Is the East African Rift Valley is an example of continental rifting?

Is the East African Rift Valley is an example of continental rifting?

The most prominent example of a continental rift is the East-African Rift Valley and its continuations into the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In the Red Sea, where sea water already has flooded the rift, this can already be observed – the youth stadium of a new ocean.

What are rift valleys an example of?

Many rift valleys are part of “triple junctions,” a type of divergent boundary where three tectonic plates meet at about 120° angles. Two arms of the triple junction can split to form an entire ocean. The third, “failed rift” or aulacogen, may become a rift valley.

How was East African Rift Valley formed?

Twenty-five million years ago, as plate tectonics began to pull apart eastern Africa, the landscape that would eventually be home to the first humans began to take shape. The East African Rift Valley, as the region is known, formed where the Somalian and Nubian plates are pulling away from the Arabian Plate.

Is the African Rift valley divergent?

Today, the term is most often used to refer to the valley of the East African Rift, the divergent plate boundary which extends from the Afar Triple Junction southward across eastern Africa, and is in the process of splitting the African Plate into two new separate plates.

Where is the rift valley in Africa?

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 are the characteristics of the East African Rift Valley?

The most well-known rift valley on Earth is probably the so-called “Great Rift Valley System” which stretches from the Middle East in the north to Mozambique in the south. The area is geologically active, and features volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, and frequent earthquakes.

What Causes Rift Valley?

Rift valleys are found both on land and at the bottom of the ocean, where they are created by the process of seafloor spreading. Rift valleys differ from river valleys and glacial valleys in that they are created by tectonic activity and not the process of erosion.

What type of landform is the Great rift valley?

tectonic valley
A rift valley constitutes a type of tectonic valley and, as such, differs from river and glacial valleys, which are produced by erosional forces.

Where is the Rift Valley in East Africa?

The East African Rift Valley (EAR) is a developing divergent plate boundary in East Africa. Here the eastern portion of Africa, the Somalian plate, is pulling away from the rest of the continent, that comprises the Nubian plate.

Where are the rift valleys in the Pacific Ocean?

In the Pacific Ocean, the East Pacific Rise has created rift valleys where the Pacific plate is separating from the North American plate, Cocos plate, Nazca plate, and Antarctic plate. Like many underwater rift valleys, the East Pacific Rise is dotted with hydrothermal vents.

How did the Indian Ocean cause the Rift Valley?

Seafloor spreading caused the Arabian and African plates to rift apart. The Indian Ocean flooded the rift valley between the continents, creating the Red Sea. Today, Africa and Asia are connected by the triangle of the Sinai Peninsula. Eventually, the Red Sea Rift will separate Africa and Asia entirely and connect the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

When did the East African Rift system form?

The eastern branch, thought to have formed first in the early Miocene, is a volcanic-rich system that forms the Kenya and Ethiopian Rifts and contains the shield volcano Erta Ale which has an active lava lake.