12x15 - Le meraviglie della Rift Valley

November 3, 2012

We will discover one of the most incredible places, a unique place in the world: the Rift Valley. The rift that extends for about 6000 kilometers in the north-south direction of the Earth, from northern Syria (southwest Asia) to central Mozambique (eastern Africa). With a width varying from 30 to 100 kilometers and a depth of several hundred to many thousands of metres, it was created by the separation of the African and Arabian tectonic plates, which began 35 million years ago and by the separation of East Africa from the rest of 'Africa, started 15 million years ago. In this immense place you can breathe the scent of the origins of the world like nowhere else; in fact, the great adventure of the human species began from this valley, whose name was given by the explorer John Walter Gregory: in the Rift Valley the fossil remains of an ancient primitive hominid, who was given the name Lucy, were found. Alberto Angela will tell us the exciting story of finding her.