Here's a breakdown:

* Divergent Boundaries: These are areas where tectonic plates move apart.

* Continental Plates: These are the thick, less dense plates that make up the continents.

* Rift Valley Formation: When continental plates pull apart, the crust stretches and thins. This thinning causes the land to sink, forming a valley.

Additional Features Associated with Rift Valleys:

* Volcanic Activity: As the plates separate, magma rises from the mantle, often leading to volcanic eruptions within the rift valley.

* Earthquakes: Frequent earthquakes occur as the plates move apart and the crust readjusts.

* Fault Lines: The boundary between the diverging plates is marked by prominent fault lines.

* Graben: A series of parallel fault lines can create a graben, a downthrown block of crust that forms the central part of a rift valley.

Examples of Rift Valleys:

* East African Rift Valley: A major rift valley system stretching for thousands of kilometers across eastern Africa.

* Rio Grande Rift: A rift valley extending from Colorado to Texas in the United States.

* Baikal Rift Valley: Located in Siberia, Russia, it is the deepest freshwater lake in the world.

Remember that the formation of a rift valley is a long and slow process, taking millions of years.