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Dual continental rift systems generated by plume–lithosphere interaction

Nature Geoscience volume 8, pages 388–392 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Although many continental rifts and passive margins are magmatic, some are not1. This observation prompted endmember views of the mechanisms driving continental rifting, where magma-rich or active rifts would be caused by deep mantle plumes2, whereas magma-poor or passive rifts would result from the stretching of the lithosphere under far-field plate forces3. The Central East African Rift provides a unique setting to investigate the mechanisms of continental rifting because it juxtaposes a magma-rich (eastern) branch and magma-poor (western) branch on either side of the 250-km-thick Tanzanian craton4. Here we investigate this contrasted behavior using a high-resolution rheologically consistent three-dimensional thermo-mechanical numerical model. The model reproduces the rise of a mantle plume beneath a craton experiencing tensional far-field stress. In our numerical experiments the plume is deflected by the cratonic keel and preferentially channelled along one of its sides. This leads to the coeval development of magma-rich and magma-poor rifts along opposite craton sides, fed by melt from a single mantle source. Our numerical experiments show strong similarities to the observed evolution of the Central East African Rift, reconcile the passive and active rift models, and demonstrate the possibility of developing both magmatic and amagmatic rifts in identical geotectonic environments.

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Figure 1: Geologic and geophysical context.
Figure 2: Reference numerical experiment.
Figure 3: Preferred numerical experiment.
Figure 4: Distribution of plume material and melt in the preferred model.

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Acknowledgements

This study is co-funded by a US National Science Foundation grant EAR-0538119 to E.C., the Advanced ERC Grant 290864 RHEOLITH to E.B., the INSU-CNRS, a UPMC Invited Professor Grant (T.G.) and an ETH Invited Professor Grant (E.B.). Numerical simulations were performed on the ERC-funded SGI Ulysse cluster of ISTEP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sorbonne Universités, UPMC University Paris VI, 75005 Paris, France

    A. Koptev, E. Burov & S. Leroy

  2. CNRS, UMR 7193, Institut des Sciences de la Terre Paris (iSTeP), 75005 Paris, France

    A. Koptev, E. Burov & S. Leroy

  3. Department of Geosciences, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, 75231 Paris, France

    E. Calais

  4. CNRS, UMR 8538, 75231 Paris, France

    E. Calais

  5. ETH Zurich, Institute of Geophysics, Sonneggstrasse 5 8092 Zurich, Switzerland,

    T. Gerya

Authors
  1. A. Koptev
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  2. E. Calais
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  4. S. Leroy
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Contributions

A.K., E.B. and E.C. designed the study. A.K. conducted 3D experiments. E.B. conducted 3D test experiments and designed the conceptual model. E.C. and S.L. provided geophysical and geologic context. T.G. designed the 3D thermo-mechanical code and conducted test experiments. All authors discussed the results and implications and commented on the manuscript at all stages.

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Correspondence to A. Koptev.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Koptev, A., Calais, E., Burov, E. et al. Dual continental rift systems generated by plume–lithosphere interaction. Nature Geosci 8, 388–392 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2401

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