Rift

noun (countable); verb (intransitive/transitive)

/rɪft/

A linear zone of crustal extension and thinning where tectonic forces are pulling lithospheric plates apart, forming a downfaulted trough (graben) bounded by parallel normal faults; a rift valley. The East African Rift System is a classic active continental rift; Lake Tanganyika (about 650 km long and about 1,470 m deep) is a rift lake, while Lake Victoria lies in a broad depression on the high topography of the Kenya plateau rather than within the rift itself (Penn State). In India, the Narmada–Son Rift Valley and the Godavari Rift are ancient failed rifts (aulacogens), whose grabens hold coal-bearing Gondwana sediments.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The Narmada–Son Rift Valley is an ancient failed rift cutting across the Indian Shield.

Synonyms

grabenrift valleytectonic troughfault troughpull-apart basin

Antonyms

horst (uplifted block)fold mountainthrust beltcompression zonesuture zone

🌱 Word Family

rift (noun/verb), rifting (noun/gerund), rift valley (compound noun), rift zone (compound noun), failed rift (compound noun, aulacogen)

🔡 Root

Old Norse ript = a breaking, cleft; from rifa = to tear, split; related to Old English reafian = to plunder/strip

📜 Etymology

From Old Norse ript or riptr (a breaking, a rent), related to the verb rifa (to tear or split), with the general sense of a crack or fissure.

🧠 Memory Hook

RIFT = RIPPED APART. The Earth's crust is literally being RIPPED apart along a rift zone; the plates pull away from each other, the middle sinks, and you get a valley. Think of tearing a bread roll down the middle; the gap is the rift.

🌍 Geography 📖 Seen in: Plate Tectonics and Volcanism…

Relevant across:GS1 · History, Geography & Society

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