Which is an example of a continental rift valley?

Which is an example of a continental rift valley?

• A. East African Rift Valley
• B. Mariana Trench
• C. Great Barrier Reef
• D. Andes Mountain Range

Answer: (A)

Continental rift valleys form when continental crust is stretched and pulled apart, causing normal faults to drop blocks of crust and create a long, down-dropped trough. The East African Rift Valley is the classic example: the African plate is undergoing extension, producing parallel faults and down-dropped blocks that form a trough often filled by lakes and volcanic activity along the rift. This explains why it’s a continental rift valley. The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench formed by subduction, not rifting of continental crust. The Great Barrier Reef is a coral reef system on a continental shelf, not a rift valley. The Andes result from subduction and continental collision, not from the extensional processes that create rift valleys.

Continental rift valleys form when continental crust is stretched and pulled apart, causing normal faults to drop blocks of crust and create a long, down-dropped trough. The East African Rift Valley is the classic example: the African plate is undergoing extension, producing parallel faults and down-dropped blocks that form a trough often filled by lakes and volcanic activity along the rift. This explains why it’s a continental rift valley. The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench formed by subduction, not rifting of continental crust. The Great Barrier Reef is a coral reef system on a continental shelf, not a rift valley. The Andes result from subduction and continental collision, not from the extensional processes that create rift valleys.