Abstract
AbstractWe present a new model of the stress state and present‐day tectonics of the Red Sea Rift (RSR) based on an instantaneous geodynamic mantle flow model. The initial density and viscosity variations in the mantle are derived from a joint inversion of gravity, residual topography, and tomography, which provides higher resolution than existing models. The calculated mantle flow shows clear distinctions along the rift axis. The tectonics of the southern part of the Red Sea is mainly controlled by the Afar plume and characterized by divergent mantle flow. The passive rifting along the central part of the RSR can be explained either by asthenospheric upwelling due to the Red Sea floor spreading or by the plume, rising from the transition zone and not directly related to the Afar plume. We also observed ridge‐axis‐aligned flow in the uppermost mantle in the northern part of the RSR.
Highlights
The Red Sea is a narrow basin extending from the junction of the Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest and the Gulf of Aden and Afar in the southeast
We present a new model of the stress state and present‐day tectonics of the Red Sea Rift (RSR)
The Red Sea Rift (RSR) is usually divided in three zones with different tectonic regimes: (I) active rifting at the southern segment, where the seafloor spreading is developing; (II) the central segment, where incipient rifting is accompanied by abundant volcanic activity; and (III) passive extension in the northern segment, where continental lithosphere is extending with no clear signs of oceanic crust
Summary
The Red Sea is a narrow basin extending from the junction of the Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest and the Gulf of Aden and Afar in the southeast. Numerical modeling suggested that the mantle flows caused by the Tethyan slab subduction below the Bitlis‐Zagros suture zone (Becker & Faccenna, 2011; Faccenna et al, 2013) in the north, and upwelling of the African superplume in the south (Forte et al, 2010; Moucha & Forte, 2011), play a major role in the regional tectonics of the Arabian plate These models incorporated continental‐scale mantle dynamics and used density distributions derived from a low‐resolution tomography model (e.g., SMEAN, Becker & Boschi, 2002). The final model of mantle flow takes into consideration both the traction forces at the base of the lithosphere induced by global mantle convection and the regional forces caused by local heterogeneity of the lithosphere and upper mantle
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