East African Rift slashes 4000 km across the African craton from the Afar Triangle to near the Zambese River. Tertiary volcanic rocks which are abundant in the E Branch, but rare in the W Branch where large, deep rift lakes dominate. Turkana Rift viewed from the Space Shuttle.
Dark areas are basaltic lavas.
Note half-graben beneath Lake Tanganyika are much larger than those beneath Lake Turkana. Duke geologists visited by boys from several different tribes in the Labur region NW of Lake Turkana. 05 Geological map and fault slip-line kinematic data for the Tertiary extensional deformation focused W of Lake Turkana. TR 06 Generalized cross section of the Turkana Rift based on surface geology and published seismic data. To the W faulting and subsidence was coeval with magmatic construction in the E. Active magmatism is focused along the axis of Lake Turkana.