Structural Geology of Afar Region

Structural Geology of the Afar Region

The movements of the Nubian, Arabian and Somalian plates over the past 30 million years or so have created a series of different tectonic regimes across the Afar region each with their own distinct structural style (e.g. Hayward & Ebinger, 1996; Hofstetter & Beyth, 2003; Beyene & Abdelsalam, 2005). These are:

The Afar Depression

Northern Afar Rift
Dabbahu Magmatic Segment
East-Central Afar Rift
Southern Afar Rift

Ethiopian and Somalian plateaux

Danakil and Ali-Sabieh Blocks

Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

Main Ethiopian Rift (MER)

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