Geodetic constraints on present‐day motion of the Arabian Plate: Implications for Red Sea and Gulf of Aden rifting

ArRajehi, Abdullah; McClusky, S.; Reilinger, Robert; Daoud, Mohamed Ahmed; Alchalbi, A.; Ergintav, Semih; Gomez, Francisco; Sholan, Jamal; Bou-Rabee, F.; Ogubazghi, Ghebrebrhan; Haileab, Biniam; Fisseha, Shimeles; Asfaw, Laike M.; Mahmoud, Salah; Rayan, Ali; Bendik, Rebecca; Kogan, Lewis

doi:10.1029/2009tc002482

Cited by 197 publications

(182 citation statements)

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“…Similar models suggest ∼ 15 mm/yr of ∼ N35°E directed opening across the western Gulf of Aden rift (e.g., Jestin et al, 1994). Current opening across the kinematically complex southern Red Sea rift is well constrained with a relatively high density of GPS measurements (e.g., ArRajehi et al, 2010;McClusky et al, 2010). These data show that south of ∼ 16°N, the rift bifurcates into two branches: the main Red Sea and the subaerial Red Sea rift in Afar (Danakil depression) (Figs.…”

Section: Current Plate Motionsmentioning

confidence: 73%

The development of extension and magmatism in the Red Sea rift of Afar

et al. 2013

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Despite the importance of continental breakup in plate tectonics, precisely how extensional processes such as brittle faulting, ductile plate stretching, and magma intrusion evolve in space and time during the development of new ocean basins remains poorly understood. The rifting of Arabia from Africa in the Afar depression is an ideal natural laboratory to address this problem since the region exposes subaerially the tectonically active transition from continental rifting to incipient seafloor spreading. We review recent constraints on along-axis variations in rift morphology, crustal and mantle structure, the distribution and style of ongoing faulting, subsurface magmatism and surface volcanism in the Red Sea rift of Afar to understand processes ultimately responsible for the formation of magmatic rifted continental margins. Our synthesis shows that there is a fundamental change in rift morphology from central Afar northward into the Danakil depression, spatially coincident with marked thinning of the crust, an increase in the volume of young basalt flows, and subsidence of the land towards and below sea-level. The variations can be attributed to a northward increase in proportion of extension by ductile plate stretching at the expense of magma intrusion. This is likely in response to a longer history of localised heating and weakening in a narrower rift. Thus, although magma intrusion accommodates strain for a protracted period during rift development, the final stages of breakup are dominated by a phase of plate stretching with a shift from intrusive to extrusive magmatism. This late-stage pulse of decompression melting due to plate thinning may be responsible for the formation of seaward dipping reflector sequences of basalts and sediments, which are ubiquitous at magmatic rifted margins worldwide.

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Section: Current Plate Motionsmentioning

confidence: 73%

The development of extension and magmatism in the Red Sea rift of Afar

et al. 2013

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“…are ∼5 mm yr -1 along the EW direction for the Nubia and Somalia plates, ∼15 mm yr -1 along the NE direction for the Nubia and Arabia plates and for the Somalia and Arabia plates (Jestin et al 1994;Vigny et al 2006;ArRajehi et al 2009;McClusky et al 2010;Déprez et al 2013Déprez et al , 2015.…”

Section: Plio-pleistocene Deformation In Central Afarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current deformation in Central Afar and triple junction kinematics deduced from GPS and InSAR measurements

Doubre¹,

Déprez²,

Masson³

et al. 2016

Geophys. J. Int.

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S U M M A R YKinematics of divergent boundaries and Rift-Rift-Rift junctions are classically studied using long-term geodetic observations. Since significant magma-related displacements are expected, short-term deformation provides important constraints on the crustal mechanisms involved both in active rifting and in transfer of extensional deformation between spreading axes. Using InSAR and GPS data, we analyse the surface deformation in the whole Central Afar region in detail, focusing on both the extensional deformation across the Quaternary magmato-tectonic rift segments, and on the zones of deformation transfer between active segments and spreading axes. The largest deformation occurs across the two recently activated Asal-Ghoubbet (AG) and Manda Hararo-Dabbahu (MH-D) magmato-tectonic segments with very high strain rates, whereas the other Quaternary active segments do not concentrate any large strain, suggesting that these rifts are either sealed during interdyking periods or not mature enough to remain a plate boundary. Outside of these segments, the GPS horizontal velocity field shows a regular gradient following a clockwise rotation of the displacements from the Southeast to the East of Afar, with respect to Nubia. Very few shallow creeping structures can be identified as well in the InSAR data. However, using these data together with the strain rate tensor and the rotations rates deduced from GPS baselines, the present-day strain field over Central Afar is consistent with the main tectonic structures, and therefore with the long-term deformation. We investigate the current kinematics of the triple junction included in our GPS data set by building simple block models. The deformation in Central Afar can be described by adding a central microblock evolving separately from the three surrounding plates. In this model, the northern block boundary corresponds to a deep EW-trending trans-tensional dislocation, locked from the surface to 10-13 km and joining at depth the active spreading axes of the Red Sea and the Aden Ridge, from AG to MH-D rift segments. Over the long-term, this plate configuration could explain the presence of the en-échelon magmatic basins and subrifts. However, the transient behaviour of the spreading axes implies that the deformation in Central Afar evolves depending on the availability of magma supply within the well-established segments.

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“…Geodetic measurements relative to stable Eurasia show a prominent clockwise rotation around the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxes (EHS) characterized by eastward motion of eastern Tibet and western Sichuan, south-eastward motion in northern Yunan and south to south-eastward motion in southern Yunan (Zhang et al 2004;Gan et al 2007;ArRajehi et al 2010) (Figure 1c). Several strike-slip fault zones, which arrange from the convergent domain north of Tibet, such as the Altyn-Tagh Fault, to the extensional domain east and south of it, such as the Red River Fault (RRF), accommodate the majority of this motion (e.g., Molnar & Tapponnier 1975;Tapponnier & Molnar 1976).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%