A map of East Africa showing some of the historically active volcanoes (as red triangles) and the Afar Triangle (shaded at the center), which is a so-called triple junction (or triple point) where three plates are pulling away from one another: the Arabian Plate and two parts of the African Plate—the Nubian and Somali—splitting along the East African Rift ZoneMain rift faults, plates, plate boundaries, GPS plate velocities between adjacent blocks and minimum horizontal stress directions
The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago.[1] It was formerly considered to be part of a larger Great Rift Valley that extended north to Asia Minor.
A narrow zone, the rift is a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary where the African Plate is in the process of splitting into two tectonic plates, called the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate, at a rate of 6–7 mm (0.24–0.28 in) per year.[2] The rift system consists of three microplates, the Victoria Microplate to the north, and the Rovuma and Lwandle microplates to the south. The Victoria Microplate is rotating anti-clockwise with respect to the African plate. Its rotation is caused by the configuration of mechanically weaker and stronger lithospheric regions in the EARS.[3][4]
Many of the African Great Lakes lie within the Rift Valley.
^Ebinger, Cynthia (April 2005). "Continental break-up: The East African perspective". Astronomy and Geophysics. 46 (2): 2.16–2.21. doi:10.1111/j.1468-4004.2005.46216.x.
^Fernandes, R.M.S.; Ambrosius, B.A.C.; Noomen, R.; Bastos, L.; Combrinck, L.; Miranda, J.M.; Spakman, W. (2004). "Angular velocities of Nubia and Somalia from continuous GPS data: implications on present-day relative kinematics". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 222 (1): 197–208. Bibcode:2004E&PSL.222..197F. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2004.02.008.
^Osborne, Hannah (9 June 2020). "One of Africa's Tectonic Plates Is Rotating in a Different Direction to All the Others". Newsweek.
^GFZ GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Helmholtz Centre (8 June 2020) "Why the Victoria Plate in Africa rotates" Science Daily
The EastAfricanRift (EAR) or EastAfricanRift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in EastAfrica. The EAR began developing around the onset...
Africa's wildlife parks. The term Great Rift Valley is most often used to refer to the valley of the EastAfricanRift, the divergent plate boundary which...
The Rift Valley lakes are a series of lakes in the EastAfricanRift valley that runs through eastern Africa from Ethiopia in the north to Malawi in the...
constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the EastAfricanRift. The series includes Lake Victoria, the third-largest freshwater lake...
Aden Ridge and the EastAfricanRift, forming the Afar Triple Junction in the Afar Depression of the Horn of Africa. The Red Sea Rift was formed by the...
Plate began rifting from the African Plate along the EastAfricanRift. Since the continent of Africa consists of crust from both the African and the Somali...
9°S 34°E / 9°S 34°E / -9; 34 The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the EastAfricanRift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of...
EastAfricanRift The Orcadian Basin, in northern Scotland, had rift lakes that formed during the Middle Devonian. Rift Valley lakes, eastern Africa Lake...
the African Plate along the EastAfricanRift Valley. It is approximately centered on the island of Madagascar and includes about half of the east coast...
EastAfrica, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the African continent, distinguished by its geographical...
and Lake Tanganyika comprise part of the African Great Lakes, caused by the EastAfricanRift, a continental rift zone that bisects Tanzania, Kenya, and...
in Africa, centered on Lake Chad. EastAfricanRift. The region contains Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda. Eastern Rift mountains Rift Valley Lakes African Great...
Albertine Rift montane forests (French: Forêts montagnardes du Rift Albertin) is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in east-central Africa. The ecoregion...
The Gregory Rift (Ufa la Gregori, in Swahili) is the eastern branch of the EastAfricanRift fracture system. The rift is being caused by the separation...
Plate began rifting from the African Plate along the EastAfricanRift. Since the continent of Africa consists of crust from both the African and the Somali...
at the border with Kenya. It is in the Gregory Rift, which is the eastern branch of the EastAfricanRift. The lake is within the Lake Natron Basin, a Ramsar...
second-most numerous group of peoples inhabiting the African Great Lakes region around the EastAfricanRift. They make up a notable part of the population...
extensional settings many studies have been done within the EastAfricanrift system and the Gulf of Suez rift system. Transfer zones have also played a role in...
and Burundi. The mountains are related to the EastAfricanRift, and are in two chains, the Western Rift includes the Virunga Mountains, Mitumba Mountains...
Gregory Rift, which is part of the active EastAfricanRift. The EastAfricanRift is a continental rift extending from eastern to southern Africa over a...
greatest of which occur on a meridional line east of the eastern trough. The eastern branch of the EastAfricanRift, contains much smaller lakes, many of them...
West and Central AfricanRift System (WCARS) is a rift system composed of two coeval Cretaceous rift sub-systems, the West AfricanRift sub-system (WAS)...
Global Information
