Sea Floor Spreading Rift Valley

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 rift valleys differ from river valleys and glacial valleys in that they are created by tectonic activity and not the process of erosion.

Sea floor spreading rift valley.

A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault. A rift valley is formed on a divergent plate boundary a crustal extension or spreading apart of the surface which is subsequently further deepened by the forces of erosion. As the rift valley spread the tension rods increased the length allowing the detection of the earth s spreading. Share 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.

Many existing continental rift valleys are the result of a failed arm of a triple junction although there are two the east african rift and the baikal. Seafloor spreading is a constant geologic phenomenon and a primary driver of continental drift. The theory is that the rift valleys will create new oceans so the detection of spreading in the rift valley provided evidence of seafloor spreading. Seafloor spreading and rift valleys are common features at triple junctions triple junctions are the intersection of three divergent plate boundaries.

The triple junction is the central point where three cracks boundaries split off at about 120 angles from each other. This divergence is also referred to as sea floor spreading. The most extensive rift valley is located along the crest of the mid ocean ridge system and is the result of sea floor spreading examples of this type of rift include the mid atlantic ridge and the east pacific rise. Seafloor spreading seafloor spreading is a process that occurs at mid ocean ridges where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge.

The process begins when the crust is heated from beneath by upwelling in the mantle sometimes called a mantle plume. This creates a three armed rift called a triple junction usually with each rift at a. Divergence can also cause earthquakes and if it occurs near the continental crust a rift valley will be created through faulting. Tension rods were placed in the cracks created by the rift valley.

The great rift valley is a series of connected rift valleys.