USGS image

Infrared-enhanced satellite image of a graben in the Afar Depression. The United States Geological Survey ( USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. The Afar Depression (also called the Danakil Depression or the Afar Triangle) is a Geological depression in the Horn of Africa, where it

A graben is a depressed block of land bordered by parallel faults. Depression in Geology is a Landform sunken or depressed below the surrounding area In Geology a fault, or fault line, is a planar rock fracture which shows evidence of relative movement Graben is German for ditch. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages.

A graben is the result of a block of land being downthrown producing a valley with a distinct scarp on each side. In Geology, a valley (also called a vale, dale, glen or strath and near or in Appalachia, a draw) is In Geomorphology, an escarpment is a transition zone between different physiogeographic provinces that involves a sharp steep Elevation differential characterized Grabens often occur side-by-side with horsts. This article refers to the geological form For other uses see Horst. Horst and graben structures are indicative of tensional forces and crustal stretching.

Graben are produced from parallel normal faults, where the hanging wall is downthrown and the footwall is upthrown. The faults typically dip toward the center of the graben from both sides. Horsts are parallel blocks that remain between grabens, the bounding faults of a horst typically dip away from the center line of the horst.

A single graben or multiple grabens can produce a rift valley. A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic Rift or fault.

Half-grabens

In many rifts the grabens are asymmetric, with a major fault along only one of the boundaries, and these are known as half-grabens. In Geology, a rift is a place where the Earth 's crust and Lithosphere are being pulled apart and is an example of Extensional tectonics The polarity (throw direction) of the main bounding faults typically alternate along the length of the rift. The asymmetry of a half-graben strongly affects syntectonic deposition. Comparatively little sediment enters the half-graben across the main bounding fault, due to the effects of footwall uplift on the drainage systems. Sediment is any particulate matter that can be transported by fluid flow and which eventually is deposited as a layer of solid particles on the bed or bottom of a body of The exception is at any major offset in the bounding fault, where a relay ramp may provide an important sediment input point. Most of the sediment will enter the half-graben down the unfaulted hanging wall side (e. g. Lake Baikal, ^[1]). Lake Baikal (о́зеро Байка́л Ozero Baykal, ˈozʲɪrə bʌjˈkɑl Байгал нуур Baygal nuur) is in Southern Siberia in Russia

Rima Ariadaeus on the Moon

Famous grabens

• The Basin and Range region of southwestern North America is an example of multiple horst/graben structures, including Death Valley. Rima Ariadaeus is a linear Rille on the Moon at. It is named after the crater Ariadaeus, which marks its eastern end Basin and range is a geologic term for a type of Topography characterized by a series of separate and parallel mountain ranges with broad valleys interposed extending Death Valley is the lowest driest and hottest Valley in the United States.
• The Rhine valley to the north of Basel, Switzerland
• The Oslo graben around Oslo, Norway
• The East African Rift Valley
• The Saguenay River Valley
• The Narmada River valley in central India
• The lower Godavari River valley in southern India
• The Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben in Ontario and Quebec, Canada

References

• McKnight, Tom L; Hess, Darrel (2000). The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge This is about the direction for other uses see North (disambiguation. "Basilia" redirects here For the Fly Genus, see Basilia (fly. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The Oslo Graben or Oslo Rift is a Graben formed during a geologic rifting event in Permian time (called Christiania from 1624 to 1878 and Kristiania from 1878 to 1924 is the Capital and largest city of Norway. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional The East African Rift is part of the larger Great Rift Valley. The Saguenay River (French rivière Saguenay) is a major River of Quebec, Canada. The Narmada नर्मदा Gujarati નર્મદા or Nerbudda (Narbada is a river in central India and the fifth largest river in the Indian subcontinent The Central India Agency was a political unit of British India, which covered the northern half of present-day Madhya Pradesh state This article is about the river Godavari in India. For other uses see Godavari (disambiguation The Godavari ( Marathi language:गोदावरी South India is the area encompassing India 's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union The Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben (also known as the Ottawa Graben) with its branch the Timiskaming Graben, is an ancient Rift valley in the Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page "The Internal Processes: Graben", Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 417. ISBN 0-13-020263-0.  

1. ^ Nelson,C. H. , Karabanov,E. B. , Colman,S. and Escutia,C. 1999, Tectonic and sediment supply control of deep rift lake turbidite systems: Lake Baikal, Russia. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Geology, 27, 163-166,