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How long has the East African Rift System been forming?
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tectonic basins and rift valleys
Escarpments of the Great Rift Valley rising above the plain north of Samburu Game Preserve, central Kenya. Beisa oryxes graze in the foreground.
The East African Rift System has been forming for approximately 30 million years. This ongoing geological process began as the African continent and the Arabian Peninsula started to separate.1