Rift valley

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In geology, a rift valley is a valley created by the formation of a rift. The Great Rift Valley, located in the Middle East and Africa, 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.

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 include the Mississippi embayment and the Rio Grande Rift in North America.