rifting

geology

Learn about this topic in these articles:

In plate tectonics: Continental rifting
Upwelling of magma causes the overlying lithosphere to uplift and stretch. (Whether magmatism [the formation of igneous rock from magma] initiates the rifting or whether rifting decompresses the mantle and initiates magmatism is a matter of significant debate.) If the diverging plates are capped…
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In volcano: Volcanoes related to plate boundaries
…moving apart—a process known as rifting.
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