Great Rift Valley & Plate Tectonics
- Great Rift Valley- Geographical fault system of SW Asia and E Africa. Extends from Northern Syria to central Mozambique. 4,830 km long.
- Scientists predict that eventually, Africa will split in half because two large tectonic plates are pulling away from each other. In 2005, the plates caused a volcanic eruption in Ethiopia, followed by a series of earthquakes. These split the ground as wide as 10 ft. open. This activity has gone on for 30 million years and is likely to continue. The actions of these plates also formed the Red Sea and Great Rift Valley. Eventually, the area will fall below sea level and the Red Sea willspread into that area.
Specific Volcanoes
- Astronomers have found that Mars and Venus have volcanoes.
- Lake Nyos lies at the base of a dormant volcano. This lake contains toxic carbon dioxide from the volcano.
- Volcano Nyiragongo has a very large lava lake at its top. It sits above the city of Goma. If it erupts, it would kill over one million people. Goma sits on top of a six thousand km long crack. There was a volcano that just erupted called Erta Ale, which is located in NE Ethiopia. It is famed for its persistent lava lakes.
Volcanoes
- Volcanoes destroy many crops and homes, as well as take the lives of many people. Volcanoes release “vog” or volcanic smog into the air. Volcano eruptions are unpredictable and very dangerous.
- Lava tubes- long tunnels underground that flow with lava
- Lava gushes out of fissures in the underwater mountain ranges called the mid-ocean ridge. The lava cools and hardens to become the sea floor.