A 4,000-mile
(6,437 km) crack that began forming
20 million years ago
Rising From the Rift
Backed by Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano, Maasai warriors stride
through the grassy plains of the Serengeti in northern Tanzania. The active
volcano arises from the Eastern Rift Valley.
Life on the Edge
The flora and
fauna of the ancient rift region include elephant families, herds of
wildebeest, gelada baboons, and red algae in the super-saline waters of Lake
Natron.
EAST AFRICA Visitors to Kenya know the Great Rift as the breathtaking
escarpment they pass on safari. Few realize it is actually continent apart.
Along nearly 4,000 miles (6,437 km) from the Red Sea to Mozambique, enormous
cracks have opened up, as much as a mile (1,6 km) deep and 5o miles (80 km)
across. In central Africa the rift has two branches: The Eastern
Rift Valley bisects Kenya, skirting Mount
Killimanjaro and the Serengeti Plain in Tanzania; the Western Rift Valley
cleaves the heart of the continent. The Great Rift began to open 20 million
years ago, and the process continues. Experts say we could be witnessing the
first stages in the development of a new ocean basin
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