Book Review: East Africa's Great Rift Valley Explained

Introduction

Wood and Guth's article "East Africa's Great Rift Valley: A Complex Rift System" details some of the lesser-known facts about the shifting of the earth and how continents are formed. The authors are extremely enthusiastic about this topic and write about it with a familiarity and adherence to scientific principles that edifies the reader. Although the subject matter is fairly dense and filled with unfamiliar vocabulary, the authors do well to explicate their main points and bring a better understanding of the subject. As such, it is a decidedly valuable work.

Summary of the Article

The main point of this article is to discuss the origins and significance of rifts in Africa — specifically the Lake Albert Rift and the Albertine Rift (which collectively are known as the East African Rift) and the Ethiopian Rift, which together with the other two comprises the East African Rift system (Wood and Guth, n.d.). Rifts are cracks in the earth that gradually spread over geological time and account for the shaping of continents and the land structures that exist on earth today. The authors explain how rifts are produced and go on to discuss some of the historical and contemporary significance of rifting from a geological perspective.

Strengths of the Article

One of the chief strengths of the article is the knowledge that the authors demonstrate about the subject matter and their apparent enthusiasm for it. Both of these qualities are evident in their discussion of how rifting occurs, which involves volcanic eruptions and "bulges" — spots where heat emanates from the earth in large quantities. In explaining these phenomena, the authors make accessible what are largely esoteric facts about some of nature's most important geological processes.

The authors remain well-focused on their topic and do not stray into noticeable digressions. Their article is further strengthened by a series of illustrations, including maps of different varieties, which serve as visual aids for some of their more technical points. These illustrations add to the article's overall clarity and cohesiveness. For broader context on the region's geology, the Encyclopaedia Britannica entry on the Great Rift Valley offers useful supplementary background.

Conclusion

Additionally, there are terms the authors use without defining them, which makes it difficult for lay readers to follow along readily. For instance, when the authors refer to "bulges," they never clarify the term in a geological context. A reader consulting a standard dictionary would find a definition that does not apply to the authors' usage. More broadly, the authors appear to assume that the recitation of facts about rifts is inherently interesting to readers, without establishing any practical connection to contemporary or historical relevance until the very end.

Overall, this is a fairly credible article in which the authors take great pains to clarify their main points and provide a good deal of background information about rifts and their effects on the world. It could have been improved, however, by restructuring some of its arguments. The authors should have begun the article by explaining the role that rifts have played in human history, which would have helped to engage the reader from the outset and provided a more compelling framework for the technical details that follow.