What are the tectonic settings of the East African Rift?
The East African Rift is an active continental rift zone functioning as a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary where the lithosphere is pulled apart. Within this setting, the African plate is splitting into the Somali and Nubian plates. The system also incorporates smaller microplates, such as Victoria, Rovuma, and Lwandle, influenced by the surrounding lithosphere.
What we know
- The East African Rift is an active continental rift zone where the African plate is splitting into the Somali plate and the Nubian plate. [2]
- The rift system began developing around the onset of the Miocene, roughly 22 to 25 million years ago, and represents a linear zone of extensional tectonics where the lithosphere is pulled apart. [2, 5]
- The EAR is separating the African plate into new tectonic plates at a rate of 8 to 9 millimeters per year. [2]
- The rift system includes three microplates: the Victoria microplate to the north, and the Rovuma and Lwandle microplates to the south. [2]
Where to go next
- how it workedHow do tectonic plates split apart at divergent boundaries?
- compared withWhat are the structural features of the West and Central African Rift System?
- a case in pointWhich African Great Lakes lie within the rift valley?
- what caused itHow does lithospheric stretching create grabens and rift valleys?
- the bigger pictureWhat is the historical definition of the Great Rift Valley?
- an unexpected connectionHow does an active African rift connect to Syria?The East African Rift is considered part of a larger historical system, the Great Rift Valley, which originally extended as far north as northern Syria.
Sources
- [1]East African Rift (Wikidata Q1234397) · CC0 1.0
- [2]East African Rift · CC BY-SA 4.0
- [3]Great Rift Valley · CC BY-SA 4.0
- [4]West and Central African Rift System · CC BY-SA 4.0
- [5]Rift · CC BY-SA 4.0
Your path
- What is the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary iridium layer?
- What are the tectonic settings of the East African Rift?