TY - JOUR
T1 - Lithospheric strength and strain localization in continental extension from observations of the East African Rift
AU - Kogan, L.
AU - Fisseha, S.
AU - Bendick, R.
AU - Reilinger, R.
AU - McClusky, S.
AU - King, R.
AU - Solomon, T.
PY - 2012/3/1
Y1 - 2012/3/1
N2 - GPS observations along three profiles across the Ethiopian Rift and Afar triple junction record differences in the length scale over which extension is accommodated. In the Afar region, where the mantle lithosphere is nearly or entirely absent, measurable extension occurs over ∼175 km; in the northern Ethiopian Rift, where the mantle lithosphere is anomalously thin and hot, extensional strain occurs over ∼85 km, extending beyond the structural rift valley; in the southern Ethiopian Rift, where the mantle lithosphere approaches standard continental thickness, extensional strain occurs over <10 km. This trend of increasingly distributed deformation contrasts with the standard model where continental rifts become mid-ocean spreading centers through strain localization.
AB - GPS observations along three profiles across the Ethiopian Rift and Afar triple junction record differences in the length scale over which extension is accommodated. In the Afar region, where the mantle lithosphere is nearly or entirely absent, measurable extension occurs over ∼175 km; in the northern Ethiopian Rift, where the mantle lithosphere is anomalously thin and hot, extensional strain occurs over ∼85 km, extending beyond the structural rift valley; in the southern Ethiopian Rift, where the mantle lithosphere approaches standard continental thickness, extensional strain occurs over <10 km. This trend of increasingly distributed deformation contrasts with the standard model where continental rifts become mid-ocean spreading centers through strain localization.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84858020972&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2011JB008516
DO - 10.1029/2011JB008516
M3 - Article
SN - 2169-9313
VL - 117
JO - Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
JF - Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
IS - 3
M1 - B03402
ER -