Imperial College London
Alternate

Dr Ian Bastow

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

Senior Lecturer
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 2974i.bastow Website

 
 
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Location

 

4.45Royal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Bastow:2018:10.1029/2017TC004798,
author = {Bastow, IA and Booth, AD and Corti, G and Kier, D and Magee, C and Jackson, CA-L and Wilkinson, J and Lascialfari, M and Bastow, ID and Booth, A and Corti, G and Keir, D and Magee, C and Jackson, C and Warren, J and Wilkinson, J and Lascialfari, M},
doi = {10.1029/2017TC004798},
journal = {Tectonics},
pages = {2848--2862},
title = {The development of late-stage continental breakup: seismic reflection and borehole evidence from the Danakil Depression, Ethiopia},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2017TC004798},
volume = {37},
year = {2018}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - During continental breakup, the locus of strain shifts from a broad region of border faulting and ductile plate stretching to a narrow zone of magma intrusion in a young ocean basin. Recent studies of volcanic rifts and margins worldwide suggest this shift occurs subaerially, before the onset of seafloor spreading. We test this hypothesis using recentlyacquired seismic reflection and borehole data from the Danakil Depression, Ethiopia, a unique region of transition between continental rifting and seafloor spreading. Our data, located near Dallol, ~30km northwest of the Erta'Ale Volcanic Segment (EAVS), reveal a remarkablythick (>1km) sequence of young (~100ka) evaporites in a basin bound by a major (≤400m throw), eastdipping normal fault. To generate such a large amount of subsidence in such a relatively short time, we propose that uppercrustal extension in Danakil is currently dominated by faulting, not magmatic intrusion. Given the region's markedly thinned crust (~15kmthick), relative to elsewhere in Afar where magmaassisted rifting dominates and maintains crustal thickness at ~25km, mechanical extension in Danakil is likely coupled with ductile extension of the lowercrust and mantle lithosphere. Despite proximity to the voluminous lavas of the active EAVS, evidence for igneous material in the upper ~2km of the 6–10kmwide basin is limited. Latestage stretching was likely aided by thermal/straininduced lithospheric weakening following protracted magmaassisted rifting. Basin formation immediately prior to the onset of seafloor spreading may also explain the accumulation of thick marineseepagefed evaporite sequences akin to those observed, for example, along the South Atlantic rifted margins.
AU  - Bastow,IA
AU  - Booth,AD
AU  - Corti,G
AU  - Kier,D
AU  - Magee,C
AU  - Jackson,CA-L
AU  - Wilkinson,J
AU  - Lascialfari,M
AU  - Bastow,ID
AU  - Booth,A
AU  - Corti,G
AU  - Keir,D
AU  - Magee,C
AU  - Jackson,C
AU  - Warren,J
AU  - Wilkinson,J
AU  - Lascialfari,M
DO  - 10.1029/2017TC004798
EP  - 2862
PY  - 2018///
SN  - 0278-7407
SP  - 2848
TI  - The development of late-stage continental breakup: seismic reflection and borehole evidence from the Danakil Depression, Ethiopia
T2  - Tectonics
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2017TC004798
UR  - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2017TC004798?campaign=wolacceptedarticle
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/62872
VL  - 37
ER  -
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