What is Rift Valley and how was it formed ?
The Rift valley is a spectacular natural geographical phenomena which was
caused by the weakening of the earths crust and followed by volcanic eruptions.
This caused a 6,000-mile crack (fissure) in the earth's crust, stretching from
Lebanon to Mozambique. This whole phenomena happened 20 million years ago,
the earth's surface tore itself apart due to the weakening crust, causing a
jagged rift. As the land on either side erupted creating mountains and the
valley formed a flat plain.
Rift Valley in Kenya: This Rift divides Kenya into east and the west. Today the Rift valley is an uninhabitable desert, flat arid plains and fertile farmlands. The width of this natural divide varies from 100 km to 45 km. The valley walls are highest in north at Lake Naivasha with cliffs rising to 1900 m. They are lowest at Lake Turkana and there is almost do difference between the Rift and the dessert. Rift valley is located in the Kenyan highlands, west of mount Kenya.
Evidence of volcanic activity along the rift is provided by the presence of numerous boiling hot springs, it also has 30 active and semi active volcanoes. This has resulted in creation of mountains like Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, Mount Karisimbi, Mount Nyiragongo, Mount Meru and Mount Elgon.
There are several lakes in north-west of Nairobi which have high level of sodium carbonate due to alkalinity in the surrounding volcanic rocks. These create a good breading ground of algae and several fish variety. Apart from the volcanoes and hot springs there are millions of birds which attract visitors and play an important role in its travel and tourism.
