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Recent Examples of rift valley
The discovery is centered on the Diamantina Fracture Zone, which travels west from the southwesternmost tip of Australia into the Indian Ocean along a rift valley that formed some 50 million years ago, when the Down Under continent split from Antarctica.
—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
10 June 2026
For outdoor adventures, head to mountain towns like Whitwell, which offers paragliding opportunities near the unique rift valley, or Hartford, known for white-water rafting on the Pigeon River.
—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
10 June 2026
Valles Marineris is an enormous rift valley system on Mars that scientists want to scour for traces of liquid water, which may exist in sheltered niches and serve as an habitat for possible life.
—
Leonard David,
Space.com,
31 May 2026
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
10 June 2026
For outdoor adventures, head to mountain towns like Whitwell, which offers paragliding opportunities near the unique rift valley, or Hartford, known for white-water rafting on the Pigeon River.
—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
10 June 2026
Valles Marineris is an enormous rift valley system on Mars that scientists want to scour for traces of liquid water, which may exist in sheltered niches and serve as an habitat for possible life.
—
Leonard David,
Space.com,
31 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rift valley
Noun
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Flames crossed west over the Dolores River and made a push up the canyon and onto the rim, Operations Section Chief Toby Cook said in an update Saturday morning.
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Well over four million people visit each year, so those looking to avoid the masses may want to consider heading to the less-popular North Rim of the canyon.
Noun
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From here the route winds south past the town of Telluride, with its legendary skiing and film, jazz and bluegrass festivals, and out to Mesa Verde National Park, where Puebloan people carved gorgeous cliff dwellings in the buttes and gorges.
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Letchworth State Park, recently named Best State Park in USA TODAY’s 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards, offers 66 miles of hiking trails, a 600-foot gorge and three popular waterfalls.
Noun
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Head right, and there came public land, the Shasta-Trinity National Forest with its creeks and gulches and two-bit towns like Peanut and Beegum.
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The road to the potato patches — where the community grows most of its vegetables — crosses several large gulches that frequently spill tons of rock and soil onto the track, requiring regular maintenance.
Noun
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When camping in an open environment, select a campsite in a valley, ravine, or low region.
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From rolling vineyards to lush river valleys, high limestone bluffs to some pretty great lakes, this region of the United States is often overlooked.
Noun
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When camping in an open environment, select a campsite in a valley, ravine, or low region.
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Reaching the wreckage proved difficult as emergency workers, backed by paramilitary forces, climbed down a steep mountainside to the ravine up to 25 meters (80 feet) deep.
Noun
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The pitch, as expected, appeared to have lost its spite nearing lunch when Latham, who had hung tough for 74 deliveries, tried turning Jofra Archer to the leg side but found a leading edge that Jacob Bethell superbly snatched out of the air at gully.
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On June 6, 1966, on a stretch of Highway 51 just south of Hernando, Mississippi, a portly, middle-aged white man named Aubrey Norvell stepped out of a gully, lifted his shotgun and fired three shots at James Meredith, a Black civil rights activist and Air Force veteran.
Noun
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The pair went all the way down to a 43-mile-wide and 1,500-mile-long depression in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, known as the Challenger Deep.
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The victim's mother also addressed the jury, blaming Rullan for her son's depression and anxiety and describing the emotional toll the abuse had taken on their family.
Noun
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Pause for lunch, then drift through fishing villages, beaches and glens that define Donegal’s rugged character.
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The eldest of Scotland’s two national parks, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, is centered around Great Britain’s largest freshwater lake, Loch Lomond, alongside the mountains, forests, and glens of the Trossachs.
Cite this Entry
“Rift valley.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rift%20valley. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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