Describe the volcanoes of East Africa. Why is this area producing volcanoes even

Question

Describe the volcanoes of East Africa. Why is this area producing volcanoes even on an area that isn't marked as a complete boundary?

Can you find other places that have volcanoes not at convergent plate margins? How do we explain volcanoes like those given the theory of plate tectonics?

Compare the elevation on either side of oceanic convergent plate boundaries. How are they different?

Compare the elevation on either side of oceanic divergent plate boundaries. How are they different?

The Himalayan Mountains are on what type of plate boundary? Describe what is happening here to form these mountains?

Identify the area of the world (pick a country, maybe a couple countries at most) that you feel is most prone to disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. Check out the webpage which describes one NGO's ranking of at risk countries from disasters overall http://www.air-worldwide.com/Blog/Five-Countries-Most-Frequently-Hit-by-Natural_Disasters/. Does your ID agree (why or why not? What are we missing)?

Explanation / Answer

Divergent boundaries (Constructive) occur where two plates slide apart from each other. At zones of ocean-to-ocean rifting, divergent boundaries form by seafloor spreading, allowing for the formation of new ocean basin. As the continent splits, the ridge forms at the spreading center, the ocean basin expands, and finally, the plate area increases causing many small volcanoes and/or shallow earthquakes. At zones of continent-to-continent rifting, divergent boundaries may cause new ocean basin to form as the continent splits, spreads, the central rift collapses, and ocean fills the basin. continent-to-continent rifting (such as Africa's East African Rift and Valley, Red Sea) are examples of divergent boundaries.

The East African Rift Zone includes a number of active as well as dormant volcanoes, among them: Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, Mount Longonot, Menengai Crater, Mount Karisimbi, Mount Nyiragongo, Mount Meru and Mount Elgon, as well as theCrater Highlands in Tanzania.

Active volcanos include Erta Ale, DallaFilla, and Ol Doinyo Lengai, the former of which is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia. When DallaFilla erupted in 2008. it was the largest volcanic eruption in Ethiopia in recorded history. The Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano is currently the only active natrocarbonatite volcano in the world. The magma contains almost no silica, making the flow viscosity extremely low. “Its lava fountains crystallize in midair then shatter like glass” according to the National Geographic. Approximately 50 volcanic structures in Ethiopia alone have documented activity since the onset of the Holocene.

The EAR is the largest seismically active rift system on Earth today. The majority of earthquakes occur near the Afar Depression, with the largest earthquakes typically occurring along or near major border faults.Seismic events in the past century are estimated to have reached a maximum moment magnitude of 7.0. The seismicity trends parallel to the rift system, with a shallow focal depth of 12–15 km beneath the rift axis. Further away from the rift axis, focal depths can reach depths of over 30 km.

Himalayan mountains are convergent boundary also known as destructive plate boundary.The Himalayan mountain range and Tibetan plateau have formed as a result of the collision between the Indian Plate(continent) and Eurasian Plate(continent) which began 50 million years ago and continues today. 225 million years ago (Ma) India was a large island situated off the Australian coast and separated from Asia by the Tethys Ocean.

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