Great Rift Valley

The Great Rift Valley is a vast system of rift valleys and basins extending from the Middle East through eastern Africa. It formed as tectonic plates pulled apart, creating deep troughs, volcanic highlands, and lakes.

East African Rift: An active continental rift system in eastern Africa, where the African Plate is splitting into Nubian and Somali plates. It is the best-developed active sector of the Great Rift Valley.
Jordan Rift Valley: A north–south depression extending from the Gulf of Aqaba through the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea. It forms the northern continuation of the broader rift system.
Gondwana: An ancient supercontinent that included Africa, South America, Antarctica, Australia, India, and parts of Arabia. Its breakup established the plate boundaries later reshaped by African rifting.
Rift lake: A lake occupying a depression created by tectonic extension and subsidence. The valley’s basins contain some of the world’s largest and deepest rift lakes.
Evolution of African mammals: The evolutionary diversification of mammal lineages across the African continent. Changing rift habitats and barriers shaped environments in which African mammals diversified.
Arabian Plate: A tectonic plate carrying the Arabian Peninsula and parts of the surrounding seafloor. Its motion away from Africa opened the Red Sea branch of the rift system.
Red Sea Rift: A divergent plate boundary separating the Arabian Plate from the African Plate beneath the Red Sea. It links the Middle Eastern and eastern African parts of the rift system.
African Plate: A major tectonic plate carrying most of Africa and adjacent oceanic crust. Its extension and subdivision underpin the East African part of the rift system.
East African Rift volcanism: Volcanic activity associated with the ongoing extension of continental crust in eastern Africa. It creates fertile soils and presents hazards to communities near active volcanoes.
Human evolution: The evolutionary history of humans and their ancestors, reconstructed from fossils, genetics, and archaeology. Rift-region fossils document major stages in the history of hominins.

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