These are in areas of tensional stress where the the crust is being pulled apart, and thinning
here the rock is being pulled apart, faulted and tilted at an angle, one side drops to form a valley (called a graben), while the other side rise to form a mountain range (called a horst)
or sometimes you will have tilted faults on either side of a graben, which will drop while the rock on either side will rise.