GEOLOGIC RIFTS

Geologic rifts are separations in the crust that appear as long, linear surface depressions. Rifts form when tectonic plates drift apart or when uplifting “domes” break the rigid crust. The Red Sea section of the Great Rift Valley began forming 55 million years ago when the African and Asian plates collided, then separated. As separation progressed, long, narrow, crustal blocks between the two plates subsided to create the depression now filled by the Red Sea.