Africa's Great Rift Valley follows the boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. What kind of plate boundary do you think this is and explain how you know? How do the plates move in relation to each other? What other land forms might you find at this type of boundary?

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Social Studies

Charlie Bailey

22 January, 06:56

Africa's Great Rift Valley follows the boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. What kind of plate boundary do you think this is and explain how you know? How do the plates move in relation to each other? What other land forms might you find at this type of boundary?

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Frankie Simmons · Answer 1

The African Plate and Arabian Plate are what we would call a divergent plate boundary. This means that the two plates move apart from each other in opposite directions. You would be able to recognize this as between the two plates lies the valley itself, in between the two plates which have continually drifted apart. Another land form which can be found at this type of boundary is the many lakes which populate the area, known as the "African Great Lakes" formed because of the rift, and most lie inside the rift. Some of these lakes also happen to be the deepest in the world, such as Lake Tanganyika.