At constructive plate margins, mid-ocean ridges will be formed. They can be anything from ten kilometres (six miles) to several hundred kilometres wide, with a … The most prominent example of a continental rift is the East-African Rift Valley and its continuations into the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Two arms of the triple junction can split to form an entire ocean. Another rift, the East African Rift Valley, is still in the phase where it forms a graben that is 'trying' to rip East-Africa apart from the rest of Africa. The western branch of the Rift Valley, known as the Western Rift Valley, runs in a great arc through the Great Lakes region, passing along lakes Albert (also known as Lake Albert Nyanza), Edward, Kivu, Tanganyika, Rukwa, and to Lake Nyasa in Malawi. Share Tweet Email. The depressed regions of a rift valley are created by one or more grabens. Two prominent theories have been proposed to explain the formation of rift valleys. Start studying A-level Geography- Hazards. Disadvantages of rift valleys. Western Branch of the Rift Valley . The formation of the series of faults is sometimes accompanied by downward displacement of the central block. Diseases such as malaria, bilharzia and typhoid abound in within such areas. Playing it cool: these artists make music with ice. Read This Next. The Sydney Harbour in Australia is a classic example of a sunken valley. Rift valleys are formed when tectonic plates underneath the earth’s surface expand the crust. The magma erupts to the surface of the Earth. Lake Victoria is responsible for a large percentage of the Nile discharge making arid land habitable. The rift valley lakes are essential to the African economy. Many rift valleys are part of “triple junctions,” a type of divergent boundary where three tectonic plates meet at about 120° angles. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. When they do, they are called sunken valleys. Most of these lakes are deep, some with bottoms below sea level. One such example is the Great Rift Valley, a rift system stretching from the Middle East to southern Africa. Being dependent on primary agricultural and fishing industries, the continent is heavily reliant on the great rift lakes. The landform manifests as an elongated lowland in the middle of mountain ranges or several highlands. There is hot weather which can be stiffing and enervating on valley floors. A rift valley is a landform whose formation is triggered by a geologic rift or fault. As the plates move apart (very slowly), magma rises from the mantle. ... ocean ridge and rift valley. (modified from USGS). An example of a Rift Valley is the Albertine Rift … Rift valley. The resulting extensive, deep, wide,”V” shaped valley formed by faulting, tear faulting compression forces as a rift valley. In this lesson, we've discussed the tectonic forces behind the development of rift valleys, and focused specifically on the geography and development of the East African Rift Valley System. A rift valley is the long, narrow, flat-bottomed trough of land created when a block of Earth’s lithospheric crust drops into the space that’s left when two divergent tectonic plates drift apart. When plates diverge, causes continental crust to bulge and fracture, forming fault lines. Some valleys sink below sea level. Rock falls from the associated mountains can lead to loss of life or damage to …