Great Rift Valley, Kenya

The Great Rift Valley taken from the mountain north of Nairobi

Africa's Great Rift Valley is a 6,000-mile crack (fissure) in the earth's crust, stretching from Lebanon to Mozambique. One of its most dramatic sections slices through East Africa, dividing Kenya into two segments. 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. Evidence that this process, called rifting, is still in progress comes from the many active and semi-active volcanoes, located along the Rift. Volcanic activity along the rift is provided by the presence of numerous boiling hot springs.


If you wish, you can scroll down to my post on Friday and see one of the lakes along this valley.

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