Rift Valley

Rift Valley is a lowland that is lineal shaped. It lies between a number of mountain ranges or the highlands that were created as a result of the geologic fault or rift and that is how it gets its name - Rift Valley.

Highlights: Formed on the divergent plate boundary, the Rift Valley is a crustal extension that goes apart of the main surface. The valley is consequently deepened by the forces of erosion. When the environmental forces were robust enough to cause the splitting apart of the plates, a center block caused a depression between the two blocks at the flanks which lead to the formation of a graben. This very feature is the commencement of the rift valley however as the process of formation continues the valley widens until it finally becomes a vast basin that is brimming with the sediments from the surrounding regions and the rift walls.