Fault population investigation and estimating magnitude of extension in Guma Graben, Central Afar, Ethiopia

Abstract

Extension in the Afar depression occurs on steeply dipping normal faults of many scales. An estimate for cumulative extension can be derived by summing the heave of these faults using digital topographic data, supplemented by field observations of fault dip. If it can be established that the distribution of faults exhibits self-similarity, an estimate of the contribution from faults too small to appear on the digital imagery can be incorporated into the integrated estimate for cumulative extension. A field study of faulting was undertaken within the Dobe and Guma grabens of Central Afar. A fractal dimension of 0.48 was obtained for the measured population of fault throws ( n = 92) in 3 traverses totaling 42 km, a value interpreted to represent the dominant contribution to extension from faults with large throw. The local extension rate across Guma graben is estimated to be between 0.06 and 0.24 mm/year. The higher topographic position of the floor of Guma graben, relative to the sediment filled, adjacent floors of Dobe and Immino grabens is perhaps an indication of a slower rate of extension across Guma graben as compared to Dobe and Immino grabens, assuming they all initiated at the same time.