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Home , Africa, Great Rift Valley, Indian Ocean, Rift, Rift valley

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Africa South of the Environmental Case Study

The Great The Great stretches from the floor of the valley becomes the bottom Southwest through . The valley of a new . is a long, narrow trench: 4,000 miles (6,400 The is the most km) long but only 30-40 miles (48-64 km) extensive rift on the 's surface. For wide. It begins in Southwest Asia, where 30 million years, enormous plates under­ it is occupied by the and neath Africa have been pulling apart. the . It widens to form the basin Large earthquakes have rumbled across of the . In Africa, it splits into an the land, causing huge chunks of the eastern and western branch. The Eastern Earth's crust to collapse. Rift extends all the way to the shores of Year after year, the crack that is the the Indian in . Great Rift Valley widens a bit. The change is small and slow-just a few centimeters A Crack in the Ea rth Most valleys are carved by , but the Great Rift Valley per year. Scientists believe that eventually is different. Violent forces in the Earth the will rip open at the Indian caused this valley. The rift is actually Ocean. Seawater will pour into the rift, an enormous crack in the Earth's crust. flooding it all the way north to the Red Along the crack, Africa is slowly but surely splitting in two. Scientists explain rift valleys The Great Rift Valley by the theory of plate , the idea that the Earth's crust \~\ -.) . lies on enormous plates. These _ Fa~I~~nes I,,,··~. .A RABIA~ _' "-'. n-"\-i"",r/ plates slide over a layer of par­ Tectonic plate AFRICAN ~~.~~~. ~~:~ •••••. boundary PLATE ~.:::• ••• ,.. ,-//./ ( tially melted rock, much like Active ~ /-./ /' rafts floating on . When ... j . two plates collide, they crunch Dormant or DEP~i~~/ON .1/ ~ extinct f . together with tremendous force, volcano / pushing the land up and creat­ ' /1 ! Turkana ing . When two plates Lake-:---....~ Mt. Eigon \c // pull apart, they create a rift, or Albert ~ ~ I~ / crack, in the land. As the plates I/~ f 1k'''Pll Ea~ff;n / / Ny;ragOng0jtf" Vic~o~ia Valley / N move away from each other, In! t ,~ Vo/can ,'7:' ,7" vves ern Kar;Si7bi '/ A Kilima'njaro Rift " ~ f + chunks of the Earth's crust col­ lapse into the space between the Valley I~ ) ~ W E plates, creating a rift valley. To {, - r ",G 5 picture this, imagine how the / "'\: ~ / / (" INDIAN roof of a house might collapse Lake~1 (~ \ "'. OCEAN if the walls were moved apart. Mala7 ,!') Two plates pulling apart can ~ _= kilometers \~\ •., rip a continent in two. Eventu­ o 400 miles ) ally, ocean rush in, and Source: Encarta.msn,com

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Environmental Case Study continued

Sea. A new sea will be formed, and Africa is the highest peak in Africa (19,340 feet will be split in two. [5,895 m]). Each year thousands of people flock to Kilimanjaro to try to climb its A Dramatic Place Many people consider the Great Rift Valley to be one of the spectacular peak. most dramatic and beautiful places in the Violent Earth The Earth's crust has . The valley has a flat floor and steep been stretched very thin in the Great Rift sides. In some places, the sides of the val­ Valley. Not all of the volcanoes are dor­ ley are cliffs more than 9,000 feet (2,700 m) mant. Active volcanoes and abundant hot high. In other places, the sides form giant springs reveal that hot lies just steps, like an enormous staircase. underground. The magma easily finds The Great Rift Valley holds chains of its way out. In 2002 from Mount large , some of them among the deep­ Nyiragongo largely destroyed the city est lakes on Earth. Many of the mountains of Goma, leaving thousands of people near the rift are dormant volcanoes. The. homeless. The volcano continues to erupt volcanoes benefit the many people who to this day. live there. The fertile volcanic soil is good Scientists continue to study the Great for growing crops. The volcanoes also Rift Valley and the movement of plates bring tourists and money to the . beneath its surface. They hope to learn Mount Kilimanjaro, a dormant volcano more about the forces that threaten to 100 miles (160 km) from the Eastern Rift, tear Africa in two.

[ It's a Faet l -

1. along the Great Rift Valley is the longest freshwater (j lake on Earth. It is also one of the deepest lakes in the world. Hippo­ 0 potamuses and swim in its waters. '"8. ~ @ [i; 2. Mount Kilimanjaro is famed for its snow-covered peak. Europeans cr" '< first learned of Mount Kilimanjaro after two German missionaries saw \' ;t the in 1848. People in initially did not believe that 10 n~ a snowcapped mountain could be located so close to the . 0 ...P> ~ 3. Today the snows of Kilimanjaro are melting fast. The mountain has ~ lost more than 80 percent of its ice since 1912. Global warming may be (j 0 causing the ice to melt. Some scientists think all of the ice on Kiliman­ 3 jaro will be gone within the next few decades. '"e! :; "

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Environmental Case Study continued .. ' ...... ( Origins ) ...... ". . . : : : The Great Rift Valley has been : ~ a treasure trove for scientists study- :~ : ing human . Within part of 2. Explaining How was the Great Rift the rift, known as the ::::,:':' Valley formed? :~::: Valley in , scientists have discovered the oldest remains of and human ancestors. The most famous discovery came ' in 1974, when scientists looking for stumbled upon ancient ' bones. The researchers unearthed enough bones to reconstruct the skeleton of , a 3.5-foot-tall 3. Describing What are some physical features of the Great Rift Valley? human ancestor. Scientists have learned much about human evolu- tion by studying Lucy. Scientists working in the Awash Valley also have discovered the oldest evidence of tool use. Early humans made tools from obsidian, a volcanic glass found throughout the rift. The natural forces at work in the Awash Valley have helped scientists 4. Explaining Why are hot springs abun­ unearth these finds. Movement of dant in parts of the Great Rift Valley? plates and heavy erosion of the soil have made it much easier for scien­ tists to excavate fossils.

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""Review the Facts Directions: Read the information about 5. Summarizing How do volcanoes in the the Great Rift Valley and examine the map. Great Rift Valley benefit the people who Then answer the following questions. live there? 1. Naming What are three bodies of water that occupy the Great Rift Valley north of Africa?

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Environmental Case Study continued

- - , - - ~ - Create a Brochure for Tourists ~ (I For Investigation • access to a library and/or the Many locations along the Great Rift Valley hpve • student journals or lab been named World Heritage Sites by the United notebooks Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organi­ • drawing materials zation (UNESCO). Research one of these sites. A good place to start is the Web site for the World Heritage Centre (whc..org). Click on the interactive to zoom in on Africa. Then click on any of the dots that line the Great Rift Valley to learn more about a World Heritage Site. After you have completed your research, create an educational brochure advertising your World Heri­ tage Site. Your target audience will be tourists who might want to visit your Assessment Checklist . Your goal will be to convince Assess your brochure using the them to visit. checklist below: What to Do D Highlights a World Heritage Site located along the Great Rift Valley 1. Choose one World Heritage Site that D Explains why the location qualifies is located along the Great Rift Valley. as a World Heritage Site Gather information about this loca­ D Includes a map showing the tion. Why did UNESCO choose it location of the site as a World Heritage Site? Where in D Is engaging, with interesting and Africa is it located? What is the cli­ accurate descriptions mate like? What types of plant and Shows important aspects of the animal life does it support? Describe D site through photos or drawings the human . D Includes background information 2. Create a brochure showing what about UNESCO's World Heritage you have learned. Make the bro­ Site program chure interesting so that prospective D Is well organized and logically tourists who see it will want to visit developed the site. Your brochure should include several paragraphs of text as well as visuals. For example, you might show drawings or photographs of the animals or geographic features at the site. Include a map of Africa showing where the site is located. Discuss the , native plants and animals, and any unique attractions that may appeal to tourists. Include information about UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, and explain why this location was chosen as a site.

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