How does a pull-apart basin form along strike-slip faults?

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tectonic basins and rift valleys Escarpments of the Great Rift Valley rising above the plain north of Samburu Game Preserve, central Kenya. Beisa oryxes graze in the foreground.

A pull-apart basin forms in regions where nearly parallel strike-slip faults overlap. As movement occurs along these overlapping fault segments, the crust between them undergoes extension, effectively pulling the section apart.1

This process creates a distinct, often rectangular or rhomb-shaped tectonic depression. While the two sides of the basin are defined by the horizontal displacement of the strike-slip faults, the other two sides are bounded by faults that exhibit vertical components of slip, allowing the basin floor to subside. Notable examples of this landform include the Dead Sea and the Imperial Valley.1