Many rift valleys are part of “ triple junctions,” a type of divergent boundary where three tectonic plates meet at about 120° angles. Tectonic plates are constantly in motion-shifting against each other in fault zones, falling beneath one another in a process called subduction, crashing against one another at convergent plate boundaries, and tearing apart from each other at divergent plate boundaries. Tectonic plates are huge, rocky slabs of Earth's lithosphere-its crust and upper mantle. Rift valleys differ from river valleys and glacial valleys in that they are created by tectonic activity and not the process of erosion. Rift valleys are found both on land and at the bottom of the ocean, where they are created by the process of seafloor spreading. A rift valley is a lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart, or rift.
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