The Tanganyika, Malawi, Rukwa, and Turkana Rift Zones of East Africa: An Inter-Comparison of Rift Architectures, Structural Styles, and Stratigraphies

Abstract

The East African Rift System bifurcates around the Tanganyika shield into the Eastern and Western Branches. The Eastern Branch is composed of the Kenya, Turkana, and Ethiopian Rift Zones. Much of the structure of the Eastern Branch is buried beneath or modified by voluminous volcanic rocks. The Western Branch consists of the Malawi, Rukwa, Tanganyika, and Kivu-Edward-AlbertWest Nile Rift Zones. There is only a patchy distribution of volcanic rocks along the Western Branch. Lacking significant volcanic fill, the zones along the Western Branch have filled with long, narrow lakes and thick piles of sediments.