Maasai village
(Republic of Kenya)The Maasai are tribes living in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, leading a semi-nomadic lifestyle and primarily engaged in cattle breeding. In total, about a million Maasai live in the savannah territories, a significant part of whom have still preserved their indigenous way of life and zealously observe their ancient traditions. With the advent of mass tourism in Kenya and Tanzania, the Masai tribes received wide...
Sketches of Kenya
(Republic of Kenya)Before moving on to the story of my trip to Tanzania and climbing Kilimanjaro - a short post in which I have collected some photographs that do not relate to any of the previous topics. They are taken from a car, or during short stops in towns and roadside stations, or they are just photos of people on the streets... I have already written quite a lot about life in Kenya and I think this small selection will serve...
Scientists suggest that Africa is part of Gondwana. During the Cenozoic period, Africa fell into a zone of stretching of the earth's crust, as a result of which mid-ocean ridges and the Great East African Rifts were formed. It is believed that the rift process continues to this day and will eventually cause the eastern part of the continent to break away and create a new island.
Every year, the crack in the earth's crust increases by 4 millimeters. Accordingly, the capacity of reservoirs increases, and eventually everything will be flooded with ocean waters. Although there have been other cases, in the Northern Tanzania region in 2005, the ground split 10 meters in just 10 days.
Today, almost all the active volcanoes of the continent, except Cameroon, are concentrated in this territory, as well as many extinct volcanoes and even thermal water outlets. In general, there are about 30 active and weakly active volcanoes.
Therefore, this place attracts tourists, there are many nature reserves and numerous flora and fauna.
Rift countries
The Great African Rift crosses several countries:
- Malawia (a small state that is still engaged in territorial disputes with Tanzania).
- Zaire (former
- Mozambique (the ancestral land of the Bushmen and Hottentots).
- Tanzania (a country with two capitals).
- Rwanda (Land of a Thousand Hills).
- Burundi (a small and underdeveloped country on the continent).
- Kenya (the most dynamically developing republic in Africa).
- Uganda (Buganda from Swahili).
- Ethiopia (the country with the most significant ethnic diversity).
Some archaeologists claim that this particular place is the cradle of humanity, which is confirmed by the numerous archaeological artifacts found.
Serengeti National Park
This is the oldest reserve of the Great African Rift, and it is located in the north-west of Tanzania. The total occupied area is 14,750 square kilometers. By the way, the local population translates the name of the Maasai park as “limitless.” And on the southeastern border is the protected area of the Ngorongoro crater. There are two magnificent lakes here - Victoria and Eyasi.
This unique Great Rift zone can be reached from Arusha (320 km). Regular charter flights fly here and there is a bus, but the drive will take 6 hours, but on a good road.
The most unique phenomenon in the national park is the mass migration of wildebeest, zebras and Thomson's gazelles. This is a magnificent sight when more than 3 million individuals crowdedly move to other territories in search of fresh vegetation, covering more than 3 thousand kilometers.
The park has the largest population of lions on the entire planet, more than 3 thousand individuals. Not far from the border of the park there is a drainage basin from which salts are not washed out, and geysers bubble at the bottom.
Ngorongoro Crater
The occupied area of this unique part of the Great African Rift is 3300 square kilometers. These are multifunctional lands where wild nature and nomadic Maasai reign. The protected area is located 190 kilometers from Arusha.
The main attraction is the Ngorongoro crater itself. Millions of years ago, this volcano was larger than Kilimanjaro, and one day it exploded and filled a crater with lava, the diameter of which was from 16 to 20 kilometers. And the depth in some places reaches 760 meters. And the most interesting thing is Lake Magadi inside.
In addition, there are several more volcanoes here, one of the most unique is Ol Doinyo Lengai, it is active and erupts the most liquid and cold lava.
There are rocks in the northern part of the zone, but they can only be visited for an additional fee and accompanied by local rangers. These rocks are inhabited by leopards and cheetahs.
Gombe National Park
This is the smallest protected area in Tanzania on the Great Rift of Africa, covering only 52 square kilometers. There are few travelers here, as the park is located far from traditional routes, although there are regular flights from Arusha and Dar es Salaam.
The main attraction is the huge natural population of chimpanzees. It is also here that the settlement of Ujiji is located, where two of the greatest explorers, Stanley and Livingston, met.
Lake Manyara Park
This place is located where the borders of the Tarangire Park and the Ngorongoro Crater protection zone pass. The Great African Rift Lake covers an area of 330 square kilometers. km. And most of the territory, more precisely 230 square meters. km, is located under the alkaline Lake Manyara. Even Hemingway praised this body of water. But the traveler will be pleased not only by the huge expanse of the reservoir and the picturesque nature, but also by the lions climbing the tree branches. These animals look from above for their prey. In addition, here are the darkest-colored giraffes, which from a distance appear black. And the most interesting thing is pink flamingos on the surface of the lake. In the south of the park there are Maji Mato hot springs (temperatures around 60 degrees).
Katavi National Park
In terms of size, it is the third largest protected area in Tanzania. The total occupied area is 4500 sq. km, although it is quite difficult to meet travelers here. People come here for unique photographs of crocodiles and hippos, because this park has the largest population of them.
There is a famous tamarind tree in the park. Some people believe that to this day the spirit lives in it, after which the park is named, so you can come to the tree and communicate with it.
Kitulo National Park
This place, where the Great African Rifts are located, has the most unique plant world. The aborigines themselves highlight the territory of the park, because this is where the most unique flowers grow on the entire continent. The park is home to beautiful birds and unique butterflies.
Tourists are offered a 6-hour walking tour through the Livingston Mountains to the town of Matema. It is recommended to stay there for a few days. On the territory of the settlement there are places where you can go fishing, sunbathe, and admire the waterfalls.
Mahale Mountains Park
These are huge territories - an entire peninsula on Lake Tanganyika. You can get here by motor boat from Kigoma. There are also air connections from Dar es Salaam and Arusha.
There are many chimpanzees in the park, you can meet elephants and buffaloes, and in the south - giraffes and lions and tropical butterflies. In the very central part there is a mountain range with the highest point (2462 meters) and the clearest waters of Lake Tanganyika.
The African Rift is home to vast steppes and clear waters with a unique and virtually untouched ecosystem.
I woke up from an unpleasant commotion outside the window, looked out the window: marabou were quarreling on the branches, they are like our crows, only the size of a large stork or crane, bald, ugly, very cunning and cautious. I went downstairs and took a dip in the pool before breakfast. After a short time of getting ready, we loaded ourselves into the car and hit the road. Today is the start of our short safari.
We are moving northwest, through the great rift valley. A few words about Kenyan landscapes. Nairobi and most of Kenya are at a fairly decent altitude, over 1500 m above sea level. It’s clear why the city was founded here: it’s not so hot, but often, especially at night, it’s quite cold and dank. But here it’s practically the equator, and as soon as the sun comes out, it starts to get pretty hot and you can burn without notice in a few minutes, even if the temperature is +28 degrees. Our path lies through the great rift valley. What is it and how was it formed? In fact, East Africa has been drifting eastward away from the main continent for quite some time (in geological time). Part of this ancient process is the Arabian Peninsula breaking away from Africa, resulting in the Red Sea. An even more ancient process is the detachment of Madagascar, as well as India, which “sailed” all the way to Asia and, having stuck into the continent, reared up the Himalayas. So, this fault, from which the eastern part begins to creep away from the main part of Africa, stretches from the very south to Egypt. Spreading, these parts formed a large rift valley, the lowest parts of the valley filled with water and the great African lakes were born - Lake Victoria (which I visited last year, but more on that another time), Lake Malawi, Tangaika, etc. In a short period, by geological standards, all of eastern Africa will break away and become a huge island, but, alas, we will not see this, for us this is millions of years.
And so, rolling down from the highlands, travelers have a stunning view of this valley, because we are on the eastern slope, the beauty is indescribable. Actually here, after an hour and a half drive from Nairobi, our first short stop. You can take pictures of magnificent views and wander around the shops with souvenirs.
Another hour and a half and we find ourselves at the first lake, Naivasha. This is a freshwater alpine lake, part of the Great Rift Valley lake system, altitude 1884 m above sea level. A boat trip is usually carried out here. This is a national park, many hippos, about 400 species of birds, waterbucks, giraffes and other antelopes. They had just sailed away from the shore when the heads of hippopotamuses immediately appeared. You need to keep your distance from them, the animal is very dangerous and unpredictable. In one place we managed to see a hippopotamus half sticking out of the water, one might say we were lucky, during the day they usually dive into the water and only the tops of their heads are visible. We found water eagles, the guides threw fish into the water and we watched them hunt. Their eyesight is certainly excellent.
After swimming, we were dropped off for a short walk along the shore. There are no predators here and you can wander a little on the ground. The guide led us through the thickets and led us to the giraffes. They turned out to be quite cowardly, they won’t let you get closer than 15 meters and always dive into the thickets; it was not possible to take normal photos. But they can run quite quickly and we can’t keep up with them.
Our raid ended, we jumped into the car and headed towards Lake Nakuru. But this place is so rich in fauna that it certainly deserves a separate post. so about Nakuru next time. To be continued...
EAST AFRICAN RIFT SYSTEM, a system of rifts in East Africa, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Formed in Oligocene-Quaternary time. It stretches in a submeridional direction - from the coast of the southeastern Mediterranean to the southeastern edge of Africa. The total length is over 9000 km. It is located in the eastern part of the African Platform and partially inherits the Late Precambrian Mozambican granulite-gneiss belt. In the rift zones of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, starting from the late Miocene, new formation of the oceanic crust occurs, accompanied by the spreading of the seabed, as a result of which the Arabian Peninsula moves away from Africa and the opening of the ocean basin occurs. The intercontinental rifts of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the East African continental rift system intersect in the Afar Basin, forming a triple junction structure (Afar Triangle). To the southwest of the Afar depression, within the Ethiopian arched rise, there is a rift of the same name, represented by a chain of depressions (grabens), some of which are occupied by lakes (Zwai, Shala, Abaya, Chamo, etc.). In the inflection zone between the Ethiopian and Kenya arches there is the Rudolf rift with the lake of the same name, to the south of which the East African rift system is divided into two branches. The western branch consists of a series of en-echelon grabens (the largest are Albert, Edward, Kivu, Tanganyika, Rukwa), expressed in relief by deep and wide (40-50 km) mountain valleys with steep slopes occupied by lakes, including deep-water ones (Tanganyika ). The elevation of the side parts of the rifts above their bottoms is sometimes over 3000 m. The eastern branch (or Gregory Rift) extends along the axis of the Kenyan arch through the territory of Kenya and Tanzania; a poorly defined rift valley can be traced in the form of several shallow depressions with small lakes (Baringo, Natron, Eyasi, Manyara, etc.), often salt-rich. In the area of Lake Nyasa (Malawi), the western and eastern branches connect and continue to the south with a single chain of grabens extending into the Indian Ocean. The East African rift system is bounded on its sides by steep faults penetrating into the lithosphere. At intervals of about 100 km along the strike, the rifts are intersected by transverse or diagonal faults. Rift depressions are filled with thick strata of river and lake sediments, partly lavas and tuffs. The continental crust beneath the East African rift system has a reduced thickness (about 25 km); in the southern part of the Afar depression, the thickness of the crust is reduced to 13 km, and in the northern part it is replaced by oceanic-type crust. The heat flow in the region is increased by 2 times or more. Seismic activity is high.
The East African rift system has been developing since the Oligocene in an extensional environment. Its formation in the Oligocene - Miocene was accompanied by fissure eruptions of plateau basalts (the south of the Arabian Peninsula, the Afar depression, the Ethiopian Highlands, the eastern branch of the rift system), which formed thick lava covers that covered the basement rocks and sedimentary cover of the African platform. At the same time, large shield volcanoes formed, composed of alkaline lavas (Elgon, Kizingiri). In the Pliocene-Quaternary, the rift valley subsided and depressions formed. Volcanism concentrated along the rift zone. The large volcanic massifs of Kilimanjaro and Kenya were formed. Modern terrestrial volcanism is manifested along the northeastern limit of the Afar depression (Dubbi, Gabuli, Ummuna volcanoes, etc.), in the Rudolf rift (Teleki, etc.), in the eastern branch (Longonot, Kilimanjaro, Meru, Ol Doinyo Lengai, etc. .), in the western branch (Nyamlaghira, Nyiragongo, Karisimbi). The opening of the East African Rift system continues at a rate of 4 mm per year (in the area of the Ethiopian Rift), which leads to a gradual separation of the Somali block from Africa.
Lit.: East African Rift System. M., 1974. T. 1-3; Milanovsky E. E. Rift zones of continents. M., 1976; Kazmin V. G. Rift structures of East Africa - the split of the continent and the birth of the oceans. M., 1987; Geological structures / Edited by Takeshi Uemura, Shinjiro Mitsutani. M., 1990.
The Rift Valley in East Africa is a huge geological fault in the earth's crust. Passes through Northern Ethiopia to central Mozambique. The rift valley begins in the area and stretches along the meridian for thousands of kilometers, dividing into branches (total length more than 9000 km). The width is up to 200 kilometers, and the depth of this huge fault varies from several hundred meters to a kilometer.
History of the study
The Great African Rift Valley was first discovered in the late 19th century. Currently, it can be clearly seen from space.
It received its name from the English geologist John Walter Gregory, who studied East Africa and Australia. In the same places, fossilized remains of hominids (the family of the most developed primates, including humans) were found.
Geology
The rift valley was formed in Oligocene-Quaternary times as a result of a series of shifts in the earth's crust accompanied by intense volcanic activity due to the displacement of lithospheric plates (African and Arabian). It consists of two branches, the eastern one (Gregory Rift) stretches north from Lake Victoria and goes to the Red Sea depression.
Along the way it passes through Tanzania and Kenya. The second western branch is shorter - the Albertine Rift. The northern part of the rift has become the Red Sea, filling with water; every year this depression gradually moves apart due to the continuous formation of oceanic crust.
What is a rift?
The rift valley can most correctly be called the East African Rift system. A rift is a huge elongated depression in the earth's crust that occurs at the point where the earth's crust breaks when it is subject to tensile forces or longitudinal displacement of two plates. Such a chasm can form on land and in the ocean. There are areas in the rift system where oceanic crust can form. An example of this phenomenon in the Great Rift Valley is the Afar Depression, located in its northern part.
Afar Valley
This is a deep depression that has dropped to 150 meters below sea level as a result of geological processes. This area of land is also called the “Afar Triangle”, since the intercontinental rifts of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea meet here with the system of continental East African rifts. The relief and climate contributed to the creation of one of the hottest places on the planet. The average minimum temperature is + 25 degrees, and the maximum is +35, annual precipitation is 200 millimeters. The Afar depression is about two million years old; it was formed back in the Afar border. Volcanoes rise, some of them active.
Dabbahu Volcano is 1442 meters high and is famous for its eruption in 2005. Before the awakening of the volcano, earthquakes occurred, as a result of which a large crack formed in the earth's crust. It is called the Dabbahu fault. Scientists believe that this very fault precedes the beginning of the separation of the Somali plate from the African one. Thus, Africa will be divided in two in the future. The Afar Valley is the second place, after Ireland, where you can study the oceanic crust directly on land.
The depression is also famous for its volcano - Erta Ape. It is a shield volcano that has been continuously active since 1976 and is the only one on the planet to have two lava lakes.
Volcanoes of the Great Rift Valley
In the eastern branch of the valley is the highest volcano in Africa - Kilimanjaro, which is also the highest point of the continent. It is potentially active, there are gas emissions and it is believed that the cone may collapse, leading to a very large eruption. At Kilimanjaro's main summit, the magma is very close to the surface.
The Ngorongoro volcanic caldera arose after the destruction of a huge volcano 2.5 million years ago. The diameter of its crater ranges from 17 to 21 kilometers. Its depth is 610 meters, the total area is 265 square kilometers. There are many other volcanoes in the Great Rift Valley, the highest being Elgon, Kilimanjaro and Kenya. There was even a National Park dedicated to volcanoes; it is located in the northwestern part of Rwanda. The volcanoes Sabinyo, Gahinga, Muhabura, Bisoke, and Karisimbi are located there.
Great Lakes of Africa
The rift valley passes through, among them there are large ones - Victoria, Nyasa, Tanganyika. And smaller bodies of water.
To the southwest, in the rift zone, a whole chain of lakes formed: Abaya, Zvay, Shala, Chamo.
It was formed at the site of the deflection of the earth's crust between the Kenyan and Ethiopian arches. The Rudolf Rift, which bears the same name as the lake, is also located here.
Tanganyika is the world's longest freshwater lake. Its length is 700 kilometers. It belongs to the western branch of the rift valley, as do lakes Albert, Kivu, Rukwa, and Edward.
Lake Victoria is the largest freshwater lake in Africa and the second largest freshwater lake on the planet after Lake Superior (in North America).
Nyasa. In the area of this lake, the eastern and western branches of the Great Rift Valley connect and go to the Indian Ocean.