Geographic Inheritance

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Regional Landforms: Tectonic Plate Boundaries & Faultlines


  • Layers
  • Strike Slip Fault
  • Thrust Fault
  • Anticlines
  • Fault (location approximate)
  • Fault

  • Tectonic forces have shaped the Arabian Peninsula over hundreds of millions of years and continue to influence the landscape of the region today. Fault zones, rifts, and ridges are all areas of tectonic movement that are associated with different landforms or phenomenon such as earthquakes. The Arabian Peninsula lies on the Arabian Plate. The Arabian Plate is bordered to the south by the African Plate, to the east by the Indian Plate, and to the west both by a lateral fault known as the Dead Sea Transform Fault and a divergent boundary known as the Red Sea Rift, which runs the length of the Red Sea. To the north lies the Eurasian Plate. The Arabian, African and Indian plates are all moving northward, colliding with the massive Eurasian Plate and causing the uplift of mountain ranges, including the Zagros Mountains of Iran. The tremendous forces and energy that are unleashed as a result of tectonic activity in the region will continue to shape the landscape of the Arabian Peninsula into the future.