Solid Earth

September 2005 mega-dike emplacement in the Manda-Harraro nascent oceanic rift (Afar depression)

  1. Atalay Ayele1,8,
  2. Derek Keir2,
  3. Cynthia Ebinger3,
  4. Tim J. Wright2,
  5. Graham W. Stuart2,
  6. W. Roger Buck4,
  7. Eric Jacques5,
  8. Ghebrebrhan Ogubazghi6,
  9. Jamal Sholan7

Article first published online: 20 OCT 2009

DOI: 10.1029/2009GL039605

Issue

Geophysical Research Letters

Geophysical Research Letters

Additional Information

How to Cite

Ayele, A., D. Keir, C. Ebinger, T. J. Wright, G. W. Stuart, W. R. Buck, E. Jacques, G. Ogubazghi, and J. Sholan (2009), September 2005 mega-dike emplacement in the Manda-Harraro nascent oceanic rift (Afar depression), Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L20306, doi:10.1029/2009GL039605.

Author Information

  1. 1

    Institute of Geophysics Space Science and Astronomy, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  2. 2

    School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

  3. 3

    Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA

  4. 4

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Earth Institute at Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA

  5. 5

    Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Paris, France

  6. 6

    Eritrea Institute of Technology, Asmara, Eritrea

  7. 7

    National Yemen Seismological Observatory Center, Dahamar, Yemen

  8. 8

    Also at School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 20 OCT 2009
  2. Article first published online: 20 OCT 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 19 AUG 2009
  4. Manuscript Revised: 11 AUG 2009
  5. Manuscript Received: 15 JUN 2009

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (317K)

Keywords:

  • Manda-Harraro;
  • seismicity;
  • dike

[1] Local and regional seismic data constrain the space-time history of deformation and likely magma sources for the September 2005 diking episode in the Manda-Harraro rift zone of the Afar depression. The results distinguish three centers from which subhorizontal dike propagation progressed: two distinct sources around the Dabbahu-Gab'ho Volcanic Complex (DVC) and the third at the Ado'Ale Volcanic Complex (AVC). The temporal development of seismicity shows that the majority of the dike volume is fed from beneath AVC and migrated laterally with an average rate of 15–30 cm/sec. This dike emplacement at a divergent plate boundary is unusual due to the rapid intrusion of a large volume of magma and the large amount of seismic moment release. We interpret this volcano-tectonic crisis as a complex interaction of multiple magma plumbing sources and lithosphere at a plate boundary under extension. Such repeated episodes will eventually shape the incipient oceanic rift morphology.

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (317K)