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  • Review Article
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Geodynamics of continental rift initiation and evolution

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 4, pages 235–253 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

A continental rift is a nascent plate boundary where the lithosphere is thinned by tectonic activity. Some continental rifts undergo extension to the point that they generate a new ocean basin, whereas others can cease activity altogether. However, the mechanisms that determine rift success or failure remain debated. In this Review, we discuss fundamental rift processes, geodynamic forces and their tectonic interactions and identify the mechanisms that lead to the large variety of rifts on Earth. Rifting initiates through multiscale exploitation of inherited weaknesses, generating dynamic spatiotemporal competition, cessation or localization of rift structures. Progressive thinning of the lithosphere prompts continuous changes in the rift system force balance and prevents a steady-state configuration. Successful continent-scale rifts feature an abrupt and roughly tenfold increase in divergence velocity once the lithosphere is sufficiently weakened. Melt generation during mantle plume impingement can weaken the lithosphere by an order of magnitude, aiding the development of successful rifts. However, at failed rifts, the evolving force balance is dominated by lithospheric strengthening, so that tectonic activity ceases before continental rupture is complete. Outstanding future challenges include unravelling where magmatism is a cause or a consequence of rifting, isolating the tipping points that separate successful from failed rifting and deciphering the interaction of rift tectonics with fluid flow during georesource formation and volatile release.

Key points

  • Continental rifting is an intrinsically transient process that thins the lithosphere through distinct successive phases from inception to breakup. The structural evolution is controlled by the competition between geodynamic drivers, resisting factors and weakening processes.

  • Rifting proceeds where lithospheric strength is lowest. Strength minima on a local scale are not necessarily strength minima on a plate scale. Rift deformation can hence jump or switch between weaknesses on multiple scales, subsequently generating competing structures, migration and cessation of tectonic activity.

  • Failed rifts should be considered dormant rather than dead as rift-induced weaknesses can get reactivated even after hundreds of millions of years if the local force balance changes.

  • Lithospheric thinning and magmatism are intimately coupled. If dikes cut through the lithosphere, they efficiently heat and weaken the rift, potentially reducing its resistance by an order of magnitude.

  • Mantle plumes simultaneously enhance the forces driving rifting and reduce lithospheric strength by causing magmatic intrusions. Rifts that experience plume impingement appear to always proceed to sea-floor spreading. However, although mantle plumes can aid continental rifting, they are not a requirement, as some rifts proceeded without flood basalt eruptions.

  • Rift-related elevated heat flow and permeable normal fault networks facilitate geothermal energy generation and the formation of ore deposits. However, rifts also pose considerable hazards ranging from natural earthquake activity and volcanism to large-scale carbon dioxide degassing.

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Fig. 1: Driving forces, resisting factors and weakening processes that accompany rifting.
Fig. 2: Juvenile continental rift structures at the Malawi Rift.
Fig. 3: Lithospheric strength and response to deformation.
Fig. 4: Plume impact on rifting.
Fig. 5: Multiscale rift competition in branched rifts.
Fig. 6: Estimates of driving forces, weakening processes and strengthening mechanisms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Helmholtz Centre Potsdam — GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany

    Sascha Brune & Susanne J. H. Buiter

  2. Institute of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam-Golm, Germany

    Sascha Brune

  3. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA

    Folarin Kolawole & W. Roger Buck

  4. Laboratoire de Géologie, CNRS–Ecole normale supérieure–Paris Sciences & Lettres University, Paris, France

    Jean-Arthur Olive

  5. Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    D. Sarah Stamps

  6. Tectonics and Geodynamics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Susanne J. H. Buiter

  7. Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Tanya Furman

  8. School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    Donna J. Shillington

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Glossary

Basal shear stresses

A stress that is imposed by viscous mantle flow at the base of the lithosphere.

Core complexes

Structures where metamorphosed lower crustal rocks are exhumed to the surface along long-offset normal faults.

Differential stresses

The difference between the maximum and minimum principal stresses.

Distal margins

The near-ocean domain of rifted margins that is characterized by thin continental crust, titled blocks, regions of exhumed mantle or seaward dipping reflectors.

Deviatoric stress

The part of the stress tensor that is related to distortion.

Driving forces

Plate tectonic driving forces result from gravity acting on lateral variations in density.

Dynamic topography

The component of surface topography of Earth that is generated by mantle flow.

Exploitation

A process by which extensional brittle rift structures (faults and joints) develop along pre-existing strength anisotropies inherited from an older compressional tectonic event

Gravitational potential energy

(GPE). The energy of an object owing to its position in a gravitational field. GPE gradients constitute a force that emerges owing to lateral topography and density variations.

Large igneous provinces

(LIPs). Large regions of the crust of the Earth formed by massive volumes of igneous rocks. LIPs are caused by magma generation linked to mantle plumes.

Line force

A force that acts along a line perpendicular to a plate boundary (unit: N m−1) and that can be directly compared with estimates of lithospheric strength.

Lithospheric strength

The vertical integral of the maximum differential stress (the yield stress) between the surface of the Earth and the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary. Unit: N m−1.

Mantle plume

An upwelling in the mantle characterized by high temperature and low density, which is classically depicted with a columnar tail and a mushroom-shaped head.

Mantle tractions

The force per area exerted by mantle flow along the base of a plate. A vector variable with units of stress (MPa).

Metasomatism

The chemical alteration of a rock by hydrothermal and other fluids.

Necking

Localized thinning of the lithosphere that is often accompanied by a pronounced reduction in rift strength.

Proximal margins

The near-coastal domains of rifted margins that record the early phases of extension, often characterized by sedimentary basins and steep normal faults.

Resisting factors

Factors that oppose tectonic deformation. Resistance can be exerted statically or through dynamic processes.

Rifted continental margins

The edge of a continent that was formed by continental extension (as opposed to continental margins shaped by subduction or transform faulting).

Serpentinization

Serpentinization is a chemical alteration process of ultramafic rocks where olivine, pyroxene and water react to serpentine minerals.

Terranes

A crustal fragment that has been broken off its original plate. If accreted to another plate, terranes feature distinctly different properties than adjacent crust owing to their different geological histories

Weakening processes

Processes that reduce the strength of the lithosphere, for instance, owing to temperature increase, mechanical damage or increased fluid pressure.

Wilson cycles

Represent the concept that the same plate boundaries are involved repeatedly during plate tectonic history, which implies that inherited plate weaknesses persist over geological times.

Yield

The maximum differential stress that a material can sustain before it deforms by brittle fracture or ductile flow.

Yield strength envelopes

A diagram of the maximum differential stress that the lithosphere can withstand as a function of depth.

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Brune, S., Kolawole, F., Olive, JA. et al. Geodynamics of continental rift initiation and evolution. Nat Rev Earth Environ 4, 235–253 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00391-3

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