What is the Great Rift Valley and why is it important?

The Rift Valley has been a rich source of fossils that allow study of human evolution, especially in an area known as Piedmont. Because the rapidly eroding highlands have filled the valley with sediments, a favourable environment for the preservation of remains has been created.

Where is the Great Rift Valley and why is it important?

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 to central Mozambique in East Africa. Astronauts say it is the most significant physical detail on the planet that is visible from space.

Why is the Great Rift Valley important?

The system of rift valleys that characterizes the African continent represents a perfect environment to understand the evolution of mankind; for the important paleoanthropological discoveries in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire, the African rift valleys are indeed considered the “cradle of mankind”, that is …

What is the Great Rift Valley and how was it formed?

It was formed by the Thingvellir rift, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are tearing, or rifting, apart over a hotspot on the island of Iceland. A rift valley is a lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart, or rift.

Is crack in Africa?

https://youtu.be/
The crack stretches along Kenya's Great Rift Valley. And many scientists believe it could end up splitting the continent apart Debora patta tracking developments from Johannesburg South Africa.

How old is the Great Rift Valley?

30 million years old

It is 30 million years old and exhibits extensive volcanism, having produced Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. The Great Rift Valley is a series of connected rift valleys.

What is the Great Rift Valley and where is it located?

The Great Rift Valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa.

Where is the great rift valley situated?

Eastern Africa

The Rift Valley, located in Eastern Africa, covers just over 2% of the continent and spreads over seven countries (Map 5 and Table 29). min. max. The Rift Valley consists of a group of independent interior basins, extending from Djibouti in the north to Tanzania in the south, nearly half being located in Ethiopia.

What is the largest rift valley in the world?

The longest rift on Earth’s surface, the Great Rift Valley is a long, deep depression with steep, wall-like cliffs, extending from Jordan in southwestern Asia southward through Africa to Mozambique.

Where is the Great Rift Valley located which lakes are part of the Great Rift Valley?

From north to south, the names of these lakes are Lake Turkana, Lake Logipi, Lake Baringo, Lake Bogoria, Lake Nakuru, Lake Elmenteita, Lake Naivasha, and Lake Magadi.



Lakes.

What Causes Rift Valley?

A rift valley is a lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart, or rift. A rift valley is a lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart, or rift. Rift valleys are found both on land and at the bottom of the ocean, where they are created by the process of seafloor spreading.

What caused the Rift Valley in Kenya?

The East African Rift is one of the great tectonic features of Africa, caused by fracturing of the Earth’s crust.

Why are lakes important in Africa?

The African Great Lakes support beneficial uses including hydroelectric power, inland water transport, industries, tourism, wildlife, and fishery sectors (Bootsma and Hecky, 1993; Ogutu-Ohwayo et al., 1997).

How does the Great Rift Valley affect animals?

The alkaline nature of the lakes in the Rift Valley creates a thriving hub for algae and small crustaceans, which brings huge flocks of greater and lesser flamingos to the area to feed. Occasionally, the powerful beating wings of a fish eagle can be heard as it swoops in to prey on our long-legged friends.

Is lake Albert part of Great Rift Valley?

Western or Albertine Rift Valley lakes



The lakes of the Western or Albertine Rift, with Lake Victoria, include the largest, deepest, and oldest of the Rift Valley Lakes. They are also referred to as the Central African lakes. Lakes Albert, Victoria, and Edward are part of the Nile River basin.

What country is Lake Victoria in?

Lake Victoria, also called Victoria Nyanza, largest lake in Africa and chief reservoir of the Nile, lying mainly in Tanzania and Uganda but bordering on Kenya. Its area is 26,828 square miles (69,484 square km).

What is deepest lake in the world?

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal (5,315 feet [1,620 meters])



Lake Baikal, Russia. Lake Baikal, in Siberia, holds the distinction of being both the deepest lake in the world and the largest freshwater lake, holding more than 20% of the unfrozen fresh water on the surface of Earth.

Does Lake Victoria have sharks?

Victoria, with its 2500 kilometres of coastline in a country that has 170 types of sharks, may feel like the ideal setting for a shark attack.

Where is the world’s oldest lake?

Siberia

Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake, curves for nearly 400 miles through south-eastern Siberia, north of the Mongolian border.

What is the coldest lake in the world?

For comparison, the largest of the Great Lakes (Lake Superior) is only 25% as deep, with a maximum depth of 1,333ft (406m). Lake Baikal is unique in a number of other ways too. It is the world’s oldest, coldest lake, and around 80% of its animal species are endemic (not found anywhere else).

What are ice rings?

The answer: The rings are caused by warm, circular currents of water under the ice, called eddies. The eddies’ strong currents melt the ice at the edge, but weaker ones keep the center frozen.

Where is the deepest body of water in the world?

The average depth of the ocean is about 3,688 meters (12,100 feet). The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam.

How big is a ocean?

Oceanic divisions

Which ocean is coldest?

The Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest, shallowest, and coldest part of the ocean.

What lives in Mariana Trench?

What Lives In The Deepest Part of the Ocean? 7 Incredible Mariana Trench Animals

• Barreleye Fish.
• Benthocodon.
• Comb jellies.
• Deep-sea dragonfish.
• Deep-sea hatchetfish.
• Dumbo Octopus.
• Frilled Shark.

Is there a dragon fish?

dragonfish, also called sea moth, any of about five species of small marine fishes comprising the family Pegasidae and the order Pegasiformes. Dragonfish are found in warm Indo-Pacific waters. They are small (to about 16 centimetres [6 ¹/₂ inches] long), elongated fish encased in bony rings of armour.

What is the scariest sea creature?

The Scariest Monsters of the Deep Sea

• Red Octopus (Stauroteuthis syrtensis) …
• Deep sea blob sculpin (Psychrolutes phrictus) …
• Sea Pigs (genus Scotoplanes) …
• The Goblin Shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) …
• The Proboscis Worm (Parborlasia corrugatus) …
• Zombie Worms (Osedax roseus) …
• Stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa)

Is there a monster in the Mariana Trench?

Despite its immense distance from everywhere else, life seems to be abundant in the Trench. Recent expeditions have found myriad creatures living out their lives at the bottom of the sea-floor. Xenophyophores, amphipods, and holothurians (not the names of alien species, I promise) all call the trench home.

Is the Megalodon still alive?

Megalodon is NOT alive today, it went extinct around 3.5 million years ago. Go to the Megalodon Shark Page to learn the real facts about the largest shark to ever live, including the actual research about it’s extinction.

Are there real sea monsters?

Hundreds of years ago, European sailors told of a sea monster called the kraken that could toss ships into the air with its many long arms. Today we know sea monsters aren’t real–but a living sea animal, the giant squid, has 10 arms and can grow longer than a school bus.