The Ethiopian rift valley is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) wide and bordered on both margins by large, discontinuous normal faults that give rise to major tectonic escarpments separating the rift floor from the surrounding plateaus.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=1_mHLEPFVNY
What are the characteristics of Rift Valley lakes?
All the three lakes are shallow, alkaline and are hydro-geologically connected through sub surface seepage of water. The alkalinity of the three lakes supports the abundant growth of the green algae (spirulina platensis) which is the food of the lesser flamingoes which congregate in the lakes in great numbers.
What are the characteristics of Ethiopian lowlands?
In contrast to the highlands, the remaining 44% of the Ethiopian lowlands are characterized by:
- Fewer amounts of rainfall and higher temperature.
- High prevalence of tropical diseases.
- Lower population densities.
- Nomadic and semi-nomadic economic life.
What are the three parts of Ethiopian Rift Valley explain it?
Abstract. [1] The Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) has a complex structural pattern composed of southern, central, and northern segments. Ages of onset of faulting and volcanism apparently indicate a heterogeneous time-space evolution of the segments, generally referred to as a northward progression of the rifting process.
What are 2 facts about the Great Rift Valley?
The valley is 30 to 40 miles (48 to 64 kilometers) wide on average but reaches nearly 300 miles (480 kilometers) at its widest section in the Danakil Desert in northeastern Africa. The steep walls of the valley rise about 3,000 feet (900 meters) above the valley floor.
What are three physical characteristics of the Great Rift Valley?
The area is geologically active, and features volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, and frequent earthquakes.
What are 3 facts about the Great Rift Valley?
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. The rift is bordered by a series of mountains and active volcanoes. It is a site of faults and earthquakes.
What is the reason behind Ethiopian Rift Valley?
Active extensional tectonics and the intense volcanism associated with the East African Rift System (e.g. Agostini et al., 2011; Chorowicz, 2005) represent one of the main reasons for frequent hazardous geological phenomena in the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER).
What is characteristics of Ethiopian Highlands?
The Ethiopian Highlands is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below 1,500 m (4,900 ft), while the summits reach heights of up to 4,550 m (14,930 ft).
What are the major characteristics of Ethiopian topography?
Although Ethiopia’s complex relief defies easy classification, five topographic features are discernible. These are the Western Highlands, the Western Lowlands, the Eastern Highlands, the Eastern Lowlands, and the Rift Valley. The Western Highlands are the most extensive and rugged topographic component of Ethiopia.
What is the structure of a rift valley?
A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear depression may subsequently be further deepened by the forces of erosion.
What are the two branches of the rift valley?
The two branches are called the Western Rift Valley and the Eastern Rift Valley. The Western Rift, also called the Albertine Rift, is bordered by some of the highest mountains in Africa, including the Virunga Mountains, Mitumba Mountains, and Ruwenzori Range.
What is the largest rift valley in Ethiopia?
The Great Rift Valley runs north to south for some 5,000 km, from northern Syria to central Mozambique. The valley varies in width from 30-100 km and in depth from a few hundred to several thousand metres.
What lives in the Rift Valley?
The Great Rift Valley’s inhabitants include lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, cheetahs, giraffes, antelopes, zebras and primates.
What are common in the four pictures of rift valleys?
The 4 pictures of valleys and ocean bridges, rifles and ocean bridges are common in it that that they are both similar. They are. Both similar seat means that both were formed out of the moving and both were formed out of the moving tectonic place.
What are some plants in the Great Rift Valley?
The typical vegetation of the Rift Valley is seen here, wind-worn bushes or small trees of Capparis; Tarconanthus camphoratus (Masai = Ol-leleshwa) ; Carissa edulis, and here and there an old Olive (Olea chrysophylla).
What is the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia?
The Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia, (or Main Ethiopian Rift or Ethiopian Rift Valley) is a branch of the East African Rift that runs through Ethiopia in a southwest direction from the Afar Triple Junction. In the past, it was seen as part of a “Great Rift Valley” that ran from Mozambique to Syria.
What type of climate is experienced in the Rift Valley?
SEMI ARID AND ARID CLIMATE /SEMI DESERT & DESERT CLIMATE
Semi arid conditions are also experienced in the rift valley as well. This type of climate is characterised by the following: (i) Low rainfall of less than 760mm. Other areas experience even much less e.g. in the Chalbi desert annual rainfall is 250mm.
What are the characteristics of a continental rift?
Continental rifts all share the same geometrical features: They have widths that are characteristic of the region in which they form, they are predominantly asymmetric, and they are segmented along axes at a length scale that is also characteristic of the region.
How long is the Ethiopian Rift Valley?
The Ethiopian Rift Valley: geography and morphology. The Ethiopian sector of the East African Rift system extends for more than 1000 km in a NE-SW to N-S direction from the Afar depression, at Red Sea-Gulf of Aden junction, southwards to the Turkana depression.
How many countries are in the Rift Valley?
The Rift Valley, located in Eastern Africa, covers just over 2% of the continent and spreads over seven countries (Map 5 and Table 29).