Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Rio Grande Rift
The Rio Grande runs a north-south course, in New Mexico and Colorado, along the Rio Grande rift. Southern boundary line of NM added for clarity
Credit:STS100-704-152RioGrandeRift0.jpg
The Rio Grande Rift is a rift valley extending north from Mexico, near El Paso, Texas through New Mexico into central Colorado.
The area is presently quiescent, but significant geological activity has occurred in the area over the last 30 million years. The rifting involves a pure-shear rifting mechanism, in which both sides of the rift pull apart evenly and slowly, with the crust stretching like taffy rather than fracturing.
10-26-2009 08:16:03
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details