T51F:
Rifting in Africa: How Did It Start and Where Does It End? Posters

Submit an Abstract to this Session



Session ID#: 25919

Session Description:
The East African Rift system (EARS) is one of the largest active continental rifting systems in the world and has provided valuable insights into the anatomy of extensional plate boundaries. Despite the increased scientific interest over the past decade, many aspects of this rift remain enigmatic. In particular, it is unclear where the EARS ends at its southern tip, the stress regime here, and the resulting seismicity, volcanism and surface deformation.

We invite contributions from diverse fields of expertise (geophysics, seismology, geodynamics, geology, geochemistry, geodesy) on the characterization of the EARS. Of particular interest is the Mw 6.5 earthquake in central Botswana of April 3 2017, which provides new insights on the extent of the active rifting zone, along with the overall seismo-tectonic and geodynamic framework of southern Africa. Furthermore, we hope to shed light on the relationship between present-day large earthquakes and the long-lived geological structure of cratonic regions.

Primary Convener:  Stephen Paul Hicks, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO14, United Kingdom
Conveners:  Mark van der Meijde, University of Twente, Earth Systems Analysis, Enschede, Netherlands, Estella A Atekwana, Oklahoma State University Main Campus, Stillwater, OK, United States; Oklahoma State University, Boone Pickens School of Geology, Stillwater, OK, United States and Hanneke Paulssen, Utrecht University, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Utrecht, Netherlands
Chairs:  Estella A Atekwana, Oklahoma State University, Boone Pickens School of Geology, Stillwater, OK, United States; Oklahoma State University Main Campus, Stillwater, OK, United States, Stephen Paul Hicks, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO14, United Kingdom and Mark van der Meijde, University of Twente, Earth Systems Analysis, Enschede, Netherlands
OSPA Liaison:  Mark van der Meijde, University of Twente, Earth Systems Analysis, Enschede, Netherlands
Co-Organized with:
Tectonophysics, Geodesy, and Seismology

Cross-Listed:
  • DI - Study of the Earth's Deep Interior
  • EP - Earth and Planetary Surface Processes
  • V - Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology
Index Terms:

1213 Earth's interior: dynamics [GEODESY AND GRAVITY]
7230 Seismicity and tectonics [SEISMOLOGY]
8105 Continental margins: divergent [TECTONOPHYSICS]
8109 Continental tectonics: extensional [TECTONOPHYSICS]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

New Pleomagnetic Evidence for Counter Clockwise Rotation of the Dofan Magmatic Segment Linked to Variation in Fault Slip Directions Along the Different Fault Systems, Main Ethiopian Rift. (211733)
Tesfaye Kidane Kidane Birke, University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Durban, South Africa and Kahsay Nugsse, Axum University, Axum, Ethiopia
Evidence for Crustal and Sub-Continental Lithospheric Mantle Decoupling beneath the Malawi Rift (273937)
Emmanuel Atem Njinju, Virginia Tech, Department of Geosciences, Blacksburg, VA, United States, Estella A Atekwana, University of California Davis, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Davis, CA, United States, Dr. D. Sarah Stamps, PhD, Virginia Tech, Department of Geosciences, Blacksburg, United States, Mohamed Abdelsalam, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States, Victor Nyalugwe, Geological Survey of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi, Eliot A Atekwana, University of California Davis, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Davis, United States and Kevin Lee Mickus, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, United States
Implementing real-time GNSS monitoring to investigate continental rift initiation processes (276421)
Joshua Robert Robert Jones1, Dr. D. Sarah Stamps, PhD, Christelle Wauthier3,4, Michael D Daniels5, Elifuraha Saria6, Kang Hyeun Ji7, David Mencin8 and Daud Ntambila6, (1)Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United States, (2)Institute for CyberScience, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States, (3)The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Geosciences and Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, University Park, PA, United States, (4)National Center for Atmospheric Research, Earth Observing Laboratory, Boulder, CO, United States, (5)Ardhi University, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, (6)Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Daejeon, South Korea, (7)UNAVCO, Inc., Boulder, CO, United States
Kinematics of the entire East African Rift from GPS velocities (277835)
Robert W King and Michael Floyd, MIT, Cambridge, MA, United States
African Cenozoic hotpot tectonism: new insights from continent-scale body-wave tomography (279755)
Ian D Bastow1, Alistair Boyce2, Edward Caunt3, Juliette Guilloud De Courbeville2, Sneha Desai2, Rita Kounoudis1, Eva Marie Golos4, Scott Burdick5 and Robert D van der Hilst6, (1)Imperial College London, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, London, SW7, United Kingdom, (2)Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom, (3)Imperial College London, London, SW7, United Kingdom, (4)University of Wisconsin-Madison, Geoscience, Madison, United States, (5)Wayne State University, Department of Environmental Science and Geology, Detroit, MI, United States, (6)Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
THERMAL AND CRUSTAL STRUCTURE BENEATH THE NORTHERN SEGMENT OF THE WESTERN BRACH OF THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT SYSTEM: CONSTRAINTS FROM GRAVITY AND MAGNETIC DATA (288153)
Andrew B Katumwehe, Oklahoma State University Main Campus, Stillwater, United States, Estella A Atekwana, University of California Davis, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Davis, CA, United States, Mohamed Abdelsalam, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States, Kevin Lee Mickus, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, United States and Jeannot Francois F. Goussi Ngalamo, University of Yaounde, Department of Earth Sciences,, Yaounde, Cameroon
Receiver function imaging of mantle transition zone discontinuities beneath the Tanzania Craton and the Eastern and Western Branches of the East African Rift System (209450)
Muchen Sun, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Geology and Geophysics Program, Rolla, MO, United States, Kelly Hong Liu, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Engineering, Rolla, MO, United States, Xiaofei Fu, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing, China and Stephen S Gao, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Engineering, Rolla, United States
Implications of Seismically Active Fault Structures in Ankay and Alaotra Regions of Northern and Central Madagascar (246661)
Sean Malloy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Geosciences, Blacksburg, VA, United States and Dr. D. Sarah Stamps, PhD, Virginia Tech, Geosciences, Blacksburg, VA, United States

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