Abstract
AbstractA major rifting episode began in the Afar region of northern Ethiopia in September 2005. Over a 10-day period,c.2.5 km3of magma were intruded into the upper crust along a 60 km-long dyke separating the Arabian and Nubian plates. There was an intense seismic swarm and a small rhyolitic eruption; extension of up to 10 m occurred across the rift segment. Over the next five years, a further 13 dyke intrusions caused continued extension, eruptions and seismicity. The activity in Afar led to a renewed international focus on the role of magmatism in rifting, with major collaborative projects involving researchers from Ethiopia, the UK, the USA, France, Italy and New Zealand working in Afar and Ethiopia to study the ongoing activity and to place it in a broader context. This book brings together articles that explore the role of magmatism in rifting, from the initiation of continental break-up through to full seafloor spreading. We also explore the hazards related to rifting and the associated volcanism. This renewed focus on magmatism and its role in rifting has implications for our understanding of how continents break-up and the associated distribution of resources in rift basins and continental margins.
Highlights
The East African Rift system (Fig. 1) is an area of particular focus in this book
This book is dedicated to exploring the relationship between magmatism, rifting and active volcanism
Ebinger (2005) argued that we can use this variability in space as an analogue for the temporal development of a continental rift, with increasing rift maturity and increasing magmatism as we move from Malawi in the south, where extension is dominated by faulting, through to Afar in the north, where extension is almost entirely magmatic
Summary
It has long been known that there is an association between magmatism and many continental rifts. This book is dedicated to exploring the relationship between magmatism, rifting and active volcanism. The East African Rift system (Fig. 1) is an area of particular focus in this book. As we move from south to north along the East African Rift into the Afar triple junction, the amount of cumulative extension and the rate of present day extension both increase (Stamps et al 2008). Explore case studies from East Africa and consider them alongside studies of other rifts, continental margins and seafloor spreading. A particular focus is on active magmatic rifting in the Afar region, which has been studied intensely during the last decade
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