Abstract
ORIGIN, STRUCTURE AND ASSOCIATED MINERAL RESOURCES OF EAST AFRICAN RIFT SYSTEM: AN OVERVIEW
Obialor C. A.*, Adeyi G. O., Okeke O. C., Okonkwo S. I., Ofoh I. J. and Amadi C. C.
ABSTRACT
The East African Rift System is one of the most outstanding and significant rift systems on earth and transects the high-elevations of Ethiopian and East African Plateau. The present paper is an overview of the origin, structure and associated mineral resources of the rift system. It extends from the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden to Malawi and it is seismically active. The rift started in the north in early Tertiary and propagated south with time. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22?25 million years ago. It is developed on crust that exhibits a relatively simple Phanerozoic history of successive rift and sag basins formed during the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and early Tertiary. The East African rift system can be regarded as a unique succession of graben basins linked by intracontinental transforms and segmented by transfer zones and accommodation zones. The major countries in the area include: Tanzania Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Mozambique, Burundi and Rwanda. The rift system covers an area of about 8,000,000.00km2. With respect to mineral resources, gold, hematite, diamond, nickel, limestone, coal and natural gas occur extensively area. Moreover, the East African Rift System is a complicated system of rift segments which provide a modern analog to help us understand how continents break apart. It is also a great example of how many natural systems can be intertwined - this unique geological setting may have altered the local climate which may have in turn caused our ancestors to develop the skills necessary to walk upright, develop culture and ponder how such a rift came to be.
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