Glossary

rift lake

Type of lake that forms in a rift zone or rift valley and often very deep with steep cliffs around the margins, also known as a rift valley lake, sag pond, or fault-trough lake. The largest freshwater lakes in the world are all of this type. Also used in the aquarium hobby in reference to the Rift Valley lakes of the East African rift.

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Related terms

adaptive radiation
Speciation of a taxonomic group into several forms, each specialised to fill a previously vacant ecological niche, as exemplified by Rift Lake cichlids, for example.
margin
Edge or rim.
rift
Narrow fissure or zone of faulting formed via tensional stress in the earth's crust. When such forces are strong or prolonged enough to split the crust apart a central section will typically drop down or subside, sometimes forming a rift valley with steep walls as the gap widens. Water may become impounded in the valley, forming a rift lake.
Rift Valley lake
Generic term for any lake formed in a rift valley, but often used in specific reference to a group located in the East African rift, particularly those lying in its western and southern sections, i.e., the African Great Lakes. In the aquarium hobby the meaning of the term is typically restricted even further to include just lakes Malawi, Tanganyika, and Victoria, the latter of which is not in fact a rift lake and is located in a shallow depression between the eastern and western branches of the main rift. These three lakes are famous for the high number of endemic fish species inhabiting them, especially members of the family Cichlidae.

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