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Why does Lake Tanganyika have little shallow shoreline habitat?
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East African lakes
Mountains and lakes of East Africa.
Lake Tanganyika has very little shallow shoreline habitat because it is a geologically young, tectonic rift lake characterized by steep escarpments that often rise sheer from the water's edge. Unlike lakes set in regions of erosion, such as Lake Victoria, the landscape surrounding Lake Tanganyika is dominated by these precipitous fault-formed slopes. Consequently, the only sizable lowland area along the entire lake is the lower Ruzizi River valley.1