1) Eastern rift valley
East African Rift Valley
The eastern branch system is the main branch of the East African rift valley system and extends along the length of the rift system. The branch is in the north by the Gulf of Aqaba, the Dead sea and the Jordan river. It comprises of the main Ethiopian rift from Afar triple junction and continues along Red sea and Ethiopian Denakil plain towards south to lakes Naivasha, Rudolf and Magadi in Kenya along the Kenyan rift valley. It is less obvious in Tanzania, due to erosion in the eastern rim, but the rift continues southward through Mozambique plain and Shire river valley to the Indian Ocean coast. The eastern branch termed as Gregory rift or Kenya rift contains lakes. The east branch is arid, which can be seen in the salt-loving algae of the salty and shallow lake Magadi. A nearby lake to the north appears dark due to the depth. The white salt deposits of the lake floor host a few commercial salt pans. The lakes are where the secondary and main fault trends intersect.
2) Western rift valley
The western branch referred to as the Albertine rift or Lake Albert rift has several smaller structures known as grabens that are associated with large ones, for example Nyanza rift near Lake Victoria. The west branch of East African rift valley system forms an arc all the way from Uganda to Malawi. It extends northward from the northern part of lake Nyasa in an arc that includes lakes Rukwa, Kivu, Tanganyika, Edward and Albert. The lakes within the western rift valley are in-depth and fjord-like. The floors of some of these lakes are well below sea level
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