“East Africa’s Great Rift Valley: A Complex Rift System”

Name: Desmond Akenteng.
Course: PHSC 210-A16 LUO
October 20, 2013

The article review:
This paper consist of a review article written by James Wood and Alex Guth, which

explained the details about the “East Africa’s Rift Valley: A complex Rift System.”

According to the article, the East African Rift System is one of the most majestic and

the geologic wonders of the world. Wood and Guth, (05-2013)

Introduction:

The old of the earth is ongoing debate, which has been debatable for over centuries,

and I don’t think this debate will end until Christ return. In Wood and Guth’s

article “East Africa’s Great Rift Valley” they have discuss the complicity of the Rift

system that keep on to advance and play out in East Africa. In this case, they have an

effort to link this complicated series of geologic wonders to the evolution of man.

Brief overview and main point of the article:

The article talks about the East Africa’s Rift System. The author’s Wood and Guth

main reasons for conducting this article as I can see in this article itself is that, they

talk about the general geology of the Rift System and stresses on the developments

that comprises their geologic formation. This article gave detailed explanation of the

Rifts, but at the same time recorded that precise apparatus of the Rift pattern has

been continues debated between geologist’ and geophysicist.

The strength of the article:

I belief the strength of the article consist of the complexity and the details of the

author’s beliefs of how the rift were shaped. Wood and Guth, gave vivid detailed

point from which the three branches radiate is called a “Triple Junction” came about.

And another thing that makes this article very strong is about how the Rift was

Made. According to Wood and Guth, “The stretching process associated with Rift

formation is often preceded by huge volcanic eruption which flows over large

areas…” (05-2013) This makes the whole article believable because volcano is one

of the main reasons for earth’ formation. They also did well of how they showed

different figures and images of the Rift and that gives you a clue about what you are

reading. Wood and Guth’ article reveals a lot of volubility and credibility because it

gave the exact year when the first geologist mapped the East Africa’s Rift.

The weakness of the article:

what makes Wood and Guth’ article very week consist of their statements that the

region also provide proof of the roots of human evolution. The article gave a

substantial assumption that the sensitivity of the climate change from the Rift

played an integral role in shaping human development. How could they link this Rift

system to humans’ development? The fact that human’s fossils were found there

does not means that, that was where human’s stated developing brains to walk

upright. I found this article very weak and insulting because it goes against the word

of God; God did not created animals to turn into humans he created humans in his

own image after his likeness. (Gen.1: 27)

Conclusion:

As I conclude this article, Wood and Guth prove that they are geologists because of

How they gave precise information about East Africa’s Rift Valley System and how it

Was formed, but to be honest they did harm to their credibility by deliberately

Concluded that because of the unique geological setting of the Rift caused humans to

have the skills necessary to walk upright, developed culture and ponder how such a

Rift came to be.

Reference:
James Wood and Alex Guth-Michigan Technological University, East African’s Rift Valley: A complex Rift System, 2005-2013.
http://www.geology.com/articles/east-africa-rift.shtml