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Rift
In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics.Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben with normal faulting and rift-flank uplifts mainly on one side. Where rifts remain above sea level they form a rift valley, which may be filled by water forming a rift lake. The axis of the rift area may contain volcanic rocks, and active volcanism is a part of many, but not all active rift systems.
Major rifts occur along the central axis of most mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust and lithosphere is created along a divergent boundary between two tectonic plates.
Failed rifts are the result of continental rifting that failed to continue to the point of break-up. Typically the transition from rifting to spreading develops at a triple junction where three converging rifts meet over a hotspot. Two of these evolve to the point of seafloor spreading, while the third ultimately fails, becoming an aulacogen.
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Riff (noun)
The belly; the bowels.
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Riff (noun)
A repeated instrumental melody line in a song.
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Riff (noun)
A clever or witty remark.
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Riff (noun)
A variation on something.
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Riff (noun)
A spoof.
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Riff (verb)
To improvise in the performance or practice of an art, especially by expanding on or making novel use of traditional themes.
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Riff (verb)
To riffle.
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Rift (noun)
A chasm or fissure.
“My marriage is in trouble: the fight created a rift between us and we can’t reconnect.”
“The Grand Canyon is a rift in the Earth’s surface, but is smaller than some of the undersea ones.”
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Rift (noun)
A break in the clouds, fog, mist etc., which allows light through.
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Rift (noun)
A shallow place in a stream; a ford.
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Rift (verb)
To form a rift; to split open.
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Rift (verb)
To cleave; to rive; to split.
“to rift an oak”
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Rift (verb)
To belch.
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Riff (noun)
a short repeated phrase in popular music and jazz, typically used as an introduction or refrain in a song
“a brilliant guitar riff”
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Riff (noun)
a monologue or spoken improvisation, especially a humorous one, on a particular subject
“extended riffs on the pitfalls of contemporary romance”
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Riff (verb)
play riffs
“the other horns would be riffing behind him”
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Riff (verb)
perform a monologue or spoken improvisation on a particular subject
“he also riffs on racism and the economy”
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Rift (noun)
a crack, split, or break in something
“the wind had torn open a rift in the clouds”
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Rift (noun)
a major fault separating blocks of the earth’s surface; a rift valley.
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Rift (noun)
a serious break in friendly relations
“the rift between the two branches of the legal profession”
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Rift (verb)
form fissures or breaks, especially through large-scale faulting; move apart
“a fragment of continental crust which rifted away from eastern Australia”
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Rift (verb)
tear or force (something) apart
“the nascent rifted margins of the Red Sea”