What is a rift zone plate tectonics?
Image. 1/9. Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. A rift valley is a lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart, or rift. Rift valleys are found both on land and at the bottom of the ocean, where they are created by the process of seafloor spreading.
How do tectonic plates move in a rift zone?
As tectonic plates move away from one another at mid-ocean ridges, molten rock from the mantle may well up and harden as it contacts the frigid sea, forming new oceanic crust at the bottom of the rift valley.
What type of tectonic activity forms a rift valley?
plate tectonics
Rift valleys are formed by the movement of plate tectonics; moreover, plate tectonics are formed when tectonic plates separate or move apart from each other. When these plates separate, they move in opposite directions at divergent plate boundaries.
What is an example of a continental rift zone?
We begin with perhaps the best example of a modern continental rift zone – the East African Rift. The East African Rift is a high terrain, a broad upwarp of the continent. It is a region of high heat flow and volcanoes, of normal faults that bound uplifted blocks of crust and down dropped basins.
What happens at a continental rift zone?
Continental Rift: Topography, Earthquakes, and Volcanism Ripping a tectonic plate apart elevates the region and causes earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and the formation of long mountain ranges separated by broad valleys (basins).
How is a rift formed?
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. More generally the valley is likely to be filled with sedimentary deposits derived from the rift flanks and the surrounding areas.
How is Rift Valley formed give an example?
A rift valley is formed by the submergence of a big landmass between two high block mountains, e.g. the Rhine river flows through a rift valley in its middle course.
How are rifts formed?
How is rift valley formed give an example?
Where do rift zones form?
Rift zones are fundamental Earth structures that reveal the nature of forces acting on the surface of the Earth. They form in three basic tectonic settings: (1) mid-ocean ridges, (2) continents, and (3) mid-plate oceanic islands.
What is the result of a rift?
What is one example of a rift?
The most extensive of the continental rift valleys are those of the East African Rift System, which extend northward to the Red Sea and eastward into the Indian Ocean. Other notable examples include the Baikal Rift Valley (Russia) and the Rhine Rift Valley (Germany).