@article{9056,
  author = {Carrie Bottenberg and Mohamed Abdelsalam and Stuart Clark and Allison Thurmond and Jakob Skogseid and Trond Stensby},
  title = {Nested-Scale Kinematic Reconstructions of the Afar Depression Ethiopia Using 4DPlates},
  abstract = {This work uses nested-scale reconstruction of the Afar Depression from the tectonic plate-scale (Arabia, Nubia, Somalia), to the regional-scale (the Danakil block, Ali Sabieh block and the East Central Block), to local-scale (micro-blocks within the East Central Block) using Four-Dimensional Plates (4DPlates) software to introduce the first comprehensive effort to understand the kinematic evolution of the depression since 22 Ma. At the tectonic plate-scale two new Euler poles and angular rotations are introduced for the Arabian plate relative to stationary Nubian plate to depict the two-phase opening of the Red Sea from rift-octagonal (NE motion of Arabia relative to Nubia) between 22-13 Ma to rift-oblique (N motion of Arabia relative to Nubia) between 13-0 Ma. Also, a new Euler pole and angular rotation are introduced to represent the SE motion of the Somali plate since 22 Ma during the opening of the Gulf of Aden and the Main Ethiopian Rift. At the regional scale, two Euler poles and angular rotations are introduced for the Danakil block for it is counter-clockwise rotation from the Nubian plate between 13-6 Ma and 6-0 Ma. Additionally, two Euler poles and angular rotations are proposed to show the clockwise rotation of the Ali Sabieh block relative to the Nubian and Somali plates between 13-8 Ma and 8-0 Ma. Kinematic reconstruction using the new Euler poles and angular rotations allows for coast-to-coast closure of the Red Sea, closure of the Gulf of Aden with small gaps, closure of the Main Ethiopian Rift with overlap comparable to the width of the rift (70 km), restoration of the Danakil block back to become part of the Nubian plate tightly sandwiched between this plate and the Arabian plate, and restoration of the Ali Sabieh block to become the southern extension of the Danakil block hinged to both the Nubian and Somali plate at the present junction of the Afar Depression and the Main Ethiopian Rift. This restoration predicts that the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden ruptured without significant lithospheric attenuation and that both basins (except the southernmost part of the Red Sea where the SE part of the Arabian plate overlaps with the Afar Depression) are underlain by dominantly oceanic crust. The model also reconciles with the notion that the Afar Depression is underlain by highly stretched continental crust whereas the Main Ethiopian Rift is underlain by a continental crust less stretched compared to the Afar Depression. At the local scale, new Euler poles and angular rotations are introduced to kinematically restore micro-blocks within the East Central Block. Restoration of micro-blocks within the East Central Block (which represents the overlap zone between the SE Red Sea and the NW Gulf of Aden propagation, respectively within the Afar Depression) suggests that the Arabia-Nubia plate boundary within the depression is a diffused zone of extensional structures represented by NW-trending grabens bounding the East Central Block micro-blocks.},
  year = {2014},
  journal = {International Geology Review},
  publisher = {International Geology Review},
}