What are some landforms in the Great Rift Valley?
The summits of the volcanoes peppering the valley floor and the edging plateaus are impressive: The two highest mountains in Africa, 19,341-foot Kilimanjaro and 17,058-foot Mount Kenya, flank the eastern rift.
What type of landform is the African rift valley?
rift valley, any elongated trough formed by the subsidence of a segment of the Earth’s crust between dip-slip, or normal, faults.
What is the type of landform in which the Great Rift Valley was created?
As the magma rises at the divergent boundary the semi liquid mantle moves in to opposite directions. This sideways movement creates the Great Rift Valley, the volcanic mountains of Mt. Kenya, Mt.
Are rift valleys landforms?
tectonic basins and rift valleys, landforms characterized by relatively steep, mountainous sides and flat floors. The steep sides are created by displacement on faults such that the valley floor moves down relative to the surrounding margins, or, conversely, the margins move up relative to the floor.
How was the rift valley formed in Africa?
Flood basalts erupted through fissures and a series of normal faults were generated, creating the classic ‘horst and graben’ morphology of elongate basins and associated highlands, which now make up the rift valley.
What mountains are found in the Great Rift Valley?
The volcanic activity at this site and unusual concentration of hotspots has produced the volcanic mountains Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, Mount Karisimbi, Mount Nyiragongo, Mount Meru and Mount Elgon as well as the Crater Highlands in Tanzania.
How was the Great African rift valley formed?
Geologists know that the Rift Valley was formed by violent subterranean forces that tore apart the earth’s crust. These forces caused huge chunks of the crust to sink between parallel fault lines and force up molten rock in volcanic eruptions.
What two major landforms can be found in south Africa?
South Africa’s surface area falls into two major physiographic categories: the interior plateau, and the land between the plateau and the coast. Forming the boundary between these two areas is the Great Escarpment, the most prominent and continuous relief feature of the country.
What part of Africa has many rift valleys?
East African Rift System, also called Afro-Arabian Rift Valley, one of the most extensive rifts on Earth’s surface, extending from Jordan in southwestern Asia southward through eastern Africa to Mozambique. The system is some 4,000 miles (6,400 km) long and averages 30–40 miles (48–64 km) wide.
What are two physical features of the Great Rift Valley?
Great Rift Valley The area is geologically active, and features volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, and frequent earthquakes.
What type of plate boundary is the African rift valley?
divergent plate boundary
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.
Why are there so many rift valleys in Africa?
Why are there so many volcanoes in the Great Rift Valley? A new spreading centre may be developing under Africa along the East African Rift Zone. When the continental crust stretches beyond its limits, tension cracks begin to appear on the Earth’s surface.
The physical geography of East Africa is dominated by the Great Rift Valley, which extends through the middle of the region from north to south. Associated with the rift valleys are vast savannas such as the Serengeti Plain, large lakes, high mountains, and the highlands of Ethiopia.
What are disadvantages of the Rift Valley in Africa?
– There is hot weather which can be stiffing and enervating on valley floors. – Diseases such as malaria, bilharzia and typhoid abound in within such areas. – Rock falls from the associated mountains can lead to loss of life or damage to infrastructure. – Dangerous animals can be found in forests. – Floods may occur on the valley floor.
What part of Africa is the Great Rift Valley?
The Rift Valley, also known as the Great Rift Valley or Eastern Rift Valley, is a geological feature due to the movement of tectonic plates and mantle plumes that runs south from Jordan in southwest Asia, through East Africa and down to Mozambique in southern Africa.