In the main ethiopian rift valley region, no increasingdecreasing precipitation trend for the last 50 years has been detected. The climate is humid to sub humid in the highlands and semiarid in the rift valley. Ethiopiass tourism has been more focused on the sociocultural and historical aspects of the countrys development. The study on 10 lakes within the ethiopian rift valley during marchmay 1991 covered a range of conductivity k 25 between 286 and 49100 s cm. Most of the basin faults are oriented ns and n40e and at its margins the faults trend n30en40e boccaletti et al. The water resources of the rift lakes are one of the focal points for large. Abstract ethiopia has a various lakes and rivers with significant ecosystems services and biodiversity. Deforestation, pollution from agricultural and industrial activities, runoff from urban areas and overfishing threaten the health of many of the lakes and their water basins. Threats and opportunities to major rift valley lakes wetlands of ethiopia teklu gebretsadik and kassahun mereke hawassa agricultural research center, south agricultural research institute, ethiopia. Langano in particular is also popular with local tourists, as it is the only lake in ethiopia. Aquatic macrophytes in ethiopian rift valley lakes. Cluster of lakes are lined up within main ethiopian rift. Aug 27, 2007 the ethiopian rift is characterized by many perennial rivers, and a chain of lakes that vary in size, and hydrological and hydrogeological settings.
Rift valley lakes in ethiopia tour operators in ethiopia. Characterization of water level variability of the main. Threats and opportunities to major rift valley lakes wetlands. Lake ziway, abiyata, shalla and langano are the common central ethiopia rift valley lakes. Introduction to rift valleys excerpt from national geographic education. Lakes abiata and shalla are ideal for bird watchers, the lake abaya is the longest of the ethiopian rift valley lakes, the site is the most picturesque in ethiopia known as bridge of heaven, division between lakes abaya and chamo by a hilly ridge with a scenic view from the top. Lake koka, one of the rift valley lakes in the awash river basin, was created artificially for hydroelectric power generation in 19602 but later it has been also fulfilling different social and ecological needs. Although the ethiopian rift valley lakes are of great importance to ethiopia s economy, as well as being essential to the survival of the local people, there were no.
Box 5003, 1432 aas, norway a r t i c l e i n f o article history. The ethiopian sector of the east african rift system extends for more than km in a nesw to ns direction from the afar depression, at red seagulf of aden junction, southwards to the turkana depression. The lakes of the ethiopian rift valley, which is part of the larger east african rift, are the northernmost lakes of the african rift valley and include some of the worlds oldest, deepest, and largest lakes. The six main lakes of the ethiopian rift formed during the last lce age, originally as two large lakes. Fossil remains from hadar in the afar depression, and at omo in southern ethiopia, suggest that in order for humans to have lived here, the ethiopian. Fossil remains from hadar in the afar depression, and at omo in southern ethiopia, suggest that in order for humans to have lived here, the ethiopian rift must at one time have been better watered than it is presently. Land and water resources assessment in the ethiopian. Before embarking on the east african rift system, current. Current ecological scenario of some rift valley lakes of ethiopia. The rift valley, which includes, awash, central lakes, omogibe, and denakil covers 28% of ethiopia and is made up of a group of individual interior basins extending from djibouti in the north to tanzania in the south, with half its total area being located in ethiopia. Background of the study ethiopia launched the universal access program uap in 2005 due to its low rate of access to safe water, which at the time in rural and urban areas remained at approximately 38%. The thesis describes the major factors contributing to the shrinkage of pastoralist resources in the ethiopian lakes region and the process of transformation of traditional pastoralism. Giwa regional assessments east african rift valley lakes.
Hydrology free fulltext characterization of water level. Baxter phytoplankton distribution in lakes of the ethiopian rift valley elizabeth kebede primary and secondary production in the. Central ethiopia rift valley lakes are the most common lakes that are found in central rift valley of ethiopia. Ethiopia has a various lakes and rivers with significant ecosystems services and biodiversity. In central ethiopia the great rift valley splits the ethiopian highlands into northern and southern halves, and the ethiopian rift valley lakes occupy the. Among freshwater resources, lake hawassa is one of the major rift valley lakes in ethiopia and is used for various purposes by semiurban and urban dwellers 3. It splits the countrys highlands in two and contains the rift valley lakes to the south. Availability and nutritive value of spirulina arthrospira. Far south in ethiopia s great rift valley lie two marvellous lakes ringed by savanna plains and smoke. Lake abaya is the largest of all the lakes in the system. May 23, 2017 the ultimate ethiopian food tour street food and restaurants in addis ababa, ethiopia. Their trace elements concentration and use as pollution indicators yetneberk a. Abstractwe hypothesized that unusual deaths and illnesses in wild and domestic animals in lake areas of the rift valley south of addis ababa were caused by toxic cyanobacteria. The lakes are mostly alkaline, and do not have outlets for the water contained within them.
The natural food of oreochromis niloticus from two ethiopian rift valley lakes, awasa and zwai, was studied from the stomach contents. Whilst lake tana is the most wellknown lake in the country, it is not one of the rift valley lakes, and is found in the highlands next to the town of bahir dar. The ethiopian rift valley, also referred to as the great rift valley of ethiopia, is situated between the ethiopian highlands, in the. Pdf cyanotoxin production in seven ethiopian rift valley. Until recently, water from the lakes mainly supported agriculture and. Click download or read online button to get the great rift valley lakes book now. The rift s ever changing geology, which was marked by the slow sedimentation of rivers and changes.
Most of the ethiopian rift valley lakes do not have an outlet, and most are alkaline. The study on 10 lakes within the ethiopian rift valley during marchmay 1991 covered a range of conductivity k25 between 286 and 49100 s cm1. Increasing population pressure and economic developments put an increasing claim on the precious fresh water resources. The oldest and best defined rift occurs in the afar region of ethiopia and this rift is usually referred to as the ethiopian rift. The great rift valley extends across the ethiopian plateau, which is divided into two by a series of northsouth tending escarpments. This lake is the most studied of the rift valley lakes in ethiopia. In the early holocene, coinciding with the african humid period 12,000 and 5000 bp, the lake level of turkana raised until it reached it highest point since the last glacial. Threats and opportunities of central ethiopia rift valley. The limited available water resources in the central rift valley and the increasing. Threats and opportunities to major rift valley lakes wetlands of ethiopia. However, trace elements enrichment in macrophytes from water and sediments in the.
The ethiopian rift valley lakes occupy the floor of the rift valley between the two highlands. Rift valley lakes ethiopia an important resource for life. The great rift valley lakes download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl. We set off early down the rift valley, passing through debre zeit, and by the lakes of koka and zwai if there are birders in the party, we will stop at lake zwai and head down to the lake shore where huge numbers of water birds are congregated. To ensure people and nature benefit from this truly outstanding region of africa, wwf has designated the rift valley lakes as one of its priority ecoregions for conservation. By far the largest of ethiopia s rift valley lakes, the 551squarekilometre waters of chamo and the 1,160squarekilometre surface of abaya are considered by many to be also the most beautiful.
Lake arenguade is a member of crater lakes bishoftu crater lakes situated 47 km south east of addis ababa in debre zeit town of gerbicha district at a latitude of 8. The great rift valley olduvai gorge, in tanzanias great rift valley, is one of the most important sites for the study of human evolution. The great rift valley lakes download ebook pdf, epub. The rift valley lakes include some of the oldest and deepest lakes in the world, apart from the hot springs and volcanoes, marvelous string of lakes attracts tourists from all over the world. John gregory is widely regarded as the founding father of the geology of the east african rift system. Cyanotoxin production in seven ethiopian rift valley lakes. The blue nile, the chief headstream of the nile, rises in lake tana in northwest ethiopia. Opportunities and challenges of tourism development. The ethiopian section of the great rift valley runs northeast to southwest, from eritrea to northern kenyas lake turkana, and much of the countrys northern, western, central and southern areas are dominated by a series of highlands collectively known as the ethiopian plateau.
Study area and characteristics of the lakes the rift valley lakes basin rvlb is one of the eleven major river basins in ethiopia with a total area of about 52,000 km2 12. Eduard suess thoughts on the east african rift system encouraged john gregory to further explore the faulted basins of kenya in 1893, and subsequently expressing the term rift valley. The major consumed nutrient by the awasa population was carbohydrate whereas in. The area is generally of low altitude 300700 meters. This valley can be divided into three major rift zones with distinctive volcanic and tectonic features, from north to south. Lakes in ethiopia are often adjacent to one or more urban areas, along with farmers and other. Chapter 4 lake water management in three ethiopian rift. Land and water resources assessment in the ethiopian central. The southern tip of the rift valley forms the marshy land called the chew bahirwhich is drained by seganand woito.
The central ethiopian rift valley is characterized by a chain of lakes and wetlands with unique hydrological and ecological characteristics. Ethiopia has a number of lakes, most of which are found within the rift valley, that are central for socioeconomic developments. In the central rift valley major agricultural developments are planned while competition for available water resources is pressing. The ethiopian rift valley is roughly northeast oriented. A study on an herbivorous fish, oreochromis niloticus l. The naturefocused tourism of kenya, tanzania and uganda has attracted more foreign. It investigates the impacts of external interventions on local. The central ethiopian rift valley is a part of the great african rift which situated in the administrative regions of oromia and the southern nations nationalities and peoples region snnpr. Further to the south a series of rifts occur which include a western branch, the lake albert rift or albertine rift which contains the east african great lakes, and an eastern branch that roughly bisects kenya. A comparison regarding the physico chemical variables and. The great rift valley central bucks school district. Opportunities and challenges of tourism development in the addis ababaupper rift valley corridor tadesse kidanemariam professor, department of geography, edinboro university of pennsylvania, edinboro, usa abstract in spite of a long history of promotion and development, ethiopia s tourism industry is in its initial stages of. Olduvai, also known as oldupai, was the site of a large lake 500,000 years ago. It is noteworthy that the great rift valley of africa has yielded fossil evidence of some of the worlds earliest hominids.
The ethiopian rift valley lakes are the northernmost of the african rift valley lakes. The rift valley is further subdivided into three physiographic subregions. By far the largest of ethiopias rift valley lakes, the 551squarekilometre waters of chamo and the 1,160squarekilometre surface of abaya are considered by many to be also the most beautiful. Although the ethiopian rift valley lakes are of great importance to ethiopias economy, as well as being essential to the survival of the local people, there were no. Land and water resources assessment in the ethiopian central rift valley project. Shala and ziway are the shallowest and the deepest lakes in the central ethiopian rift. Ethiopian rift valley lakes have significant environmental, economic and cultural importance to the region 2. Lake ziway pdf ziway, also called zway or batu, is a town on the shore of lake ziway, a rift valley lake, in oromia, ethiopia.
Lake turkana and its basin lie in the zone between the ethiopian rift valley to the north and the kenyan rift valley to the south. Lake hawassa is an endothecia basin in ethiopia, located in the rift valley south of addis ababa, this lake measure 16 km long and 9km wide, with a surface area of 129 square kilometers and has a maximum depth of 10 meters with an elevation of 1,708 meters. Debre zeyit bishoftu lake koka lake meki langano lake abijata shalla. Uptake of trace elements in aquatic macrophytes takes place via their roots from sediments and via their shoot from the water denny, 1980 and different aquatic macrophytes tend to take up. Agricultural development in the central ethiopian rift valley. The changing face of the ethiopian rift lakes and their. The major ones are lake abaya, lake chamo, lake awassa, lake ziway and lake abiata.
The ethiopian rift valley and the rift valley lakes the great rift valley stretches for over 9,600kms form turkey to mozambique. This kept the level of some lakes constant, with little or no change but some of the lakes in the region experienced either an increasing or decreasing trend 7,9,10. Langano in particular is also popular with local tourists, as it is the only lake in ethiopia without bilharzia, making it safe to swim in. The great african rift valley extends down from jordan in the middle east all the way down to mozambique in southern africa. Threats and opportunities of central ethiopia rift valley lakes. The cluster of lakes shala, abyata and langano that are found in this area are a great spot for birdwatching, with many of ethiopia s numerous species of birds found here. The study on 10 lakes within the ethiopian rift valley during marchmay 1991 covered a range of conductivity k25 between 286 and 49100 s cm. The food was analyzed to determine its chemical composition.
The ethiopian rift is characterized by many perennial rivers, and a chain of lakes that vary in size, and hydrological and hydrogeological settings. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Rift valley is considered as one of the most ideal tourism area in ethiopia. Analysis of physicochemical characteristics of water. Threats and opportunities to major rift valley lakes. It is among lakes of the national park of the ethiopian rift valley. Cyanotoxin production in seven ethiopian rift valley lakes eva willen swedish university of agricultural sciences, department of aquatic sciences and assessment, se750 07 uppsala, sweden correspondence email eva. These are the afar triangle, the main ethiopian rift, and the chew bahir rift.
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