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Gulf of Suez Rift showing main extensional faults. In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart [1][2] and is an example of extensional tectonics. [3] Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben with normal faulting and rift-flank uplifts ...
Þingvallavatn. A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges produced by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear depression may subsequently be further deepened by the forces of erosion.
Midcontinent Rift System. The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) or Keweenawan Rift is a 2,000 km (1,200 mi) long geological rift in the center of the North American continent and south-central part of the North American Plate. It formed when the continent's core, the North American craton, began to split apart during the Mesoproterozoic era of the ...
Diagram of a rift valley's future evolution into a sea Satellite image of a graben in the Afar Depression. Today these rifts and faults are seen as distinct, although connected, but originally, the Great Rift Valley was thought to be a single feature that extended from Lebanon in the north to Mozambique in the south, where it constitutes one of two distinct physiographic provinces of the East ...
A map of East Africa showing some of the historically active volcanoes (as red triangles) and the Afar Triangle (shaded at the center), which is a so-called triple junction (or triple point) where three plates are pulling away from one another: the Arabian Plate and two parts of the African Plate—the Nubian and Somali—splitting along the East African Rift Zone Main rift faults, plates ...
The Rio Grande rift is a north-trending continental rift zone. It separates the Colorado Plateau in the west from the interior of the North American craton on the east. [1] The rift extends from central Colorado in the north to the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, in the south. [2] The rift zone consists of four basins that have an average width of ...
Back-arc basin. Cross-section through the shallow part of a subduction zone showing the relative positions of an active magmatic arc and back-arc basin, such as the southern part of the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc. A back-arc basin is a type of geologic basin, found at some convergent plate boundaries. Presently all back-arc basins are submarine ...
Divergent boundary. In plate tectonics, a divergent boundary or divergent plate boundary (also known as a constructive boundary or an extensional boundary) is a linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other. Divergent boundaries within continents initially produce rifts, which eventually become rift ...