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Graben

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A graben is a down-dropped block between two parallel steep normal faults that dip towards each other and formed from extensional movement. Medium-large grabens are not bounded by a single normal fault but by several normal faults with similar bed attitudes in the form of step faults. The two sides of a graben may not develop in the same manner. Grabens are structural geologic features. Fault basins and rift landforms are usually composed of young medium-large grabens. Examples are the Rhine Graben in Europe and the Fenwei Graben in China, which are in the form of long narrow valleys or elongated basins or lakes.

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© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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(2020). Graben. In: Chen, A., Ng, Y., Zhang, E., Tian, M. (eds) Dictionary of Geotourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_951

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