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Rift Valley
Block Mountains
Rift Valley
• Major relief feature of Faulting Activity is
Rift Valley.
• Formation : A Rift Valley may be formed
in two ways : (1) When the middle portion
between two normal faults is dropped
downward the sides remain stable.
• (2) When the middle portion remains
stable and the two sides are raised upward
.
Contd….
• They are also known as Graben.
• These valleys have flat bottoms and steep
sides .E.g.- Jordan Valley , Great Rift Valley
of East Africa .
• Some Rift valleys have become lakes .E.g.-
Lake Nyasa ,Lake Rudolf ,Dead Sea.
• The Rhine Rift Valley in Europe is bounded
by Vosages and Hardt Mountains .It is a
fine example of the Rift Valley caused by
Faulting.
• In India the Narmada Valley, Damodar
Valley, Tapi valley are example of the Rift
valley.
Block Mountains
• Block mountain is another
important feature of Faulting
caused by the Tensional features in
the Earth’s crust .
• The mechanism of formation of
Block mountains is same as the
Rift valley.
• The Block mountains as in the case
of the Rhine valley ,are often found
on the sides of the Rift valley. It is
because the land between two
parallel faults is either subsides to
form a Rift valley or rises to form
Block mountains .
Contd….
• Characteristics of Block mountains – flat tops, flat
bottoms on sides and steep fault scrap .
• The Vosges in France and the Black Forest
mountains in Germany are examples of the Block
mountains .
• Other Block mountains – Salt Rang in Pakistan,
the Vindhyas and the Satpuras in India are
examples of Block mountains .They enclose
between them the Rift valleys.
• The Fault Blocks with sharp features are known as
Horsts.
• The Vosges and the Black Forest are e.g. of Horsts.
Flat top
Distribution of Folded and Faulted
Landforms
• The fold mountains of various periods are found almost in
every continent .Almost all of them are arranges in long lines
and interlinked extending through oceans .
• The Alpine-Himalayan system extends from the strait of
Gibraltar through the Mediterranean Basin , Asia Minor to
India and South –East Asia.
• The Circum –Pacific system comprises of Andes ,the North
American cordillera & Island arcs .These two system meet
north of Australia .
• These two system are the main systems from where various
branches extend in different directions .These are said to have
existed as geosynclines some 50 – 60 million years ago .
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