1 Beneath the palisade layer is the spongy layer. 2  The cells of the spongy layer are more branched and not so tightly packed, so that there are large intercellular air spaces between them for oxygen and carbon dioxide to diffuse in and out of during respiration and photosynthesis. leaf is an organ of a vascular plant and is the principal lateral appendage of the stem. The leaves and stem together form the shoot. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves collectively. Typically a leaf is a thin, dorsiventrally flattened organ, borne above ground and specialized for photosynthesis.
A rift valley is a lowland region formed by the interaction of Earth's tectonic plates. This small rift valley has a typical formationâlong, narrow, and deep. It was formed by the Thingvellir rift, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are tearing, or rifting, apart over a hotspot on the island of Iceland.
There are places on earth where two plates are separating or spreading apart, such as at oceanic ridges. Rift valleys and faults occur when the lithosphere is under tensional stress. At spreading zones, new magma comes up from the mantle, pushing two plates apart and adding new material at their edges.