T51B:
Breaking Up Is Never Easy: Why Do Some Rifts Fail and Others Succeed? Posters

Submit an Abstract to this Session



Session ID#: 22413

Session Description:
The breakup of continents is a fundamental process of plate tectonics. However, we have not yet identified the crucial ingredients that permit complete rupture of strong continental lithosphere. Studies of continental breakup are biased towards success stories - rifts that evolve to oceanic spreading. Some extension episodes cease before this point, presumably in the absence of some fundamental process, initial condition(s), or forcing. Investigations of “failed rifts” may help isolate key processes or conditions that enable continental breakup, particularly when compared to successful examples. Outstanding questions include: Does rift success/failure depend on intrinsic or far-field properties? How do pre-existing structure, magma, and volatiles influence rift initiation, continuation, and extinction? Are failed rifts actually “paused rifts” that can later be reactivated? Do analogous mechanical controls apply to extinct seafloor spreading centers? We solicit contributions from diverse geoscience perspectives, including geodesy, geodynamics, geochemistry/petrology, volcanology, structural geology and seismology.
Primary Convener:  Zachary Eilon, University of California Santa Barbara, Earth Science, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
Conveners:  Natalie J Accardo, Columbia University of New York, Palisades, NY, United States, James D Muirhead, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Syracuse University, Earth Sciences, Syracuse, NY, United States and Dr. D. Sarah Stamps, PhD
Chairs:  Dr. D. Sarah Stamps, PhD and James D Muirhead, Syracuse University, Earth Sciences, Syracuse, NY, United States
OSPA Liaison:  Natalie J Accardo, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Geosciences, University Park, PA, United States
Co-Organized with:
Tectonophysics, Geodesy, and Seismology

Cross-Listed:
  • DI - Study of the Earth's Deep Interior
  • G - Geodesy
  • S - Seismology
  • V - Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology
Index Terms:

1209 Tectonic deformation [GEODESY AND GRAVITY]
7230 Seismicity and tectonics [SEISMOLOGY]
8109 Continental tectonics: extensional [TECTONOPHYSICS]
8178 Tectonics and magmatism [TECTONOPHYSICS]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Cratonic roots and lower crustal seismicity: Investigating the role of deep intrusion in the Western rift, Africa (298541)
Cynthia J Ebinger, Tulane University, School of Science & Engineering, New Orleans, United States, Connor Drooff, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States, Aude Lavayssiere, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, Derek Keir, Instituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Florence, Italy, Sarah Jaye C Oliva, Tulane University of Louisiana, New Orleans, United States, Gabrielle Tepp, Alaska Volcano Observatory Anchorage, Anchorage, United States and Ryan James Gallacher, International Seismological Centre, Thatcham, United Kingdom
Fault-Magma Interactions during Early Continental Rifting: Seismicity of the Magadi-Natron-Manyara basins, Africa (240021)
Alexander Weinstein1, Sarah J Oliva1, Cynthia J Ebinger2, Michael Aman3, Catherine Lambert1, Steven W Roecker4, Christel Tiberi5 and James D Muirhead6, (1)University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States, (2)Tulane University, School of Science & Engineering, New Orleans, United States, (3)University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States, (4)Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Troy, United States, (5)Universite Montpellier 2, Montpellier, France, (6)University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Boron Isotopic Composition of Metasomatized Mantle Xenoliths from the Western Rift, East Africa (297075)
Thomas Hudgins, University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, Department of Geology, Mayaguez, United States and Wendy R Nelson, Towson University, Department of Physics, Astronomy & Geosciences, Towson, MD, United States
Present-day Opening of the Natron Rift: Tectonic and Magmatic Processes at Work (295720)
Manon Dalaison, Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris, Paris, France, Elifuraha Saria, Ardhi University, Department of Geospatial Sciences and Technology, Dar es Salam, Tanzania, Eric Calais, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université PSL, Paris, France, Cécile Doubre, Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg, UMR 7516, Université de Strasbourg/EOST, CNRS, Strasbourg, France and Frederic Masson, Institut de Physique du Globe Strasbourg, CNRS-UMR 7516, Strasbourg Cedex, France
Upper mantle structure beneath the northern part of the East African Plateau using data from the NE Uganda temporary seismic network (282574)
Cate A Bressers, Pennsylvania State University Main Campus, Department of Geosciences, University Park, PA, United States, Andrew Nyblade, Pennsylvania State University Main Campus, University Park, PA, United States and Fred Tugume, Geological Survey Department, Entebbe, Uganda
Multimillion-Year Evolution of a Sublacustrine Fan System: Source-to-Sink History of the South Rukuru and Ruhuhu River Drainages, Lake Malawi (Nyasa) Rift, East Africa (275955)
Christopher A Scholz, Syracuse University, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Syracuse, NY, United States, Donna J Shillington, Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States and Tannis McCartney, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, United States
Arabian Plate Deformation: The role of inherited structures in the localization of strain in the Red Sea extensional system  (232302)
Thamer Aldaajani, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Geosciences, University Park, PA, United States, Kevin P Furlong, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Geosciences, University Park, United States and Rocco Malservisi, University of South Florida, School of Geosciences, Tampa, FL, United States
Inhomogeneous Crustal Structure of the Rifting in the Okinawa Trough, a Backarc Basin West of Kyushu, Japan, Deduced from Seismic Reflection and Refraction Data (264211)
Azusa Nishizawa, Kentaro Kaneda, Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Daishi Horiuchi, Yukari Fujioka and Chiaki Okada, Japan Coast Guard, Hydrogr. & Oceanogr. Dept., Tokyo, Japan
When Rifts Meet Cratons (257733)
Wang-Ping Chen, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, China and Jieyuan Ning, Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
Seismic imaging of Late Cretaceous magmatic system in the northern margin of South China Sea (234221)
Shaohong Xia, Huilong Xu, Jinlong Sun, Fang Zhao and Chaoyan Fan, SCSIO South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
Central Atlantic Break-up: A competition between CAMP Hotspot and thinning rate. (271233)
Francois Sapin, Total SA, Courbevoie, France and Thomas Maurin, TOTAL - Centre Scientifique et Technique Jean Feger, Pau, France
How does continental lithosphere break-apart? A 3D seismic view on the transition from magma-poor rifted margin to magmatic oceanic lithosphere (228496)
Masini Emmanuel, Total SA, Exploration Production, SCR/R&D, Pau, France, Marc Lescanne, Total SA, Exploration Production SCR/R&D, Pau, France, Suzanne Picazo, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland and Simon Tomasi, Institut de Physique du Globe Strasbourg, Strasbourg Cedex, France
Constraints on Mantle Dynamics during Jurassic Rifting in the ENAM Area from Seismic and Petrological Modeling of the Oldest Oceanic Crust (275074)
Brandon Shuck, University of Texas at Austin, Institute for Geophysics & Department of Geological Sciences, Austin, TX, United States and Harm J Van Avendonk, Univ of Tx-Austin-Geosciences, Austin, TX, United States
Re-appraisal of the Magma-rich versus Magma-poor Paradigm at Rifted Margins: consequences for breakup processes (230995)
Julie Tugend1, Morgane Gillard1, Gianreto Manatschal1, Michael Nirrengarten1, Caroline Jayne Harkin2, Marie-Eva Epin1, Daniel Sauter1, Julia Autin1, Nicholas J Kusznir2 and Ken McDermott3, (1)Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg; UMR7516, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Strasbourg, France, (2)University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69, United Kingdom, (3)ION Geophysical, Egham, United Kingdom
The Volcanic Myths of the Red Sea – Temporal Relationship Between Magmatism and Rifting (291196)
Daniel F Stockli, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Austin, United States and William Bosworth, Apache Corporation, Houston, TX, United States
The Transition from Volcanic to Rift Dominated Crustal Breakup – From the Vøring Plateau to the Lofoten Margin, Norway (209832)
Asbjorn J Breivik, University of Oslo, Center for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), Oslo, Norway, Jan Inge Faleide, Center for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), Oslo, Norway, Rolf Mjelde, Univ Bergen, Bergen, Norway, Ernst Flueh, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany and Yoshio Murai, Hokkaido University, Institute of Seismology and Volcanology, Faculty of Science, Sapporo, Japan
CO2 Degassing Estimates from Rift Length Analysis since Pangea Fragmentation: A Key Component of the Deep Carbon Cycle? (224345)
Carolina Pagli, University of Potsdam, Institute of Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany; Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Potsdam, Germany, Simon Williams, University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Hobart, Australia and Dietmar Müller, The University of Sydney, EarthByte Group, School of Geosciences, Sydney, NSW, Australia
A New Paradigm for New Oceans (241865)
Gillian R Foulger1, Anthony G Doré2, Dieter Franke3, Laurent Geoffroy4,5, Laurent Gernigon6, Malcolm Hole7, Armann Hoskuldsson8, Bruce R Julian1, Nick Kusznir9, Fernando Martinez10, James H Natland11, Alexander Peace12, Kenni Dinesen Petersen13, Christian Schiffer14, Randell Stephenson15 and Martyn S. Stoker16, (1)Durham University, Department of Earth Sciences, Durham, United Kingdom, (2)Energy & Geoscience Institute, Salt Lake City, United States, (3)BGR Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Hannover, Germany, (4)IUEM Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Plouzané, France, (5)Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France, (6)Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim, Norway, (7)University of Aberdeen, School of Geosciences, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, (8)University of Iceland, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland, (9)University of Liverpool, Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, Liverpool, United Kingdom, (10)Univ of Hawaii-SOEST/HIGP, Honolulu, HI, United States, (11)Caltech-Seismological Lab, Pasadena, CA, United States, (12)Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. Johns, NF, Canada, (13)Aarhus University, Department of Geoscience, Aarhus, Denmark, (14)Uppsala University, Aarhus C, Denmark, (15)University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, (16)Australian School of Petroleum, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Paleocene Picrites of Davis Strait: Products of a Plume or Plates? (273896)
Erin K Beutel, College of Charleston, Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Charleston, SC, United States and D. Barrie Clarke, Dalhousie University, Department of Earth Sciences, Halifax, NS, Canada

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