Picture of the Rift Valley Sign, Kenya Africa provided by
Classroom Clip Art (http://classroomclipart.com)In
geology, a
rift valley is a valley created by the formation of a
rift. The
Great Rift Valley is the most famous of the world's rift valleys. Rift valleys are produced by tensional
tectonic forces which occur at divergent plate boundaries. Rift valleys typically appear as a downdropped
graben between a pair of
faults, or vertical Earth movements. Rift valleys are often associated with and flanked by
volcanoes.
Picture of the Rift Valley, Kenya Africa provided by
Classroom Clip Art (http://classroomclipart.com)The most extensive rift valley is located along the crest of the
mid-ocean ridge system and is the result of
seafloor spreading. Existing continental rift valleys are usually the result of a failed arm (
aulacogen) of a
triple junction. Examples besides the Great Rift Valley of Africa include the
Mississippi embayment and the
Rio Grande Rift in
North America.
