Seismological Studies of the East African Rift System
Abstract
The East African rifts have ranked as a major
geotectonic structure ever since Suess (1891') recognised
the continuity of the structures of the Red Sea wi th those
of the African rift system. The discovery ot a world-wide
rift system following the main oceanic ridges added new
significance to the rifts of East Africa and the need for
their detailed geological and geophysical investigation
became more urgent and was emphasized at various international
scientific meetings (Baker, 19649 Bath, 1964). In
1963 a Unesco Seismological and Geophysical Survey Mission
to Africa. commented on the seismic activity associated with
the rifts and recommended the installation of networks of
seismological observatories to study the seismicity of the
rift system in greater detail.
Other authors oonsidered the world rift system
important from the point of view of continental drift and
regarded the African rift systems as an early stage of
break-up of the continent, while Belcussoy (1964) argued
that a study of the East African faults might provide much
material for the highly oontroversial problem of the origin
of continents and oceans.
Citation
Rodrigues,E. B.,1970.Seismological studies of the East African Rift system.Publisher
University of Nairobi College of Humanities and Social Sciences