Volcanism in the Afar Rift sustained by decompression melting with minimal plume influence

Nature Geoscience

Volumn 5, Issue 6, 2012, Pages 406-409

  Rychert, Catherine A ^a   Hammond, James O S ^b   Harmon, Nicholas ^a   Michael Kendall, J ^c   Keir, Derek ^a   Ebinger, Cynthia ^d   Bastow, Ian D ^c   Ayele, Atalay ^e   Belachew, Manahloh ^d,e   Stuart, Graham ^f  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON   (United Kingdom)

^b IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^c UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL   (United Kingdom)

^d UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER   (United States)

^e ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY   (Ethiopia)

^f UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ASTHENOSPHERE; CONTINENTAL BREAKUP; DECOMPRESSION; GEODYNAMICS; HEATING; LITHOSPHERE; MANTLE PLUME; MANTLE STRUCTURE; MELTING; RIFT ZONE; SEISMIC VELOCITY; VOLCANISM;

AFAR;

EID: 84861675195     PISSN: 17520894     EISSN: 17520908     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1455     Document Type: Article

References (30)

1. Buck, W. R. in Rheology and Deformation of the Lithosphere at Continental Margins (eds Karner, G. D., Taylor, B., Driscoll, N. W. & Kohlstedt, D. L.) 1 30 (Columbia Univ. Press, 2004
2. White, R. & Mckenzie, D. Magmatism at rift zones the generation of volcanic continental margins and flood basalts. J. Geophys. Res. 94 7685 7729 1989
3. Ebinger, C. J. & Sleep, N. H. Cenozoic magmatism throughout east Africa resulting from impact of a single plume. Nature 395, 788 791 (1998 (Pubitemid 28485443)
4. Prodehl, C. & Mechie, J. Crustal thinning in relationship to the evolution of the Afro Arabian rift system a review of seismic-refraction data. Tectonophysics 198, 311 327 (1991
5. Wolfenden, E., Ebinger, C., Yirgu, G., Deino, A. & Ayalew, D. Evolution of the northern Main Ethiopian Rift: Birth of a triple junction. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 224, 213 228 (2004 (Pubitemid 38964595)
6. Weeraratne, D. S., Forsyth, D. W., Fischer, K. M. & Nyblade, A. A. Evidence for an upper mantle plume beneath the Tanzanian craton from Rayleigh wave tomography. J. Geophys. Res. 108, 2427 2444 (2003
7. Huismans, R. & Beaumont, C. Depth-dependent extension, two-stage breakup and cratonic underplating at rifted margins. Nature 473, 74 78 (2011
8. Lekic, V., French, S. & Fischer, K. M. Lithospheric thinning beneath rifted regions of southern California. Science 334, 783 787 (2011
9. Hammond, J. O. S. et al. The nature of the crust beneath the Afar triple junction: Evidence from receiver functions. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 12, Q12004 (2011
10. Kustowski, B., Ekstrom, G. & Dziewonski, A. M. Anisotropic shear-wave velocity structure of the Earth's mantle: A global model. J. Geophys. Res. 113, B06306 (2008
11. Bastow, I. D., Nyblade, A. A., Stuart, G. W., Rooney, T. O. & Benoit, M. H. Upper mantle seismic structure beneath the Ethiopian hot spot: Rifting at the edge of the African low-velocity anomaly. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 9, Q12022 (2008
12. Fishwick, S. Surface wave tomography imaging of the lithosphere asthenosphere boundary beneath central and southern Africa? Lithos 120, 63 73 (2010
13. Kendall, J. M., Stuart, G. W., Ebinger, C. J., Bastow, I. D. & Keir, D. Magma-assisted rifting in Ethiopia. Nature 433, 146 148 (2005
14. Bostock, M. G. Mantle stratigraphy and evolution of the Slave province. J. Geophys. Res. 103, 21183 121200 (1998
15. Rychert, C. A., Rondenay, S. & Fischer, K. M. P-to-S and S-to-P imaging of a sharp lithosphere asthenosphere boundary beneath eastern North America. J. Geophys. Res. 112, B08314 (2007
16. Helffrich, G. Extended-time multitaper frequency domain cross-correlation receiver-function estimation. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 96, 344 347 (2006
17. Angus, D. A. et al. Stratigraphy of the Archean western Superior province from P- and S-wave receiver functions: Further evidence for tectonic accretion? Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 177, 206 216 (2009
18. Dugda, M. T., Nyblade, A. A. & Julia, J. Thin lithosphere beneath the Ethiopian plateau revealed by a joint inversion of Rayleigh wave group velocities and receiver functions. J. Geophys. Res. 112, B08305 (2007
19. Eagles, G., Gloaguen, R. & Ebinger, C. Kinematics of the Danakil microplate. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 203, 607 620 (2002
20. Holtzman, B. K. & Kendall, J. M. Organized melt, seismic anisotropy, and plate boundary lubrication. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 11, Q0AB06 (2010
21. Raddick, M. J., Parmentier, E. M. & Scheirer, D. S. Buoyant decompression melting: A possible mechanism for intraplate volcanism. J. Geophys. Res. 107, 2228 2242 (2002
22. Langmuir, C. H., Klein, E. & Plank, T. in Mantle Flow and Melt Generation at Mid-Ocean Ridges (eds Morgan, J. P., Blackman, D. K. & Sinton, J.) 183 280 (Geophys. Monogr. Ser. Vol. 71, AGU, 1992
23. Schmeling, H. Dynamic models of continental rifting with melt generation. Tectonophysics 480, 33 47 (2010
24. Corti, G., van Wijk, J., Cloetingh, S. & Morley, C. K. Tectonic inheritance and continental rift architecture: Numerical and analogue models of the East African Rift system. Tectonics 26, 1 13 (2007
25. Rooney, T. O., Herzberg, C. & Bastow, I. D. Elevated mantle potential temperature beneath East Africa. Geology 40, 27 30 (2011
26. Silver, P. G., Russo, R. M. & Lithgow-Bertelloni, C. Coupling of South American and African plate motion and plate deformation. Science 279, 60 63 (1998
27. Furman, T. Geochemistry of East African Rift basalts: An overview. J. African Earth Sci. 48, 147 160 (2007 (Pubitemid 46832181)
28. Toomey, D. R. et al. Asymmetric mantle dynamics in the MELT region of the East Pacific Rise. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 200, 287 295 (2002
29. Kendall, J. M. et al. Afar Volcanic Province within the East African Rift System Vol. 259 55 72 (The Geological Society of London, 2006
30. Moucha, R. & Forte, A. M. Changes in African topography driven by mantle convection. Nature Geosci. 4, 707 712 (2011)