All regions are located in the ethiopian rift valley region of the great african rift valley. Water quality and productivity assessment of lake tinishu. The lake is the shallowest lake in the country and drains to lake abiyata. Rift valley lakes ethiopia an important resource for life. The ethiopian rift valley lakes are the northernmost of the african rift valley lakes.
Many are freshwater ecoregions of great biodiversity, while others are. Lakes in ethiopia are often adjacent to one or more urban areas, along with farmers and other. Palaeoclimatic implications of isotopic data from modern and. 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. Threats and opportunities of central ethiopia rift valley. The southern tip of the rift valley forms the marshy land called the chew bahirwhich is drained by seganand woito. Threats and opportunities to major rift valley lakes wetlands of. In the south, the southern chew bahir rift is more or less symmetric with its conspicuous, ns trending, slightly curvilinear, main fault to the eastern side. There is a pronounced tendency for these species to replace each other as alkalinity increases. It is found that the hydrological stability of most of the ethiopian rift valley lakes is sensitive to climate variability. Current ecological scenario of some rift valley lakes of ethiopia. After lunch we set off to the south again, this time heading for one of the most impressive of the rift valley lakes, lake ziway, notable for its birdlife and its basking hippos.
Case studies include three lakes in the ethiopian rift valley. The western rift, also called the albertine rift contains some of the deepest lakes in the world. Lake ziway is located in the central ethiopian rift valley basin figure 1, where it fills a depression at an elevation of about 1637 m above sea level. Chapter 4 lake water management in three ethiopian rift.
A comparison regarding the physico chemical variables and. Land and water resources assessment in the ethiopian central. Based on physical and socioeconomic factors the awash basin. The ethiopia rift valley is an extend part of great african rift system cut.
Multitemporal land useland cover change detection for the. The composition of fish communities of nine ethiopian lakes along a. Seasonal variations in phytoplankton biomass and primary. It is the third largest freshwater lake of the ethiopian rift valley lakes. Characterization of water level variability of the main ethiopian rift. 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. Understanding the relative impacts of natural processes. Lake tinshu abaya, or interchangeably called, small abaya, is a small freshwater lake located in the rift valley nearly 160 km southwest of addis ababa, which is the capital city of ethiopia. Water balance on the central rift valley upcommons.
The ecosystem of the lake is experiencing various threats such as shrinkage of lake size, water chemistry changes, destructive and overfishing. Download ethiopian rift valley lakes book pdf epub mobi tuebl. Lake tana has a high biodiversity which is close to what is estimated by the model, but three rift valley lakes have low biodiversity, lower than estimated by the. Some of the major lakes of the ethiopian rift valley are highlighted below.
The central ethiopian rift valley encompassing lake ziway, lake abyata, lake langano and lake shala forms a complex and vulnerable hydrological system. Ginchi town west of addis ababa in ethiopia and flows along the rift valley into the afar triangle, and terminates in salty lake abbe on the border with djibouti, being an endorh eic basin. Abstract ethiopia has a various lakes and rivers with significant ecosystems services and biodiversity. Rift valley lakes basin integrated resources development master plan. The central ethiopian rift valley encompassing lake ziway, lake abyata, lake langano and lake shala forms a complex and vulnerable hydrological system with unique ecological characteristics. The ethiopian central rift valley crv is part of the great african rift and encompasses. It covers an area of 150,000 km2 and can be divided into two broad units, the main ethiopian rift and the afar rift. Wholeshell and incremental growth data were collected from modern and fossil shells from two lakes in the ethiopian rift valley. The eastern rift valley also known as gregory rift includes the main ethiopian rift, running eastward from the afar triple junction, which continues south as the kenyan rift valley. 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.
Lake tinishu abaya has two feeder rivers and a single. Over the years a good inventory of the possible resource areas has been built up and a number of the more important sites have been explored in the ethiopian rift valley. The ecosystem is facing threats associated with destructive and overfishing, shrinking of lake size, water chemistry changes, and poor. Overview to potential sources, soil salinization and. These include some of the worlds oldest lakes, deepest lakes, largest lakes by area, and largest lakes by volume. Fish species diversity in major river basins of ethiopia.
The great rift valley central bucks school district. First step of the project was to develop a sound knowledge base on the central rift valley enabling wellinformed decisionmaking. These lakes are well known for being amongst the deepest and oldest lakes in the world, as well as. Abstract lake chamo is among diversified, productive, and economically important lakes of ethiopian rift valley. 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. Experience the ethiopian rift valley with its huge lakes and volcanoes, visualise ethiopia s powerful myths and legends feel the vibrancy of its diverse peoples trevor jenner.
Lake chamo is among diversified, productive, and economically important lakes of ethiopian rift valley. Pastoralist resource management and conflict transformation in the ethiopian rift valley cases from the lakes region. Lake abaya was originally known as lake margherita, and is fed on the northern shore by the bilate. Cyanotoxin production in seven ethiopian rift valley lakes.
The changing face of the ethiopian rift lakes and their. Recently, largescale foreign and national horticulture and floriculture enterprises have been settling down in the area thanks to suitable climatologic. Pdf southern ethiopia rift valley lake fluctuations and climate. Of these areas, about sixteen are judged to have potential for high temperature steam suitable.
Human interventions such as abstraction from lakes or. Lake basaka is located in the middle awash river basin, central rift valley of ethiopia at about 200 km south east of the capital city, addis ababa. Lake ziway is one of the largest freshwater rift valley lakes of the country. Both lakes are key determinants of the ecology of the region and have high socioeconomic importance, including. The total length of the main course is some 1,200 km.
The great african rift valley extends down from jordan in the middle east all the way down to mozambique in southern africa. The study area of this project is the part of the ecrv located within the administrative borders of oromia national regional state and the southern. The typical rift morphology is most typically developed in the main ethiopian rift, a 500kmlong sector that from the afar depression latitude 940n reaches the region of lakes abaya and chamo latitude 530n. Southern ethiopia rift valley lake fluctuations and climate.
Pdf 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. Cluster of lakes are lined up within main ethiopian rift. Threats and opportunities to major rift valley lakes wetlands. 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 tinshu abaya, or small abaya, is a small freshwater lake located in the rift valley nearly 160 km southwest of addis ababa, ethiopia 729. The major ones are lake abaya, lake chamo, lake awassa, lake ziway and lake abiata. Their daily levels and dischargeare monitored by the ministry of water resources. Former lake levels and climatic change in the rift valley. The ethiopian rift valley is part of the great east african tertiaryquaternary rift system. The lake, situated in a remote area 15 km from a small village gebribere kebele in the township of silttie. 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. Land and water resources assessment in the ethiopian. The highland east african forms are found in the northern rift valley lakes, highland lakes and associated river systems. Lake abiyata have declined in size or storage ayenew 2007. The ethiopian rift valley lakes host populations of edible fish species including oreochromis niloticus, labeobarbus intermedius and clarias gariepinus, which are harvested also in other tropical. There are many luxury resorts built around the lake, with haile resort awassa being our favourite. Jury mark published southern ethiopia rift valley lake fluctuations and climate find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Agricultural development in the central ethiopian rift valley.
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. Here, the amur plate is slowly tearing itself away from the eurasian plate, and has been doing so for about 25 million years. Lake baikal, the deepest and oldest freshwater lake in the world, lies in the baikal rift valley. Ethiopia has a number of lakes and rivers with significant ecosystem services. Characterization of water level variability of the main. Download ethiopian rift valley lakes book pdf epub mobi.
Aquatic macrophytes in ethiopian rift valley lakes. Opportunities and challenges of tourism development. However, trace elements enrichment in macrophytes from water and sediments in the. The southern area, from lake abaya to chew bahir, has relatively precipitous terrain. The lake is expanding as opposed to the other rift valley lakes in ethiopia, which are shrinking, lake basaka is found to be expanding at an alarming rate. 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 landscapes for people, food and nature initiative central rift. 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.
In this rift sector, a 80kmwide rift valley ethiopian rift valley sensu stricto of mohr, 1983 separates the uplifted western. Lake beseka and lake awassa expanded while others e. 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. Jun 01, 2007 according to zinabu 2002, a study of ethiopian rift valley lakes kebede et al. The deepest continental rift valley on earth is the baikal rift valley in the siberian region of northeastern russia. Threats and opportunities of central ethiopia rift valley lakes.
The geological structures are characterized by two major rifts, the main ethiopian rift mer and the southwestern ethiopian rift swr, both of which are encompassed in rvlb. The ethiopian central rift valley crv is a basin to the south of addis. Estimating the sediment flux and budget for a data limited. Ethiopia started a longterm geothermal exploration undertaking in 1969. The lakes within the ethiopian rift valley support great biodiversity and are of significant importance to the ethiopian economy. This report takes stock of current resource use and management in the central rift valley. Major lakes of the ethiopian rift valley worldatlas.
Shala and ziway are the shallowest and the deepest lakes in the central ethiopian rift. The ethiopian part of the african rift valley bisect the country in a south westerly direction and it is characterized by volcanic and basaltic rocks, which are more likely to release ahigh concentration of fluoride. Oct 01, 2016 previous research activities in the ethiopian rift valley lakes region focused on soil, water, sediment and fish tissue samples to assess the extent of pollution with regard to selected trace elements zinabu, 2002, zinabu and pearce, 2003, masresha et al. Divergent boundary, the great rift valley african 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. Effects of anthropogenic activities on macroinvertebrate. It is the third largest freshwater lake of the ethiopian rift valley lakes and the fourth in the country. Late quaternary lakelevel fluctuations and environments of the. Sampling of the lakes was made monthly from january to december 2005 and was usually conducted during the last week of the months between 10. To assess the major rift valley lakes wetlands and describe the future treats for.
The water resources of the rift lakes are one of the focal points for large. Six diatoms achieve dominance in 26 alkaline, saline lakes in east africa. These are the second physiographic region covers south eastern part of the country. 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. Located south of addis ababa in the main ethiopian rift, lake awasa covers an area of 129 km 2. The climate is humid to sub humid in the highlands and semiarid in the rift valley. Ethiopia s southern rift valley lakes of abaya and chamo 5. Threats and opportunities to major rift valley lakes. The number of fish species record from the seven drainage basins of ethiopian has baro 87, abay 36, rift valley lakes 32, wabeshebla 26, omo 26, awash 15 and tekeze 10. Most of the ethiopian rift valley lakes do not have an outlet, and most are alkaline. There are five impressive crater lakes in the vicinity of this town and we shall experience at least a couple of them while we are here, taking in some beautiful scenery and very varied birdlife.
The study area of this project is part of the ethiopian central rift valley ecrv, which falls within the. In central ethiopia, the main ethiopian rift, also known as the great rift valley, splits the ethiopian highlands into northern and southern halves, and the ethiopian rift valley lakes occupy the floor of the rift valley between the two highlands. 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. Lake abaya is the largest of all the lakes in the system. Agricultural development in the central ethiopian rift. Rift valley 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. Ecological productivity of lake tinishu abaya in relation. The ethiopian rift valley lakes occupy the floor of the rift valley between the two highlands. Lake abaya has three levelrecording stations, while lake chamo has one. It splits the countrys highlands in two and contains the rift valley lakes to the south. Chapter 4 lake water management in three ethiopian rift valley. We use a temporal integration model tim to determine how estimates of trophic variation, using.
Shala and ziway are the shallowest and the deepest lakes in the central ethiopian rift table 4. This lake is known mostly for its large size, fisheries and islands 11. A single open water station, marked with gps, was used for each lake throughout the study period. Consequences of large temporal variability of zooplankton. The late quaternary limnology of the rift and afar lakes is compared from two. The mean annual temperature is around 15c in the highlands and. Ethiopian rift valley lakes written by claudiu tudorancea, published by anonim which was released on 26 march 2021. The ethiopian central rift valley crv, encompassing lake ziway, lake abiyata, lake langano and lake shala, is part of the great african rift. The rift valley lakes are a series of lakes in the east african rift valley that runs through eastern africa from ethiopia in the north to malawi in the south, and includes the african great lakes in the south. One of the best lakes to fish in ethiopia, lake awassa is located 270 km to the south of addis ababa, and is the smallest of the rift valley lakes. Central ethiopia rift valley lakes 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.
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