The stretching and thinning of the Earth's crust under tensional tectonic forces, accommodated by normal faulting and, where extension is sustained, by continental rifting. It thins the crust, lowers its surface, and can eventually progress to the point of continental breakup and the birth of a new ocean basin.
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1. Extensional tectonics - Wikipedia
Introduction sectionQuote, Introduction section
Extensional tectonics is concerned with the structures formed by, and the tectonic processes associated with, the stretching of a planetary body's crust or lithosphere.
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