Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

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Earth-Science Reviews
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / e a r s c i r ev

Continental rift evolution: From rift initiation to incipient break-up in the Main
Ethiopian Rift, East Africa
Giacomo Corti
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse, via G. La Pira, 4, 50121, Firenze, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Main Ethiopian Rift is a key sector of the East African Rift System that connects the Afar depression, at
Received 15 January 2009 Red Sea–Gulf of Aden junction, with the Turkana depression and Kenya Rift to the South. It is a magmatic rift
Accepted 23 June 2009 that records all the different stages of rift evolution from rift initiation to break-up and incipient oceanic
Available online 3 July 2009
spreading: it is thus an ideal place to analyse the evolution of continental extension, the rupture of
lithospheric plates and the dynamics by which distributed continental deformation is progressively focused
Keywords:
continental rifting
at oceanic spreading centres.
rift evolution The first tectono-magmatic event related to the Tertiary rifting was the eruption of voluminous flood basalts
continental break-up that apparently occurred in a rather short time interval at around 30 Ma; strong plateau uplift, which
magmatism resulted in the development of the Ethiopian and Somalian plateaus now surrounding the rift valley, has
deformation been suggested to have initiated contemporaneously or shortly after the extensive flood-basalt volcanism,
East African Rift although its exact timing remains controversial. Voluminous volcanism and uplift started prior to the main
Main Ethiopian Rift rifting phases, suggesting a mantle plume influence on the Tertiary deformation in East Africa. Different
Nubia–Somalia kinematics
plume hypothesis have been suggested, with recent models indicating the existence of deep superplume
originating at the core-mantle boundary beneath southern Africa, rising in a north–northeastward direction
toward eastern Africa, and feeding multiple plume stems in the upper mantle. However, the existence of this
whole-mantle feature and its possible connection with Tertiary rifting are highly debated.
The main rifting phases started diachronously along the MER in the Mio-Pliocene; rift propagation was not a
smooth process but rather a process with punctuated episodes of extension and relative quiescence. Rift
location was most probably controlled by the reactivation of a lithospheric-scale pre-Cambrian weakness; the
orientation of this weakness (roughly NE–SW) and the Late Pliocene (post 3.2 Ma)-recent extensional stress
field generated by relative motion between Nubia and Somalia plates (roughly ESE–WNW) suggest that
oblique rifting conditions have controlled rift evolution. However, it is still unclear if these kinematical
boundary conditions have remained steady since the initial stages of rifting or the kinematics has changed
during the Late Pliocene or at the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary.
Analysis of geological–geophysical data suggests that continental rifting in the MER evolved in two different
phases. An early (Mio-Pliocene) continental rifting stage was characterised by displacement along large
boundary faults, subsidence of rift depression with local development of deep (up to 5 km) asymmetric
basins and diffuse magmatic activity. In this initial phase, magmatism encompassed the whole rift, with
volcanic activity affecting the rift depression, the major boundary faults and limited portions of the rift
shoulders (off-axis volcanism). Progressive extension led to the second (Pleistocene) rifting stage,
characterised by a riftward narrowing of the volcano-tectonic activity. In this phase, the main boundary
faults were deactivated and extensional deformation was accommodated by dense swarms of faults (Wonji
segments) in the thinned rift depression. The progressive thinning of the continental lithosphere under
constant, prolonged oblique rifting conditions controlled this migration of deformation, possibly in tandem
with the weakening related to magmatic processes and/or a change in rift kinematics. Owing to the oblique
rifting conditions, the fault swarms obliquely cut the rift floor and were characterised by a typical right-
stepping arrangement. Ascending magmas were focused by the Wonji segments, with eruption of magmas at
surface preferentially occurring along the oblique faults. As soon as the volcano-tectonic activity was
localised within Wonji segments, a strong feedback between deformation and magmatism developed: the
thinned lithosphere was strongly modified by the extensive magma intrusion and extension was facilitated
and accommodated by a combination of magmatic intrusion, dyking and faulting. In these conditions,
focused melt intrusion allows the rupture of the thick continental lithosphere and the magmatic segments
act as incipient slow-spreading mid-ocean spreading centres sandwiched by continental lithosphere.

E-mail address: giacomo.corti@unifi.it.

0012-8252/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2009.06.005
2 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Overall the above-described evolution of the MER (at least in its northernmost sector) documents a
transition from fault-dominated rift morphology in the early stages of extension toward magma-assisted
rifting during the final stages of continental break-up. A strong increase in coupling between deformation
and magmatism with extension is documented, with magma intrusion and dyking playing a larger role than
faulting in strain accommodation as rifting progresses to seafloor spreading.
© 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Physiography and different rift segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Brief summary of the pre-Tertiary geology of Ethiopia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4. Flood-basalt volcanism and plateau uplift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.1. Flood-basalt volcanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.2. Plateau uplift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.3. Dynamics of plateau uplift and flood volcanism: Plume hypothesis for the East African Rift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5. Tertiary rifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.1. Plate kinematics setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.1.1. Present-day kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.1.2. Geological estimates of Nubia–Somalia kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.1.3. Estimates of Nubia–Somalia separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2. Fault pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2.1. Boundary fault system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2.2. Wonji Fault Belt faulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.2.3. Transverse structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.2.4. Deformation outside the rift valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.3. Summary of the evolution of volcanic activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.3.1. Northern MER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.3.2. Central MER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.3.3. Southern MER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5.3.4. Spatio-temporal distribution of volcanic activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5.4. Geophysical data constraining the crustal and mantle structure in the MER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.4.1. Crustal structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.4.2. Upper mantle structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.5. Seismicity and distribution of current deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6. The evolution of the Main Ethiopian Rift: Continental rifting from initiation to incipient break-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.1. Rift initiation: Localisation and propagation of extensional structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.1.1. Rift localisation and propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.1.2. The Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Ethiopian rifts triple junction history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
6.1.3. Activation of boundary fault systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6.2. Rift maturity: Abandonment of boundary faults and development of Wonji segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6.3. Wonji magmatic segments and continental break-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
7. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

1. Introduction Building on previous synthetic works (e.g., Hayward and Ebinger,

The Main Ethiopian Rift is a key sector of the East African Rift
System that connects the Afar depression, at the Red Sea–Gulf of Aden
junction, with the Turkana depression and Kenya Rift to the south
(e.g., Mohr, 1983; Rosendahl, 1987; Braile et al., 1995; Boccaletti and
Peccerillo, 1999; Chorowicz, 2005). It is a magmatic rift that records all
the different stages of rift evolution from rift initiation to break-up and
embryonic oceanic spreading (e.g., Ebinger, 2005), marking the
incipient boundary between Nubia and Somalia plates. The Main
Ethiopian Rift it is thus an ideal place to analyse the evolution of
continental extension, the rupture of lithospheric plates and the
dynamics by which distributed continental deformation is progres-
sively focused at oceanic spreading centres. Thanks to these ideal
conditions, the Main Ethiopian Rift has focused the attention of many
research teams and a large dataset of new geological and geophysical
data has been acquired in recent years, greatly improving our
knowledge of the structure of the rift, its evolution and the
interactions between magmatism and deformation and how they
evolve from early rifting to incipient break-up.
1996; Ebinger, 2005), in this paper I will review these new geological
and geophysical findings and integrate them with old data, to provide
a comprehensive analysis of the evolution continental rifting in the
Main Ethiopian Rift, from early stages to break-up and incipient
spreading.
After introducing the rift system and its physiography (Section 2), I
will briefly summarise the main aspects of the pre-Tertiary geological
history of Ethiopia that have relevance for the evolution of rifting
(Section 3), and describe the flood-basalt volcanism and plateau uplift
(Section 4). Note that since it has been shown that the flood-basalt
event that affected Ethiopia at around 30 Ma is (temporally) unrelated
to the Mio-Pliocene rifting (e.g., Wolfenden et al., 2004; Bonini et al.,
2005), this magmatic pulse will be treated before the description of
the rifting phases. The Tertiary extensional rifting will be indeed
described in detail in Section 5. In this section, I will firstly review the
plate kinematics setting of the rifting process (Section 5.1), then will
discuss in detail the fault pattern in the different rift segments
(Section 5.2), summarise the main volcanic events accompanying
extension (Section 5.3), present an overview of the geophysical data
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
constraining the crust, lithospheric and mantle structure (Section 5.4)
and illustrate the characteristics of seismic activity and the distribu-
tion of the current extensional deformation (Section 5.5).
Finally, in Section 6, all the above data will be used to illustrate the
history of extension in the MER, which provides a more general model
for the evolution of continental rifts, from early stages to incipient
break-up. Discussion will be focused on the influence of the
modification of the lithospheric properties induced by magmatic
processes on weakening and subsequent break-up of the lithosphere.
It is out of the scope of this paper to summarise the geology of the
other sectors of the East African Rift and the Red Sea–Gulf of Aden
systems and only some general aspects that are of interest for the
evolution and structure of the MER (e.g., lithosphere–asthenosphere
structure and general characteristics of the magmatism of the Afar
depression) will be briefly introduced in the following sections.
Further insight into these rift systems can be found in recent review
papers (e.g., Chorowicz, 2005; Bosworth et al., 2005; Beyene and
Abdelsalam, 2005).
2. Physiography and different rift segments
The Ethiopian Rift extends for about 1000 km in a NE–SW to N–S
direction from the Afar depression, at the Red Sea–Gulf of Aden
junction, southwards to the Turkana depression (Figs. 1–3). The
southern boundary may be traced at latitude ~ 5°N, south of the area
where the rift is divided into two branches (Chamo basin to the west
and Galana basin to the east) by the Amaro Mts; southwards, the rift
zone widens and deformation becomes more complex being accom-
Fig. 1. Digital elevation model (from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission – SRTM – data) showing the topographic expression of the East African Rift System. Inset shows a schematic
plate kinematic setting of the area. BRZ: Broadly Rifted Zone; EAP: East African Plateau; ER: Ethiopian Rift; ESP: Ethiopian–Somalian plateaus; KR: Kenya Rift; MR: Malawi Rift; SAP:
Southern African Plateau; TR: Tanganyika Rift.
3
modated by the ~300 km-wide system of basins and ranges (referred
to as Broadly Rifted Zone; Baker et al., 1972; Moore and Davidson,
1978; Davidson and Rex, 1980; Ebinger et al., 2000) that characterises
the overlapping area between the Ethiopian and Kenya Rifts. To the
north, the present-day Red Sea–Gulf of Aden–Ethiopian rift triple
junction lies in a complex zone at ~11.5° N within the central Afar
depression, where a left-lateral, oblique-slip, Quaternary fault zone
(the Tendaho-Goba'ad Discontinuity) separates the roughly E–W
extension in the south (Ethiopian Rift) from the NE–SW extension in
the north (e.g., Wolfenden et al., 2004 and references therein).
The Ethiopian Rift can be divided into two main physiographic
segments, namely southern Afar and the Main Ethiopian Rift
(Figs. 2, 3); the rift morphology is typically developed in this latter
segment, where a ~80 km-wide rift valley (Ethiopian Rift valley sensu
stricto of Mohr, 1983) separates the uplifted western (Ethiopian) and
eastern (Somalian) plateaus (Fig. 2b). Mohr (1962) pointed out that
the boundary between the MER and southern Afar does not
correspond to any physiographic feature, as the rift valley gradually
funnels outwards into the wide Afar depression north of Addis
Ababa. A limit can be placed in correspondence to an arcuate pattern
of faults at latitude ~ 10° N (Tesfaye et al., 2003), which Wolfenden et
al. (2004) interpreted as the southern termination of the Oligocene
Red Sea rift.
In turn the MER, which is the focus of this paper, can be subdivided
into three segments that have been interpreted to reflect different
stages of the continental extension process, being characterised by
different fault architecture, timing of volcanism and deformation,
crustal and lithospheric structure (Figs. 2, 3; see below; e.g., Hayward
4 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Fig. 2. a) Digital elevation model (SRTM data) of the Ethiopian Rift showing the main rift segments: (from north to south) Southern Afar (Safar), Northern Main Ethiopian Rift
(NMER), Central Main Ethiopian Rift (CMER) and Southern Main Ethiopian Rift (SMER). BRZ: Broadly Rifted Zone; CB: Chow Bahir Rift; GB: Gofa Basin and Range. b) Topographic
profile across the rift valley. Note the rift depression separating the uplifted Ethiopian and Somalian Plateaus. c) Topographic profile along the rift valley. Note the decrease in
elevation of the rift bottom from the lakes region in the CMER both southwards and northwards. See text for details.

and Ebinger, 1996). The Northern MER extends from the MER–Afar
boundary southwards to the Lake Koka area, where it is separated
from the Central MER by the Boru Toru Structural High (Bonini et al.,
2005). To the south, the boundary between Central and Southern MER
can be placed at ~7° N latitude, in the Lake Awasa area, where the rift
margins rotate from ~ NE–SW to ~ N–S, in correspondence to the
Goba–Bonga transverse lineament (Bonini et al., 2005).
As stated above, the rift valley in the MER separates the Ethiopian
and Somalian plateaus, made of uplifted basement rocks, and
overlying sedimentary sequences and Eocene–Recent flood basalts
(Fig. 2). The plateaus rise to elevations N2000 m above sea level; north
of latitude 9° the highest elevations are attained by the Ethiopian
Plateau, whereas south of this latitude the Somalian plateau reaches
the highest elevations (Fig. 2). The rift floor raises in elevation from
the Turkana depression up to the main watershed between the Meki
and Awash rivers immediately north of Lake Ziway, where the rift
valley attains its maximum elevation at ~1700 m asl. Northwards the
rift floor descends regularly into the Afar depression where, over
extensive areas, it lies below sea level. Local increases in the elevation
of the rift valley are generally due to volcanic edifices, as in the
Northern MER where several volcanoes raise from the flat rift floor
(Fig. 2c).
3. Brief summary of the pre-Tertiary geology of Ethiopia
The pre-rift rocks of Ethiopia are composed by an extremely folded
and foliated basement of pre-Cambrian rocks, overlain by sub-
horizontal Mesozoic marine sediments. The basement rocks, exposed
in the extreme south of the MER, in northern Afar and in a small
outcrop at the base of the western rift escarpment of the Central MER
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 5

Fig. 3. Three-dimensional representation of the rift topography in the different MER segments (SRTM data). Abbreviations in a): Ank: Ankober escarpment; Ar: Arboye escarpment;
B: Boseti volcano; D: Dofen volcano; F: Fantale volcano; G: Gedemsa caldera; Gu: Guraghe escarpment; K: Kone caldera; Si: Sire escarpment; Zi: Ziquala volcano. Abbreviations in b):
A: Lake Abiyata; Ab: Lake Abaya; AH: Amaro Horst; As: Asela escarpment; AS: Agere-Selam escarpment; Aw: Awasa; C: Chilalo volcano; Ch: Lake Chamo; Che: Chencha escarpment;
Ga–Gi: Gamo–Gidole horst; Fo: Fonko escarpment; L: Lake Langano; S: Lake Shala; Z: Lake Ziway. Other abbreviations as in Fig. 2.

(Kella Horst), are part of the Arabian–Nubian Shield and record
folding, compression and metamorphism during different deforma-
tion episodes in the pre-Cambrian. The Arabian–Nubian Shield is the
northern part of the East African Orogen, which formed by collision
between east and west Gondwana at the end of a Wilson Cycle that
encompassed most of the Neoproterozoic and defined the Pan-African
Orogeny (Stern, 1994; Fig. 4). Collision is marked by north- to east-
trending sutures, characterised by ophiolites complex, and post-
accretionary structures including north-trending shortening zones
and major northwest-trending sinistral and minor northeast-trending
dextral strike-slip faults (Abdelsalam and Stern, 1996). The ophiolites
are mainly aligned N–S to NE–SW, although the trends of the sutures
are still debated (e.g., Vail, 1983; Kroner, 1985; Berhe, 1990; Church,
1991; Abdelsalam and Stern, 1996). In the site of the future MER,
differences in crustal and mantle properties between the eastern and
western plateaus (see Section 5.4) may provide evidence for the
location of a pre-Cambrian suture that has been interpreted to run
through this region by mapping of ophiolitic fragments (Vail, 1985;
Berhe, 1990; Stern et al., 1990), Nd isotopic data (Stern, 2002), and
SKS-splitting patterns (Gashawbeza et al., 2004).
The Pan-African deformation was followed by a long period of
peneplanation in the Paleozoic, with the pre-Cambrian orogenic
6 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
Fig. 4. Cratons/shields and orogens forming East (yellow) and West (blue) Gondwana (modified from Meert and Lieberman, 2008). The heavy dashed box indicates the future area of
the East African Rift. MB: Mozambique Belt, RP: Rio de la Plata Craton, TC: Tanzanian Craton. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred
to the web version of this article.)
mountain ranges almost completely worn down by denudation during
this period (e.g., Mohr, 1962).
Extensional deformation associated to Karoo-type rifts developed
from Early Permian times in Eastern Africa and a narrow, NE–SW-
trending shallow-sea arm invaded the depressed corridor developing
between the Horn of Africa and the Madagascan–Indian promontory
of Eastern Gondwana. This episode was followed by development of
several NW–SE striking structural basins that served as active
depositional basins during the Mesozoic (see Guiraud et al., 2005
for review). In the Jurassic–Cretaceous continental rifting was very
active within the African plate, giving rise to the Central African Rift
System. Close to the area of the future MER, several NW–SE narrow
troughs developed, as documented by the Blue Nile, Malut and
Muglad rifts in Sudan and by the Anza graben in Southern Ethiopia
and Northern Kenya (Fig. 5). The events were followed by local
inversions and rift rejuvenation along these NW–SE striking basins up
to the Paleogene.
This long pre-Tertiary history of tectonism created pre-existing
heterogeneities with variable orientation that have represented a
Fig. 5. NW–SE-trending Mesozoic basins developed in Ethiopia and surrounding areas
(after Gani et al., 2009).
mould for the development of the East African Rift in Ethiopia. In
particular, ancient NE–SW to NNE–SSW tectonic trends largely
controlled the location and directions of the Tertiary rift-faulting
(e.g., Mohr, 1962; Kazmin et al., 1980). Recent geophysical analysis
(Keranen and Klemperer, 2008; Bastow et al., 2008; Keranen et al.,
2009) support that the pre-rift lithospheric structure controlled the
initial rift evolution, with lithospheric-scale pre-existing weaknesses
controlling rift location and propagation in a roughly NE–SW direction
(see also below Sections 5.4.1 and 6.1.1).
At a more local scale, the Tertiary extensional reactivation of pre-
existing basement structures may have controlled local fault geome-
try, interaction and propagation, as in many places the foliation of the
pre-Cambrian rocks and the Tertiary extensional faulting are generally
parallel (e.g., Mohr, 1962; see Section 5.2).
4. Flood-basalt volcanism and plateau uplift
4.1. Flood-basalt volcanism
Volcanism in Ethiopia started during the Eocene–Late Oligocene
with the eruption of the Ethiopia–Yemen flood-basalt province (Trap
series), located at the Red Sea–Gulf of Aden–East African rift triple
junction (Fig. 6). Prolific eruption of basalt and intercalated silicic
volcanics built a subaerial volcanic pile typically 500–1500 m thick
and locally attaining 3000 m (e.g., Mohr and Zanettin 1988). The total
area covered by these volcanic rocks has been estimated as presently
600 000 km2, and not less than 750 000 km2 before erosion; these
flood basalts contribute to an estimated volume of 300 000 km3 (e.g.,
Mohr, 1983; Mohr and Zanettin 1988). About 90% of the preserved
volume forms the Ethiopian and Somalian plateaus, 10% the Yemen
part and minor volumes have been also recognised in the Afar
depression (Fig. 6; e.g., Coulié et al., 2003).
This volcanic episode was characterised by the extrusion of flood
tholeiitic to alkaline lava flows, with magmatic characteristics varying
in different regions of the plateau (e.g. Kieffer et al., 2004);
interbedded with the flood basalts, particularly at upper stratigraphic
levels, are felsic lavas and pyroclastic rocks of rhyolitic, or less
commonly, trachytic compositions (e.g., Mohr and Zanettin, 1988).
Eruption of flood basalts mostly occurred through fissures (e.g., Mohr
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
Fig. 6. a) Schematic distribution of the flood-basalt volcanism (modified from Chorowitz, 2005). b) Geometry of flood basalts along the Guraghe escarpment (after Abebe et al.,
2005).
and Zanettin, 1988), at places controlled by pre-existing weaknesses
inherited from the Precambrian (Mege and Korme, 2004). Most of the
basalts and associated felsic rocks were apparently erupted in a rather
short time interval (b5 Ma) with the greatest eruption rates occurring
from 31 to 28 Ma (e.g., Baker et al., 1996; Hoffman et al., 1997; Pik
et al., 1998; Ukstins et al., 2002; Coulié et al., 2003), although
radiometric dating results should be taken critically, as influenced by
several factors (e.g., quantity of available datings compared with the
huge volume of the magmatism; rock chemistry, age and possible
secondary processes; difficulties in exactly dating the beginning and
end of volcanic stages; etc.) and potentially modified by additional
datings. This strong eruption was concomitant with the onset of
continental rifting in the Red Sea–Gulf of Aden systems by 29 Ma
(Wolfenden et al., 2005), but predates the main rifting phases
associated to the development of the MER (see Section 5.2). Limited
volumes of basalts as old as 45 Ma have been described in southern
Ethiopia, in the Broadly Rifted Zone separating the MER from the
Kenya rift (e.g., Davidson and Rex, 1980; Ebinger et al., 1993; George
et al., 1998).
7
Immediately after the peak of volcanic activity related to the flood-
basalt emplacement, a number of large shield volcanoes developed
from 30 Ma to about 10 Ma on the surface of the volcanic plateau (e.g.,
Kieffer et al., 2004). This subsequent, less voluminous volcanic activity
formed some of the highest reliefs of the plateau (such as Mts. Simien,
4533 m. asl and Choke, 4052 m. asl), rising 1000–2000 m above the
top of the surrounding flood volcanics and being characterised by a
basal diameter of 50–100 km (e.g., Mohr and Zanettin, 1988; Kieffer
et al., 2004). The presence of these conspicuous shield volcanoes
above the flood basalts, together with a more complex space-time
evolution of volcanism, a variable magmatic character within the
plateau and a high proportion of felsic pyroclastic rocks, differentiates
the Ethiopian province from typical continental flood-basalt provinces
(e.g., Deccan), which are characterised by thick, monotonous
sequences of thick, continuous, near-horizontal flows of tholeiitic
basalt without overlying shield volcanoes (see Kieffer et al., 2004;
Yirgu et al., 2006).
The Ethiopian flood basalts have been attributed to melting
associated with the activity of one (Afar plume) or two (Afar and East
8 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
African or Kenyan plumes) mantle plumes impinging the base of the
continental lithosphere (see Section 4.3; e.g., Ebinger and Sleep, 1998;
George et al., 1998). In addition, it has been suggested that the flood
basalts of Ethiopia may result from multiple plume stems rising from a
single, broad and deep-seated mantle upwelling rising from the lower
mantle (the African superplume; e.g., Furman et al., 2006; Meshesha
and Shinjo, 2008; see Section 4.3). The heterogeneity of the flood basalts
that built the Ethiopian plateau supports a magma genesis from a broad
region of mantle upwelling, heterogenous in terms of both temperature
and composition (Kieffer et al., 2004). Within the lithosphere, slow or
absent extension may have favoured the focussing of upwelling of large
volumes of magma, responsible for the formation of the flood-basalt
province (Mulugeta et al., 2007).
4.2. Plateau uplift
The Ethiopian and Somalian plateaus are part of the so-called
African Superswell, a wide region of anomalously high topography
comprising the East African and southern African Plateaus as well as a
bathymetric swell in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean basin (Figs. 1, 2;
Nyblade and Robinson, 1994). Indeed, much of the African continent
stands above 1 km, giving rise to the highest mean elevation of all of
the continents. This anomalous topography results from strong uplift
during the Tertiary; in Ethiopia, the high plateaus have experienced up
to ~ 2-km rock uplift since ~ 30 Ma (e.g., Pik et al., 2003; Gani et al.,
2007). Early works (e.g., Dainelli, 1943; Beydoun, 1960) suggested this
uplift to be of Upper Eocene in age and to precede both the flood-
basalt event and the main rifting episodes (see Mohr, 1962).
Successive works (e.g., Mohr, 1967; Merla et al., 1979) argued against
major uplift before the flood-basalt event (see also Menzies et al.,
1997), and suggested that a complex history of uplift and volcanism
may have occurred in Ethiopia during the Tertiary (e.g., Baker et al.,
1972; McDougall et al., 1975; Berhe et al., 1987).
More recent works attempted a more precise dating of the main
events; despite these attempts, no consensus exists on the exact
timing of the uplift. For instance, based on thermochronological and
morphological analysis on the Blue Nile drainage network, Pik et al.
(2003) suggested that erosion initiated in the Blue Nile canyon as
early as 25–29 Ma ago and that the elevated plateau physiography
existed since the Oligocene (20–30 Ma) predating the main tectonic
events related to the Africa–Arabia separation (see also Menzies et al.,
1997; Pik et al., 2008). In this interpretation, the morphology of the
large marginal escarpments separating the Afar depression from the
uplifted plateau would be mainly the result of the collapse of the Afar
area from an initially elevated region since 20 Ma. Conversely, more
recent analysis based on the incision of the 1.6-km-deep Gorge of the
Nile (Gani et al., 2007) suggests a different history of the growth of the
Ethiopian Plateau. Although this model admits a possible, early
Oligocene domal uplift of ~ 1 km (an effect subsequently counter-
balanced by subsidence related to the flood-basalt emplacement), the
analysis of the evolution of the Blue Nile drainage suggests that uplift
of ~ 2 km occurred episodically in three different phases since ca.
29 Ma. The plateau experienced a slow and steady uplift, if any,
between ca. 29 and ca. 10 Ma (phase I), followed by an increase in
uplift rates at ca. 10 Ma (phase II) and a further dramatic increase at ca.
6 Ma (phase III); according to this model, the majority of the ~ 2-km
rock uplift of the Ethiopian Plateau occurred within a few m.y. after ca.
6 Ma. This evolution – with a polyphase history of doming and strong,
recent (Plio-Pleistocene) increase in uplift rates of the plateau – is in
line with predictions of previous works (e.g., Mohr, 1967; Baker et al.,
1972; McDougall et al., 1975; Almond, 1986 and references therein;
Adamson and Williams, 1987).
Overall, of the total uplift of the plateau since ca. 30 Ma, only a
minor part seems to be related to isostatic uplift related to erosional
unloading; the major contribute comes from rift-related activity (e.g.,
plume-related processes, flank uplift of the Main Ethiopian Rift and
the Afar Depression, crustal modifications by magmatism, etc.; e.g.,
Gani et al., 2007). In particular, a significant portion of plateau uplift in
Ethiopia can be attributed to the thermal alteration of the crust,
mantle lithosphere and deep upper mantle induced by a mantle
plume activity (see Dugda et al., 2007). The length-scale (a few tens of
kilometres) of rift-related flexural uplift is likely too short to have had
a major role in uplifting the hundreds of kilometres-wide plateau (e.g.,
Pik et al., 2003; Gani et al., 2007); similarly, uplift induced by crustal
modifications by underplating (e.g., Maguire et al., 2006) seems to
play a minor role, as crustal thickening by massive basal magmatic
addition has been suggested to be mostly a local feature instead of
widespread characteristic of the Ethiopian Plateau (see Section 5.4.1).
Uplift of the Ethiopian/Somalian and East African plateaus may
have had a first-order impact on the climate evolution of East Africa in
the last 8 Myr (e.g., Sepulcre et al., 2006), although the climatic
evolution models are strongly dependent on the assumed timing of
topographic variations (see Pik et al., 2008). In turn, late Cenozoic
environmental changes may have controlled the evolutionary paths of
East African hominins (see for instance Gani et al., 2007).
4.3. Dynamics of plateau uplift and flood volcanism: Plume hypothesis for
the East African Rift
The Tertiary rifting history of Ethiopia cannot be easily explained
by simple passive rifting, where extensional stresses act in response to
a regional stress field (usually originating from remote plate boundary
forces). In this mechanism, indeed, volcanism (and local uplift)
follows the extensional deformation of the lithosphere, since the
asthenospheric upwelling (giving rise to decompressional melting) is
a (passive) response to extensional-related lithospheric thinning. The
development of the MER within broadly elevated regions (plateaus)
and its development after eruption of large volumes of fissural basaltic
lava flows are instead coherent with the thermal and/or dynamic
consequences of mantle plumes acting at (or near) the base of the
lithosphere (e.g., Ebinger et al., 1989; Davies, 1998; Pik et al., 2006).
In particular, rifting in East Africa has been typically associated to
the upwelling of starting thermal plumes, in which a heat source at a
boundary layer (e.g., the core-mantle boundary) forms a thermally
buoyant spherical head connected to a tail or conduit that feeds source
material to the head (as in the classical model by Griffiths and
Campbell, 1990). Geochemical analysis of rift basalts, volcanic gases
and geothermal fluids (e.g., Hart et al., 1989; Schilling et al., 1992;
Marty et al., 1996; Scarsi and Craig, 1996) are consistent with a mantle
plume influence in the Ethiopian Rift, but no consensus exists on the
number of mantle upwellings. Up to about 40 plumes beneath Africa
have been proposed in earlier works (e.g., Burke and Wilson, 1976);
more recent works have proposed the existence of a single channeled
plume (Ebinger and Sleep, 1998) or two starting plumes (e.g., George
et al., 1998; Rogers, 2006) impinging the base of the continental
lithosphere. In the channeled plume model, the starting plume
impinges the base of the lithosphere beneath Central Ethiopia and
then propagates following the topography of the lithosphere/
asthenosphere boundary, a process that can explain the distribution
and timing of magmatism and uplift throughout east Africa. In the
two-plume model, the occurrence of the oldest basalts in southern
Ethiopia and their distinct geochemical signatures with respect to
flood basalts of the Ethiopian plateau argue for the activity of two
separate mantle plumes (Afar and East African or Kenyan plumes). In
this model, the old basalts of Southern Ethiopia represent the first
manifestation of the East African plume and, as the African plate
migrated north, subsequent magmatic activity is represented by
progressively younger episodes further south through Turkana, Kenya
and into northern Tanzania (e.g., George et al., 1998; Rogers, 2006).
Global seismic tomography studies have indicated the existence of
a large-scale low-velocity anomaly in the lower mantle beneath
southern Africa that possibly connects with a low seismic velocity
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
anomaly in the upper mantle beneath East Africa (e.g., Ritsema et al.,
1999). This tomographic image has been interpreted as representing a
broad thermal upwelling (superplume) originating at the core-mantle
boundary beneath southern Africa, and rising in a north–north-
eastward direction toward eastern Africa, exhibiting an overall dip to
the west or southwest (Fig. 7a; Ritsema et al., 1999). The mantle flow
induced by the existence of this superplume has been shown to be
able to dynamically support the excess elevation of the African
superswell (e.g., Lithgow-Bertelloni and Silver, 1998; Gurnis et al.,
Fig. 7. a) Cross-section of the mantle velocity structure beneath the African continent
showing the large-scale low-velocity anomaly (red areas) originating below southern
Africa and rising towards East Africa (after Ritsema et al., 1999). b) Three-dimensional
view showing the vertical extent of the Afar plume to mid-mantle depths (after
Montelli et al., 2004). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
9
2000). Plume-like features extending to mid-mantle depths are
imaged beneath Afar (Fig. 7b; Montelli et al., 2004), which may
actually reach the base of the mantle connecting to the African
superplume (Montelli et al., 2006).
Regional tomography shows a rather complex upper mantle
structure. Low-velocity anomalies in the upper mantle are imaged
beneath the MER (e.g., Bastow et al., 2005, 2008; Benoit et al., 2006a,
b; see Section 5.4.2) and the characteristics of these anomalies (width
N500 km, depth ≥ 660 km and an overall westward dip), which are not
consistent with the classical starting plume hypotheses, have been
interpreted to indicate a possible connection with the hypothesised
superplume (e.g., Benoit et al., 2006a,b; Bastow et al., 2008). Similar
low-velocity anomalies in the upper mantle have been indentified to
the south under the East African Plateau and the Tanzanian craton
(e.g., Weeraratne et al., 2003), suggestive of the existence of a separate
plume or upper mantle instability (East African plume) that may have
originally impacted beneath SW Ethiopia (e.g., George et al., 1998).
Geochemical evidences from analysis of flood basalts in Ethiopia and
northern Kenya have been used to suggest models in which these
upper mantle anomalies (Afar and East African plumes) may
represent multiple plume stems rising from the hypothesised African
superplume (e.g., Furman et al., 2006; Meshesha and Shinjo, 2008).
Similarly, Kendall et al. (2006) proposed a model, based on shear-
wave splitting analysis indicating fast shear waves within the mantle
at depths greater than 150 km parallel to the trend of the major
thermal upwelling, in which the hypothesised African superplume
feeds smaller plumes or upwellings that impinge the base of a
heterogenous lithosphere. More complex scenario use geochemical
data to suggest a deep-sited, superplume origin for the Ethiopian
flood-basalt province only, whereas magmas from other African
volcanic provinces are associated to distinct, shallower second-order
upwellings, isolated from the main deep plume (Pik et al., 2006).
Recent upper mantle tomographic analysis seems to support a
different (deeper) origin for the Afar hot spot, with respect to the
other (shallower) mantle upwellings in the African continent (Sicilia
et al., 2008). According to these Authors, the Afar plume may
represent a deep plume, whose connection with the lower mantle
might have already disappeared. Geochemical analysis of Oligocene
through recent basalt volcanism from Ethiopia, Yemen and Djibouti
evidence a similar fundamental isotopic composition, suggestive of a
common origin from the Afar plume that thus represents a long-lived
feature of the mantle (Furman et al., 2006).
The majority of the models illustrated above are modifications of
the superplume hypothesis based on global seismic tomography
studies. However, the existence of such a continuous hot feature
penetrating the whole mantle is highly debated, based on the intrinsic
limitations of global tomography studies and on the dependence of
seismic velocity on other parameters (composition, phase) in addition
to temperature (it is consequently not clear if the vast low-velocity
anomaly in the lower mantle results from high temperatures or is
controlled by other parameters such as density; see for instance
Anderson, 2007 and references therein for discussion). In addition, it
is also possible that the observed low-velocity structure in the lower
mantle represent ‘normal’ thermal fluctuations in a stratified mantle
(Ritsema and Allen, 2003). Even admitting the existence of this large-
scale thermal upwelling, its connection with surface structures,
volcanism and the uppermost mantle structure beneath the EARS
remain poorly defined.
Shear-wave tomography (Panza et al., 2007a) indicates the
presence of highly stratified and heterogeneous upper mantle beneath
the African continent, which – together with other evidences –
suggest shallow upper mantle convection/circulation (see also Panza
et al., 2007b). Consistently, recent tomography reveals that at least
some Central Africa hotspots (Darfur, Tibesti, Hoggar) have a super-
ficial character and may be related to convective instabilities in the
asthenosphere and/or edge-driven convection process (Sicilia et al.,
10 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

2008), such that non-plume models for the EARS cannot be ruled out
completely (see also Nyblade and Langston, 2002).
5. Tertiary rifting
5.1. Plate kinematics setting
The evolution of rifting in the MER is strictly related to the long-
term kinematics of the major Nubia and Somalia plates, whereas south
of the Turkana depression a two-plate model for the EARS is too
simplistic as extension occurs both along the Western and Eastern
branches and different microplates are present between the two
major plates (Fig. 8).
5.1.1. Present-day kinematics
The most recent kinematics models based on analysis of space
geodesy velocities and earthquake slip vectors (Stamps et al., 2008)
indicate the occurrence of at least three intervening microplates
(Lwandle, Rovuma, Victoria) between Nubia and Somalia south of
latitude ~ 5°N. The relative Nubia–Somalia motion occurs with a

Fig. 8. a) Plate kinematics setting of the East African Rift System (EARS) (after Horner-Johnson et al., 2007). Black dots indicate earthquake epicentres (1964–1995); ABTFC: Andrew
Bain Transform-Fault Complex; BTJ: Bouvet triple junction; RTJ: Rodrigues triple junction; CIR: Central Indian Ridge. b) Relative velocities along the EARS and adjoining areas in a
Nubia-fixed reference frame (after Stamps et al., 2008). Thin black arrows indicate modelled velocities along plate or block boundaries; thick black arrows indicate motions at GPS
sites (both modelled and measured velocities are reported). Relative rotation poles are shown with black stars. The first plate rotates counter-clockwise with respect to the second,
except for VI–NU where Victoria rotates clockwise with respect to Nubia. c) Nubia–Somalia displacement vectors at the latitude of the Main Ethiopian Rift derived from different
analyses, as follows: local geodetic observations (Bendick et al., 2006); analysis of elongation of caldera complexes (Casey et al., 2006); stress inversion from focal mechanisms (Keir
et al., 2006a); palaeostress analysis of fault-slip data (Pizzi et al., 2006); plate motion data (Royer et al., 2006; Horner-Johnson et al., 2007); geodetic solution and earthquake slip
vectors (Stamps et al., 2008). Light gray boxes in bottom left indicate the approximate timescale (reported in x axis) of the different approaches used to analyse the relative plate
motion.
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
rotation pole located at around 36°S, 35°E and gives rise to a roughly
ESE–WNW-directed extension at the latitude of the MER, with rates of
~ 6–7 mm/yr (Fig. 8), similarly to previous GPS data (e.g., N108°E at
~ 7 mm/yr, Sella et al., 2002; N94°E at ~7 mm/yr, Fernandes et al.,
2004). These data are also consistent with local geodetic observations
across the rift valley (Billham et al., 1999; Bendick et al., 2006), which
indicate a similar direction of extension (N105°E to N108°E), although
at slower velocities (~4 mm/yr). Analysis of the current stress field
derived from borehole breakout studies (Bosworth et al., 1992)
support a current ESE–WNW extension, similar to the analysis of the
current seismic activity in the rift (Keir et al., 2006a). Stress inversion
using focal mechanisms of earthquakes recorded between October
2001 and January 2003 (see Section 5.5) suggests indeed an extension
direction directed ~ N103°E, which is strikingly similar to the
stretching vector estimated from previous analysis of the rift seismic
release (e.g., roughly N100°E extension in the MER; Foster and
Jackson, 1998).
5.1.2. Geological estimates of Nubia–Somalia kinematics
These present-day data are consistent with the Quaternary
extension direction derived from elongation of caldera complexes
(e.g., Boccaletti et al., 1998; Ebinger and Casey, 2001; Casey et al.,
2006) and analysis of fault-slip and geological data (e.g., Boccaletti et
al., 1998; Bonini et al., 2005; Pizzi et al., 2006). The above data are also
consistent with 3.2 Myr average plate motion data based on a re-
analysis of spreading rates and transform-fault azimuths along the
Southwest Indian Ridge (Horner-Johnson et al., 2007). This latter
analysis predicts indeed a rotation pole consistent with that obtained
by Stamps et al. (2008) and a roughly ESE–WNW-directed extension
with rates of ~7–8 mm/yr in MER (Fig. 8). Other plate kinematics
models of Nubia–Somalia motion converge to similar extension
directions and velocities at the latitude of the MER (e.g., N101°E at
~ 5 mm/yr, Jestin et al., 1994; N96°E at ~ 6 mm/yr, Chu and Gordon,
1999). Geological data from the Northern MER indicate a similar
extension direction (N105°E) in the last 3 Myr (Wolfenden et al.,
2004). This consistency between geologic and geodetic data suggests
that the Nubia–Somalia relative motion may have remained steady
over the past 3 Myr. The pre-3 Myr Nubia–Somalia kinematics is less
constrained. Field geological and structural data suggested a poly-
phase history of rifting in Ethiopia related to a change in Nubia–
Somalia motion sometime in the interval 6.6 to 3 Ma (Wolfenden
et al., 2004) or at the Pliocene–Quaternary boundary (Bonini et al.,
1997; Boccaletti et al., 1998, 1999a; Bonini et al., 2005). These works
were supported by plate kinematics models indicating a shift in the
pole of rotation between Nubia and Somalia (i.e., a change in
kinematics in the EARS) in the Pliocene (Lemaux et al., 2002).
However, more recent plate kinematics models (Royer et al., 2006)
suggest that the roughly ESE–WNW direction of extension in MER
may have remained steady over the past 11 Myr, a finding that is
consistent with recent analysis of fault pattern evolution from
analogue modelling (Corti, 2008; see Section 6.2).
5.1.3. Estimates of Nubia–Somalia separation
Plate kinematics models are also variable in constraining the total
amount of Nubia and Somalia separation. End members of estimates
may be considered the ~23 km since 11 Ma (giving rise to rates of
~ 2 mm/yr) predicted by Lemaux et al. (2002) and the ~ 130 km since
11 Ma (rates: ~ 12 mm/yr) predicted by Royer et al. (2006). Most
models converge to values of 30–40 km of Nubia–Somalia relative
motion at the latitude of the MER (e.g., Garfunkel and Beyth, 2006),
which roughly fits the estimates based on extrapolation of current
stretching velocities to the last 10–11 Myr. This amount of total
extension matches recent geophysical and geological data from the
MER. Seismic sections (e.g., Maguire et al., 2006) image a crustal
thinning in the Northern MER of N10 km, giving rise to stretching
values (β) of about 1.7 and roughly corresponding to ~ 40 km of
11
Nubia–Somalia separation. These values are in agreement with
geological data predicting stretching values of β ~ 1.5 in the Northern
MER, corresponding to ~ 30 km of Nubia–Somalia separation (e.g.,
Wolfenden et al., 2004). Overall, stretching values increase towards
Afar along the rift axis: extension is thought to be limited in the
Southern MER (e.g., Ebinger et al., 1993) whereas stretching values
can exceed 100% (i.e., β N 2) or maybe 200% (i.e., β N 3) in the Afar
depression (e.g., Berckhemer et al., 1975; Joffe and Garfunkel, 1987;
Eagles et al., 2002). Rift-parallel seismic sections (Maguire et al., 2006;
see also Keranen and Klemperer, 2008) confirm a northward increase
in thinning, corresponding to an increase in stretching from β ~ 1.1 in
the Central MER to β ~ 1.7 in the Northern MER–Southern Afar; this is
consistent with gravity data by Tiberi et al. (2005) imaging an increase
in stretching from the Central MER (β ~ 1.2) to the southern Afar
depression (β ~ 2).
5.2. Fault pattern
5.2.1. Boundary fault system
The Main Ethiopian Rift is bounded by discontinuous boundary
faults that give rise to major fault-escarpments separating the rift
depression from the Ethiopian and Somalian plateaus. These faults are
normally long, widely spaced and characterised by large vertical
offsets (N1 km; e.g., Boccaletti et al., 1998). Their orientation varies in
the different rift segments, as illustrated below.
5.2.1.1. Northern MER. In the Northern MER, the boundary faults are
oriented ~ N40°E (Figs. 9, 10). The southeastern basin margin is
marked by the major boundary fault systems of Arboye and Sire,
which form a staircase pattern rising to the ~2600-m elevation of the
uplifted rift flanks (Fig. 10; e.g., Wolfenden et al., 2004). The Arboye
and Sire border fault systems are separated by a right-lateral offset of
about 35 km at latitude ~ 8°20′ N; similarly, the Sire fault system dies
out to the southwest at latitude ~ 8°N and is separated by a right-
lateral offset of about 15 km from the Asela fault escarpment. Overall,
the southwestern margin of this MER sector is characterised by a
right-stepping en-echelon pattern; no major transversal faults are
present in these offsets to connect the main fault systems; rather, they
are separated by gentle flexure of the Somalian plateau which deeps to
the NNE down to the rift depression (e.g., Di Paola, 1972). Kazmin et al.
(1980) suggested these offsets to be related to an inherited structural
grain reactivated in the course of rifting. The northwestern margin is a
faulted flexure that passes to the northeast to the major Ankober
border fault system, which in turn characterises the structurally
complex ‘corner’ between the NE-trending MER and the N–S trending
Red Sea rift (Wolfenden et al., 2004). To the southwest, this rift margin
curves into a roughly N–S-trending structural high (Boru Toru
structural high; see below) marking the boundary with the Central
MER (Bonini et al., 2005). Similarly to what is observed for the Arboye
and Sire border fault systems, structures of the northern margin are
en-echelon arranged and normally characterised by local complex
geometries, with sinuous and curvilinear fault segments (Mohr, 1987)
and pull-aparts which are normally interpreted to reflect an oblique
component of motion (e.g., Boccaletti et al., 1992, 1998). Marginal
grabens mark both sides of the Northern MER (e.g., WoldeGabriel
et al., 2000), although their expression is overprinted by younger
structures.
Seismic refraction studies in the central part of this rift sector
indicate that the general form of the rift basin is asymmetric with
tilting to the southeast toward the large-offset Arboye normal faults
and maximum thickness of the basin fill estimated to be of about 5 km
(Fig. 13; MacKenzie et al., 2005). Magnetotelluric analysis (Whaler
and Hautot, 2006) supports an asymmetric structure of the basin and
tilting towards the Arboye fault. Scarce fault-slip data on the rift
margins and local structural features indicate a roughly E–W direction
of extension (Boccaletti et al., 1992). Field data indicate that the
12 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Fig. 9. Tectonic sketch map of the Main Ethiopian Rift (modified from Boccaletti et al., 1998) superimposed on a digital elevation model (SRTM data). Inset shows the en-echelon,
right-stepping arrangement of the volcano-tectonic segments of the Wonji Fault Belt. AAE: Addis Ababa Embayment; BT: Boru Toru structural high; MK: Midre Kebd structural high;
WFZ: Woito fault zone; YTVL: Yerer–Tullu Wellel volcano-tectonic lineament. Other abbreviations as in Fig. 2.

boundary faults of the Northern MER started to develop at around
11 Ma (Wolfenden et al., 2004); geological data and historic and local
seismicity patterns indicate these fault systems are largely inactive
(Wolfenden et al., 2004; Casey et al., 2006; Keir et al., 2006a; see
Section 5.5).
5.2.1.2. Central MER. In the Central MER, the rift valley orients
between N25° and N45° and is characterised by major rift escarp-
ments on both western and eastern margins; boundary faults show an
average trend around N30°E (Figs. 9, 11). The western margin is well
expressed by the N25°E–N35°E-trending and ESE-dipping Guraghe
and Fonko faults, whereas the eastern margin is well represented by
the N30°E-trending and WNW-dipping Asela–Langano fault system
(Fig. 9). Both systems are characterised by high-angle (N60°) normal
faults, with large cumulative vertical throw. Overall, these fault
systems give rise to a roughly symmetric rift valley (Figs. 11, 13), as
supported by the 3D modelling of gravity data that indicate syn-rift
sediment thickening towards the central part of the graben where
basin infill thickness can exceed 6 km (Mahatsente et al., 1999).
However, knowledge of the subsurface rift architecture in the Central
MER remains poor. The border fault systems are normally segmented
and articulated, and characterised by the presence of minor
transversal structures and local complex geometries. As an example,
near Lake Langano the NE–SW-trending border faults curve to acquire
a local NW–SE trend and the interaction between these two
intersecting trends result in the typical S- or Z-shaped pattern of the
Langano (or Haroresa) Rhomboidal Fault System (Fig. 15; e.g., Mohr,
1987; Boccaletti et al., 1998; Le Turdu et al., 1999). Moreover, the
western rift margin is characterised by the presence of roughly N–S-
trending structural highs (such as the Boru Toru and Midre Kebd
structural highs; Fig. 9), where lowermost syn-rift volcanic units crop
out, which give rise to major embayments in the rift structure (Abebe
et al., 2005). This is evident in the Debre Zeyt area, where the NE–SW-
trending rift margin and the N–S Boru Toru structural high give rise to
the major Addis Ababa embayment (Fig. 9). The presence of these N–S
structural highs and embayments defines lacustrine sub-basins that
are aligned along a N–S trend (Abebe et al., 2005). Fault-slip data on
both rift margins in the Central MER indicate a stress field
characterised by an extension direction oriented roughly ESE–WNW,
with local variations between E–W and NW–SE (Fig. 14; Boccaletti
et al., 1992, 1998; Abebe, 1993; Korme et al., 1997; Acocella and Korme,
2002; Bonini et al., 2005; Pizzi et al., 2006). This gives rise to a sinistral
component oblique-slip on the NE–SW-trending fault planes, as
supported by local structural features as pull-aparts, en-echelon
tensional fissures and the en-echelon right-stepping arrangements of
the boundary fault segments observed in the field and on satellite
imagery (Boccaletti et al., 1992, 1998; Mazzarini et al., 1999; Abebe
et al., 2005; Bonini et al., 2005). According to Bonini et al. (2005) the
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
rift margins in the central portion of the MER formed in the late
Miocene–Pliocene (post ~ 6 Ma), although WoldeGabriel et al. (1990)
suggested that boundary faults had already formed at around 8 Ma.
Morphostructural and geological analysis together with consideration
on the local seismicity suggests that at least some segments of the
13
boundary faults (e.g., Asela–Langano) still accommodate some
extensional deformation (Pizzi et al., 2006), although most of active
strain seems to be accommodated by the internal Wonji faults (e.g.,
Boccaletti et al., 1998; Bonini et al., 2005; Abebe et al., 2005; Pizzi et al.,
2006; Keir et al., 2006a).
5.2.1.3. Southern MER. The Southern MER is characterised by a
rotation of the rift valley from N20-35° to N5-20°; accordingly, the
orientation of the boundary faults is N0°E to ~ N20°E in this MER
sector (Figs. 9, 12). Rotation of the rift valley occurs south of latitude
7°20′ in correspondence to a major E–W-trending transverse linea-
ment (Goba–Bonga lineament; see Section 5.2.3; Abbate and Sagri,
1980). The Southern MER is characterised by the major fault-
escarpments of Chencha (western margin) and Agere Selam (eastern
margin). The Chencha escarpment is marked by a curvilinear
boundary fault having an orientation between N–S and N40°E; its
northern termination corresponds to a monocline that extends
northwards to the Fonko fault system. The Agere Selam escarpment
is more linear in shape and is characterised by NNE–SSW trend. South
of latitude ~ 6°20′N the Southern MER is characterised by a
progressive narrowing accompanied by an increase in physiographical
complexity; its end corresponds to a division of the rift valley into two
near-parallel grabens, namely the Chamo (or Ganjuli) basin to the
west and the Galana basin to the east. The two grabens are separated
by the Amaro Horst, a narrow block of Precambrian basement that
widens and declines southwards over a length of ~90 km (Levitte et
al., 1974; Ebinger et al., 1993). In correspondence to the Amaro Horst,
the rift structures attain an overall N–S trend; however, whereas the
faults of the Galana Basin are linear and characterised by an almost
pure N–S trend, the structures bounding the Chamo graben are more
segmented and characterised by a zig-zag pattern, with different
segments showing sharp changes in orientation (from NW–SE to NE–
SW). The general rift topography is rather asymmetric: at ~ 7°N
latitude the western margin lacks a major border fault system whereas
the eastern margin corresponds to the Agere Selam escarpment (e.g.,
Woldegabriel et al., 1990); southwards, the western Chencha escarp-
ment has no correspondence on the eastern margin. Geological cross-
sections reconstructed using bedding and fault orientations measured
in the field (Ebinger et al., 1993) suggest a rather symmetric structure
in the Chamo basin, with thickness of syn-rift deposits of ~ 2 km, and
an asymmetric architecture in the Galana basin, with the master fault
located on the western side and maximum thickness of the rift infill
that may exceed 4 km (Fig. 13). Gravity modelling (Mahatsente et al.,
1999) does not evidence a clear asymmetry in the sediment thickness
below this rift segment; however, since no detailed geophysical
studies are available, the subsurface rift architecture in the Southern
MER remains poorly constrained. Mesoscopic fault measurements as
well as the local architecture of extensional structures suggest a
sinistral component of motion along the NNE–SSW-trending border
faults, compatible with a stretching direction variable between E–W
and NW–SE (Fig. 14; Boccaletti et al., 1998; Bonini et al., 2005).
According to WoldeGabriel et al. (1990) the rift margin at Agere Selam
formed in the late Miocene, at around 10 Ma. South of Lake Abaya,
Fig. 10. Structural setting of the Northern MER illustrated as a digital elevation model
(SRTM data, upper panel), schematic structural pattern (central panel) and topographic
profiles (lower panels). In the central panel, the distribution of both boundary and
Wonji faults is illustrated as plots of the fault azimuths, weighted for the fault length;
also illustrated is the distribution of the trend volcanic centre alignments. In these plots,
the weighting factor for each fault or volcanic alignment is the ratio between the length
and the minimum length of the whole data set, such that long faults (volcanic
alignments) have higher ratio (weight) than short ones. The frequency of the azimuth
of a fault or volcanic alignment directly relates to this ratio, the longer the fault (volcanic
chain) the higher its frequency. B: Boseti; DZ: Debre Zeyt; F: Fantale; G: Gedemsa; K:
Kone; Ko: Lake Koka. In the topographic profiles the colors indicate the physiographic
location within the rift system (green: plateau, red: rift escarpment, black: rift floor); m.
s.: magmatic segment. Other symbols as in Fig. 9. (For interpretation of the references to
colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
14 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

extensional deformation initiated at ~20–21 Ma (see Bonini et al.,

2005 and references therein). Continental rifting appears to be well-
established at 17–14 Ma, as indicated by interbedding of basaltic flows
with fossiliferous fluvio-lacustrine sediments (WoldeGabriel et al.,
1991, 2000) and by alignment of Mid-Miocene (~14 Ma) volcanic
centres along the trace of boundary faults (Ebinger et al., 1993).
Extensional structures remained active until ~ 11 Ma and were later
reactivated in the Late Pliocene–Pleistocene after a long period of
quiescence (Bonini et al., 2005). Morphostructural and geological
analysis on the area suggests that this border fault system may be still
active (Boccaletti et al., 1998).

5.2.1.4. Southern rift termination and Broadly Rifted Zone. South of

the Amaro Horst, the rift loses its typical physiography and is believed
to propagate into the Ririba rift (Fig. 12; WoldeGabriel and Aronson,
1987; Ebinger et al., 2000; Bonini et al., 2005; Vetel and Le Gall, 2006),
which is part of the ~ 300 km-wide system of basins and ranges
(Broadly Rifted Zone; Baker et al., 1972; Moore and Davidson, 1978;
Davidson and Rex, 1980; WoldeGabriel and Aronson, 1987; Ebinger
et al., 2000) that characterises the overlapping area between the
Ethiopian and Kenya rifts. West and south of the Chamo basin, the area
is dominated by N–S to N35° normal faults giving rise to the Gofa Basin
and Range (or Gofa Province) and the Chew Bahir Rifts (Fig. 12). The
Gofa Basin and Range consists of NE–SW-trending fault blocks of
Tertiary lavas tilted to the northwest (Moore and Davidson, 1978).
Displacement along the bounding high-angle faults decreases north-
ward along strike and the Gofa Basin and Range loses its topographic
identity near 6°30′N latitude (Omo valley); more to the north, this
NE–SW trend is completely interrupted by the E–W-trending Gojeb
graben (Moore and Davidson, 1978; Boccaletti et al., 1998). South of
the Gofa Basin and Range, extensional deformation is accommodated
by the Chew Bahir basin, which is interpreted as the northernmost
propagation of the Kenya Rift (e.g., WoldeGabriel et al., 2000 and
reference therein). This basin has an overall N–S trend but the
boundary faults are highly segmented with sharp changes in
orientation giving rise to a zig-zag pattern, which is also evident in
the Gofa basin and Range and is suggestive of a strong influence of the
pre-existing fabric in the development of the fault systems (see
Fig. 24; e.g., Moore and Davidson, 1978; Vetel et al., 2005; Vetel and Le
Gall, 2006). Though the Chew Bahir deep geometry is unknown,
interpretation of gravity data together with geological considerations
indicates depth values of 1 to 2 km (Vetel and Le Gall, 2006 and
references therein). Fault-slip data in this area are limited to the NW–
SE-trending Woito Fault Zone (Fig. 12), where measurement of a
dextral component of motion indicates a roughly ESE–WNW exten-
sion direction (Fig. 14; Abebe, 1993; Boccaletti et al., 1998). Different
studies (Morley et al., 1992; Ebinger et al., 2000; Vetel and Le Gall,
2006) proposed that that rifting migrated eastward across the BRZ,
initiating along inherited Mesozoic structures of the Anza Rift in the
west (Lotikipi and Lokichar basins) as early as ~ 35–45 Ma and
gradually jumping to the Main Ethiopian Rift direction. Based on
detailed determination of fault-related uplift along the Chow Bahir rift
escarpments, Pik et al. (2008) constrained initial extensional
deformation in this area at ~ 20 Ma, with continuous rifting and
associated relief changes since that time. Extensional structures were
well developed by Mid-Miocene time in the area (e.g., Ebinger et al.,
2000; Vetel and Le Gall, 2006 and references therein). Most of the
faults have typical morphostructural features indicating ongoing
tectonic activity (Boccaletti et al., 1998); of interest in this respect is
the Woito Fault Zone (Fig. 11), which is marked by strong seismicity
(Gouin, 1979; Asfaw, 1990, 1992) and possible surface breaks

Fig. 11. Structural setting of the Central MER illustrated as in Fig. 9. A: Lake Abiyata; Aw:
Lake Awasa; Bu: Butajira volcanic chain; L: Lake Langano; S. Lake Shala; Z: Ziway. Other
symbols as in previous figs.
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
produced during the earthquake of December 29, 1987 (Asfaw, 1990).
According to Moore and Davidson (1978) this fault has controlled the
recent evolution of the Woito River.
5.2.2. Wonji Fault Belt faulting
The rift floor of the MER is affected by widespread deformation
related to faulting along the Wonji Fault Belt (WFB; Figs. 9–12; Mohr,
1962, 1967; Gibson, 1969; Gibson and Tazieff, 1970; Mohr and Wood,
1976; Kazmin et al., 1980; Mohr, 1983, 1987; Boccaletti et al., 1992;
Chorowicz et al., 1994; Boccaletti et al., 1998; Ebinger and Casey, 2001;
Acocella et al., 2003; Williams et al., 2004; Wolfenden et al., 2004;
Abebe et al., 2005; Bonini et al., 2005; Casey et al., 2006; Pizzi et al.,
2006; Kurz et al., 2007). This is an arrangement of overlapping, right-
stepping en-echelon fault segments oblique to the main direction of
the rift margins, where adjustment of these fault zones with the
border faults gives rise to a typical S-shaped curvature resulting in an
overall sigmoidal geometry (Fig. 16; see below). The faults of the WFB
are normally short, closely spaced and display relatively small throws
(b100 m; e.g., Boccaletti et al., 1998); they are characterised by steep
(sub-vertical) scarps and are commonly en-echelon and linear or
curved in plain view over distances of up to a few tens of kilometres,
thus delimiting several fault-bounded blocks. Associated with the
faults are open fissures with or without vertical displacement (e.g.,
Asfaw, 1998; Williams et al., 2004), splay patterns and complex
rhomb-shaped structures (see Mohr, 1987; Boccaletti et al., 1998).
These features thus testify a fundamental change in the deformation
style from the rift margins, where extension is accommodated by few
widely-spaced faults with large vertical displacements, to the rift floor,
where deformation occurs through dense fault swarms with small
vertical offset (Fig. 17; e.g., Boccaletti et al., 1998; Giaquinta et al., 1999;
Ebinger and Casey, 2001; Casey et al., 2006).
Most of the recent (Quaternary) volcanic activity in the MER is
closely associated with the Wonji faults, as suggested by alignments of
caldera structures, cinder cones, volcanic fissures (see Section 5.3).
Geophysical data in the Northern MER have shown the presence of
magma throughout the lithosphere below the different fault segments
(see Section 5.4), so that the WFB segments represent tectono-
magmatic (or magmatic) segments within the central rift valley (e.g.,
Ebinger and Casey, 2001).
The Wonji Fault Belt developed in the last 2 my (Mohr, 1962, 1967;
Gibson, 1969; Meyer et al., 1975; Chorowicz et al., 1994; Boccaletti
et al., 1998; Ebinger and Casey, 2001; Bonini et al., 2005). The recent
alluvial cover and volcanic rocks are affected by this fault system that,
therefore, accommodates Holocene deformation (e.g., Boccaletti et al.,
1998). Geodetic data support that 80% of the present-day strain is
accommodated across these fault segments (Billham et al., 1999; see
Section 5.5).
Although a roughly NW–SE extension has been deduced from the
analysis of open fractures within different Wonji segments (Acocella and
Korme, 2002), the right-stepping en-echelon fault arrays, the complex
pull-apart structures and the results of structural analysis suggest that
this fault system accommodates a left-lateral, oblique shearing along the
rift axis resulting compatible with a roughly E–W oriented extension
(Fig. 14; e.g., Bonini et al., 1997; Boccaletti et al., 1998; Pizzi et al., 2006;
Kurz et al., 2007). Fault length and segmentation of WFB faults show
comparatively minor values than the boundary faults (Kurz et al., 2007);
this accords with an oblique rifting-related origin for the WFB faults as
suggested by experimental results reported in Clifton and Schlische
(2001). The roughly E–W direction is consistent with strain analysis on
volcanic edifices within the fault zones (extension direction: N110°E ±
3°; Casey et al., 2006) and the analysis of the general architecture of
Wonji segments (extension direction variable between ~N90E° and
~N105E°; e.g., Bonini et al., 1997; Corti et al., 2001; Wolfenden et al.,
2004; Kurz et al., 2007; Corti, 2008). All these data are also consistent
with geodetic, plate kinematics, seismic and current stress-field data
(see Section 5.1.1).
15
5.2.2.1. Northern MER. In the Northern MER, there are four major
WFB segments (Gedemsa, Boseti, Kone and Fantale–Dofen; Fig. 16);
the en-echelon segmentation continues northeastward into the
southern Afar depression, where these quaternary tectono-magmatic
segments are superposed on the older Red Sea and Gulf of Aden rift
structures (Hayward and Ebinger 1996; Wolfenden et al., 2004, 2005)
and fault systems display complex geometrical characteristics (dis-
tribution of deformation, segmentation, linkage, length/displacement
relations, etc.; Soliva and Schultz, 2008).
The Wonji faults in the Northern MER are oriented ~ N20°, forming
an angle of ~ 20° with the roughly N40°-trending boundary faults
(Figs. 10, 16). The Gedemsa, Boseti and Kone WFB segments are axial
ridges, whereas the Fantale–Dofen magmatic segment is marked by a
graben that lies 550 m below the Boseti and Kone segments (Figs. 10,
17; Ebinger and Casey, 2001; Casey et al., 2006). The dimensions of
individual segments range between 40 and 70 km in length and
between 10 and 15 km in width; they are separated by areas devoid of
magmatism and brittle deformation (Casey et al., 2006; Kurz et al.,
2007), where the distances between segments in an E–W direction
vary from 2 km (Boseti segment–Kone segment) to 18 km (Gedemsa
segment–Boseti segment). As stated above, each segment is com-
posed of small-displacement faults and extensional fractures.
Structural analysis reveals no evidence for transcurrent faults
linking right-stepping WFB segments; rather, the tips of segments
overlap, thereby accommodating strain transfer (Casey et al., 2006).
According to Kurz et al. (2007), the WFB tectono-magmatic
segments are symmetric around central acidic strato-volcanoes (see
also Ebinger and Casey, 2001; Abebe et al., 2007), where the
deformation pattern is characterised by small faults and a low fault
density (although fault number may locally increase around collapse
calderas possibly due to magma withdrawal; e.g., Casey et al., 2006). The
number of faults increases longitudinally away from the volcanic
centres, such that maximal fault densities and the longest faults are
observed at tip domains. This is also accompanied by a decrease in the
volume of basaltic rocks towards the tip domains, where recent basalt
flows are absent. These characteristics suggest that individual segments
are characterised by different domains where brittle or magmatic-
induced deformation dominate (Fig. 18; Kurz et al., 2007). The centre of
each segment is characterised by significant magmatic deformation
accommodated by dyking, whereas the tip domains display brittle
deformation (faulting). Intermediate domains are characterised by
interaction between magma injections and faults, with shallow dikes fed
by the central magmatic centres triggering the generation of open
fissures, aligned basaltic cones and faults at the surface (Kurz et al.,
2007). In these domains, some fault segments display low displace-
ment–length ratios, i.e. long faults associated with small displacement,
indicative of fault growth dominated by fault linkage; these low
displacement–length ratios are considerably lower than in other
extensional areas characterised by brittle deformation without magma-
tism and are thus interpreted as caused by magma injection (Kurz et al.,
2007). These findings are consistent with analysis by Casey et al. (2006)
suggesting that Wonji faults are primarily driven by magma intrusion
into the mid- to upper crust, which triggers upward propagation of
faulting and dyke intrusion into the brittle upper crust. Dyke-induced
growth of normal faults and fractures has been observed during a major
magmatic rifting episode at a nascent slow-spreading ridge in the Afar
depression (the 2005-present Dabbahu rifting episode; Fig. 19; see also
below Section 6.3; Rowland et al., 2007; Ebinger et al., 2008).
At tip domains, the WFB propagates into and interacts with the
boundary fault systems (Casey et al., 2006; Kurz et al., 2007); intra-rift
faults grow into the border faults and inherit their orientation, giving
rise to a sigmoidal bending of the WFB segments (Fig. 16). If, however,
interaction occurs at high angles (N30°), catchment of the Wonji faults
by the border faults does not occur and the younger intra-rift faults cut
the older boundary faults, giving rise to rhomboidal structures (e.g.,
Mohr, 1983; Kurz et al., 2007).
16 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
Fig. 12. Structural setting of the Southern MER illustrated as in Fig. 9. Ab: Lake Abaya;
BoG: Bridge of God; Ch: Lake Chamo; Du: Duguna. Other symbols as in previous figs.
Note the high segmentation and the zig-zag pattern (due to sharp changes in
orientation) of the boundary faults in the Chamo and Chow Bahir basins and in the Gofa
basin and Range. This feature is suggestive of a strong influence of the pre-existing
fabric in the development of the fault systems.
5.2.2.2. Central MER. In the Central MER, the Wonji faults are
oriented ~ N12°E and oblique of ~18° to the roughly N30°-trending
boundary faults (Figs. 11, 17). The main Wonji fault segments are
represented by the southern termination of the Gedemsa WFB
segment of the Northern MER, and by the Langano–Ziway and
Awasa–Shala fault zones. These Wonji segments are marked by
grabens that branch-off from the N30°E-trending eastern rift escarp-
ment (Figs. 9, 11). Close to the western margin, the Quaternary
volcano-tectonic activity is expressed by the NNE–SSW-trending
volcanic chains of Debre Zeyt (Bishoftu) and Butajira (Fig. 11; e.g.
Mohr 1968; Abebe et al., 2005; Mazzarini et al., 1999, 2004; Abebe
et al., 2007). These chains seem to be characterised by a lower degree
of seismicity with respect to the other Wonji belt segments (Keir et al.,
2006a; see Section 5.5) and show comparatively less developed
structural or morphological evidence of active strain, expressed by
sets of right-stepping en-echelon faults (Abebe et al., 2005).
Overall, conversely to the Northern MER where the Wonji Fault Belt-
related deformation affects the centre of the depression, the Quaternary
faulting in the Central MER seems to be mostly localised at the rift margins.
As in the Northern MER, the Wonji faults form a close network of
faults characterised by very fresh, steep fault scarps evidence of recent
activity and high Late Quaternary slip rates (up to 2 mm yr− 1 for some
of the densely distributed faults between the Asela fault and Lake
Ziway; Pizzi et al., 2006). Close to the eastern margin, the faults
delimit closely spaced sets of horsts, grabens and half grabens; fault
planes are characterised by high-angle geometry with a dip generally
N65 ° (Fig. 17c,d). Local fault characteristics, such as right-stepping en-
echelon arrays of both faults and open fissures and N–S faults
constituting systems of splays that depart from a NE–SW boundary
faults, testify a nearly E–W oriented Quaternary direction of extension,
giving rise to left-lateral shear along the rift strike. In the southern part
of this MER's sector, the Quaternary Awasa caldera (Di Paola, 1972;
Mohr et al., 1980; WoldeGabriel et al., 1990) has been severely broken
by N–S-trending normal faults, forming a down-faulted central sector
in which Lake Awasa is located. The displacement between the eastern
and western parts of the caldera, as well as the fault pattern, again
suggests a roughly Quaternary E–W direction of extension (e.g.,
Boccaletti et al., 1998).
In places (e.g., where the Gedemsa segment branch-off from the
Asela escarpment), most of the active strain is accommodated
aseismically by magma-induced faulting, similarly to what is
described in the Northern MER (Pizzi et al., 2006; see Section 5.2.2.1).
However, consistent with a southward decrease in crustal extension
and magmatic modification along the rift, the Wonji faults in the
Central MER are expected to be comparatively less affected by
magmatic processes than in the Northern MER (see Section 5.4).
Where not influenced by magmatism, normal faults display propor-
tional relationships between length and throw (Acocella et al., 2003);
they seem to form from the progressive grow of extension fractures
that reach a critical depth where the tensile stresses can no longer be
sustained and fractures turn into faults (Fig. 20; Acocella et al., 2003).
Once the faults have formed, they grow further, propagating both
downward and along strike.
Notably, the WFB in the Central MER cuts in places lacustrine
sediments that record the Late Quaternary–Holocene evolution of a
complex lake system, which is now represented by the Ziway, Langano,
Abijata and Shalla Lakes. These lakes are remnants of a much larger
lake basin that reached its maximum size during the Late Pleistocene
and Early Holocene (Grove and Goudie, 1971; Laury and Albritton,
1975; Grove et al., 1975; Gasse and Street, 1978; Gillespie et al., 1983; Le
Turdu et al., 1999; Benvenuti et al., 2002); the evolution of this lake
system has been strongly influenced by intense climate fluctuations
during the last 100,000 years, although a structural control on the
rearrangement of the fluvial drainage networks and hydrological
thresholds has been in some cases identified (e.g., Benvenuti et al.,
2002; Sagri et al., 2008).
5.2.2.3. Southern MER. In the Southern MER, the Wonji faults are
oriented around N–S, i.e. roughly parallel to the boundary fault
systems (Fig. 12). In this rift's sector, the Wonji faults are compara-
tively less developed than in the Central and Northern MER; collapse
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 17

Fig. 13. Geological cross-sections across the different segments of the MER. Note the asymmetric structure of the Northern MER, the roughly symmetric structure of the Central MER
and the complex architecture of the Southern MER with the roughly symmetric Chamo basin and the asymmetric Galana basin separated by the Amaro Horst. Modified after:
A) Wolfenden et al. (2004); B) Abebe et al. (2005); C) Ebinger et al. (1993).

caldera and faults occur across a much broader zone within the rift
and border faults are seismically active (Asfaw, 1992; Keir et al.,
2006a). These observations are consistent with the general south-
wards decrease in thinning and rift-related volcano-tectonic deforma-
tion (see Sections 5.3 and 6). The main volcano-tectonic segments
correspond to the southern termination of the Awasa–Shala fault
zone, that branch-off from the Agere Selam escarpment, and the
Abaya–Duguna segment (Fig. 12). Quaternary faults in this latter
segment, appear to reactivate the northern segment of the Chencha
escarpment (Boccaletti et al., 1998). The displacement has been taken
up by an array of sigmoidal, right-stepping en-echelon normal or
oblique faults that are particularly evident north of Lake Abaya
(Fig. 21), where they control the development of small Quaternary
basins and spatter cones. The right-stepping arrangement of faults is
strongly suggestive of a sinistral shear component of motion along the
rift trend, which is also testified by the development of small pull-
apart basins filled by Quaternary lacustrine deposits along these faults
(Boccaletti et al., 1998). Analogue modelling results (Corti, 2008)
suggest that this fault pattern and kinematics are again compatible
with a sub-E–W extension direction (Fig. 21).
The Quaternary volcano-tectonic activity in the rift floor can be traced
southwards along the eastern border of Lake Abaya to the land bridge
(Tosa Sucha) separating Lake Abaya from Lake Chamo. In this area,
roughly NNE–SSW-trending faults affect a Pleistocene volcanic complex
and display strong morphotectonic signature of ongoing tectonic activity
(Fig. 22), which is occurring at rates around 1 mm yr− 1 (Boccaletti et al.,
1998). This slip-rate is lower than the ~6 mm yr− 1 predicted by geodetic
analysis (see Section 5.1.1), suggesting that the border faults of the rift
may take up a considerable part of the extensional deformation in the
Southern MER (see Boccaletti et al., 1998). No recent volcanism and rift-
floor deformation characterise the Galana basin, suggesting that the
WFB has not propagated into this rift branch.
5.2.3. Transverse structures
The Main Ethiopian Rift is characterised by the presence of major
structures transverse to the trend of the main extensional structures
and that may extend for hundreds of kilometres from the rift margins
on both the Somalian and Ethiopian plateaus (Fig. 9). The transverse
faults can be grouped in two main trends, oriented roughly E–W to
ENE–WSW and NW–SE.
18 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Fig. 14. Representative fault kinematics data for the different MER sectors. Also reported is the stretching direction deduced from the elongation of caldera complexes (from Bonini
et al., 2005; Casey et al., 2006), assuming that volcanoes with elliptical forms have a long axis that is roughly parallel to the extension direction. In the central and Northern MER,
caldera complexes have a long axis oriented between E–W and ESE–WNW.

The roughly E–W structures are well represented by the Yerer–Tullu
Wellel Volcano-tectonic Lineament (YTVL; e.g., Abebe et al., 1998),
which extends from the western rift margin to Tullu Wellel near the
Ethiopia–Sudan border (Figs. 9, 23). This fracture system is about
700 km long and about 80 km wide; its northern limit partly coincides
with the Ambo Fault (Mohr, 1967; Meyer et al., 1975; Moore and
Davidson,1978; Abebe et al.,1998; Korme et al., 2004), a well-developed
fault zone with vertical scarps up to 150 m in height. The YTVL consists
of a tectono-magmatic system characterised by structural alignments of
normal faults and major volcanoes (Fig. 23; e.g., Abebe et al., 1998;
Tommasini et al., 2005). During rift evolution it has been characterised
by a complex volcano-tectonic evolution, with activation of several
structures with different trends and an overall eastward migration of
volcanic activity in time (Abebe et al., 1998). Geophysical data (see
Section 5.4) indicate that the YTVL is associated to a low-velocity mantle
zone, suggestive of anomalously hot upper mantle and local areas of
melting or melt ponding (e.g., Bastow et al., 2005, 2008); this structure
also controls a sharp variation in crustal thickness of the Ethiopian
Plateau (Keranen and Klemperer, 2008) and the distribution of the
Oligo-Miocene plateau volcanics (Abbate and Sagri, 1980). All these data
suggest that the YTVL probably represents a pre-existing weakness
zone, parallel to the trend of the Gulf of Aden, that may correspond to an
ancient E–W suture (Stern et al., 1990), whose interpretation is however
controversial (e.g., Church, 1991). During the development of the MER,
the transversal YTVL probably controlled the development of the Boru
Toru structural high, the transfer zone separating the Northern MER
from the Central MER (Bonini et al., 2005).
Another major E–W-trending transverse lineament is the Goba–
Bonga lineament (e.g., Abbate and Sagri, 1980), which extends across
the central part of the MER and is expressed in the Ethiopian Plateau
by the Gojeb graben (Figs. 9, 23; Moore and Davidson, 1978; Boccaletti
et al., 1998). According to Bonini et al. (2005), the development of this
E–W depression may be related to an early deformation phase,
characterised by NNE–SSW-trending extension, resulting from the
southernmost propagation of the extensional tectonics that affected
the boundary of the Afro-Arabian plates during Oligocene times, as
supported by plate reconstructions (Collet et al., 2000) and physical
models of Africa–Arabia separation (Bellahsen et al., 2003). The Goba–
Bonga lineament controlled the northward propagation of Kenya Rift-
related deformation at around 20 Ma and it also controlled the
southward propagation of structures from Central MER to the
Southern MER in the Mio-Pliocene (Bonini et al., 2005).
The NW–SE structures developed in correspondence to pre-
existing Precambrian major crustal weakness zones that parallelise
the trend of the Red Sea (e.g., Korme et al., 2004). Some of these
structures were reactivated during the Mesozoic to form NW–SE-
trending structural sedimentation basins, such as the Ogaden rift (e.g.,
Korme et al., 2004 and references therein) and the Blue Nile Basin
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
Fig. 15. a) Fault pattern in the Langano (or Haroresa) Rhomboidal Fault System. Note the
interaction between NE–SW and NW–SE-trending structures giving rise to the typical S-
or Z-shaped fault pattern. b) Examples of models that can explain the development of
the rhomboidal fault pattern: upper panel: influence of a pre-existing NW–SE-trending
weakness zone causing a left-lateral offset of the rift margins and the NE–SW boundary
faults (e.g., Mohr and Potter, 1976; Mohr, 1987; Korme et al., 2004); lower panel: pull-
apart structure related to the left-lateral component of motion along the border fault
system (Boccaletti et al., 1998). Note that the presence of a transverse NW–SE structure
controlling the 5 km-left offset of the plateau rim in this area is supported by both field
and subsurface gravity data (e.g., Mohr, 1987; Korme et al., 2004; see Section 5.2.3.).
(Fig. 5; e.g., Gani et al., 2009). These ancient rifts extend under the
flood-basalt cover cutting the MER orthogonally. In places, the NW–SE
faults related to this ancient structure have influenced the develop-
ment of the Tertiary rifting faults, as illustrated above for the Langano
Rhomboidal Fault System whose architecture is probably controlled by
one of these transversal structures (see Fig. 15). Control of pre-existing
transverse structures on rift structures close to the Lake Langano area
is also supported by gravity data (Korme et al., 2004) evidencing the
presence of NW–SE graben below the rift depression filled with low-
density sediments. Northwards, NW-trending faults delimit the
northern and southern sides of the Boru Toru structural high (e.g.,
Abebe et al., 2005) and, west of Welenchiti, they also border a major
rectangular depression filled by lacustrine sediments (e.g., Mohr,
1987; Korme et al., 2004; Abebe et al., 2005).
5.2.4. Deformation outside the rift valley
Although most of the extensional deformation is accommodated
within the rift valley, recent deformation and volcanism characterise
limited portions of the surrounding plateaus. For instance, this is
documented in the Lake Tana region by Late Miocene–Quaternary
faulting, subsidence and predominantly basaltic volcanism (Fig. 25;
e.g., Chorowicz et al., 1998). Recent geological analysis suggests a
complex deformation pattern in the area, with superposition of
differently-oriented systems of extensional structures (Gani et al.,
2009). According to these studies, Neogene deformation localised in
correspondence to an inherited NW–SE graben buried below the
Oligocene flood basalts pile, as imaged by recent magnetelluric
analysis (Hautot et al., 2006) and suggested by geological studies
(Gani et al., 2009); this pre-existing structure can be correlated to
the Mesozoic Blue Nile graben (Fig. 5; see also Gani et al., 2009). The
recent evolution of the area has been further complicated by the su-
perposition of different directions of tensile stresses during the Qua-
ternary in relation to tectonic events within the MER and Afar (Gani
et al., 2009).
19
Chorowicz et al. (1998) suggested that the location of the Lake
Tana occurs at the junction of three different grabens (the NNW–SSE
to N–S-trending Gondar graben, the NE–SW to NNE–SSW-trending
Dengel Ber graben and the E–W to ESE–WNW-trending Debre Gabor
graben; Fig. 25), which were active during the build-up of the flood-
basalt pile and were subsequently reactivated during the Late
Miocene–Quaternary. The complex history of local uplift, deformation
and volcanism of the Lake Tana region has been associated to the
influence of the Afar plume (e.g. Chorowicz et al., 1998); the area has
been interpreted to possibly represent the impact area of the plume
head from which the low-density material spreads (see Mege and
Korme, 2004), although the current locus of plume material is
interpreted to be in the Lake Abhe area (e.g., Schilling et al., 1992).
5.3. Summary of the evolution of volcanic activity
The tectonic development of the MER is matched by intense
volcanic activity starting from the late Eocene (e.g., Mohr, 1970;
WoldeGabriel et al., 1990; Ebinger et al., 1993; Boccaletti et al., 1995;
Chernet et al., 1998; Wolfenden et al., 2004; Abebe et al., 2005).
Starting from the early episodes of flood-basalt volcanism (see
Section 4.1), magmatic activity in the MER seems to have been
episodic rather than continuous (Girdler, 1983; WoldeGabriel et al.,
1990) and showed different characters in the different rift segments,
as outlined below.
Note that, as stated in Section 4.1, our current knowledge of the
timing of this activity is limited by different problems (e.g., relatively
scarce available datings compared with the huge volume of the
magmatism) and potentially modified by additional datings.
5.3.1. Northern MER
In the Northern MER, early eruption of the flood basalts was
followed by Mid-Miocene eruptions from shield volcanoes along the
developing rift shoulders (Termaber–Megezez Formation of Chernet
et al., 1998). Trachytic flows from that base of the Megezez volcano
have been dated at around 10.5 Ma (Wolfenden et al., 2004). In the
Adama basin, these flows are locally onlapped by a contemporaneous
sequence of basalts and ignimbrites (Kessem Formation of Wolfenden
et al., 2004), whose base is dated at ~ 10.5 Ma. According to Wolfenden
et al. (2004) this sequence shows growth and syn-sedimentary
faulting, thus placing the initiation of rifting in the area at ~ 10.5 Ma.
The top of syn-rift volcanism in the Adama basin is marked by
widespread ignimbritic episode dated at ~ 6.6 Ma (Wolfenden et al.,
2004); coeval widespread ignimbrites, with intercalated minor silicic
and mafic lavas, occur throughout the Northern MER (Nazret Group;
see for instance Chernet et al., 1998 and references therein), but the
details of the their absolute geochronologic placement and their time
extent remain ambiguous. Indeed, whereas Wolfenden et al. (2004),
recognise a volcanic hiatus in the Adama basin between 6.6 and
3.5 Ma, Chernet et al. (1998) report ages as young as 5.8 Ma for the
Nazret Group, whereas younger ages are reported close to the
boundary between the Northern and Central MER (see Abebe et al.,
2005 and references therein; see Section 5.3.2). Contemporaneous
basaltic activity is subordinated, although its importance increases
northwards towards Afar where Late Miocene–Pliocene deformation
is associated to a phase of voluminous flood-basalt volcanism (Afar
Stratoid Series; see below; e.g., Barberi and Santacroce, 1980; Chernet
et al., 1998). Overall, syn-rift volcanics display a typical bimodal
composition (Fig. 26).
The sequence is followed by upper Pliocene basalts (known by
different names in different localities, e. g., Wolenchiti, Bishoftu, Bofa,
Tullu Rie basalts, see Chernet et al., 1998; Abebe et al., 2005 and
references therein), with ages ranging between 3.5 and 1.6 Ma (e.g.,
Kazmin et al., 1980; Chernet et al., 1998; Abebe et al., 2005).
Contemporaneous are pyroclastic deposits made of volcanic ash
flow and fall deposits composed by mainly comenditic rhyolites
20 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Fig. 16. a) Boundary faults of the Chow Bahir basin, displaying a typical angular pattern suggestive of a strong influence of the pre-existing fabric in the fault development. Inset shows
the location of panel a (AH: Amaro Horst; Aw: Awasa caldera; Ch: Chow Bahir basin; LA: Lake Abaya). b) Details of the boundary fault system; c) structural sketch. d) Trend
distribution of pre-existing basement fabrics and boundary faults, illustrated as plots of weighted fault azimuths (see Fig. 10 for details of calculations). Note the striking
correspondence between the trend of basement fabrics and boundary faults, supporting that the development of the latter is strongly controlled by pre-existing weaknesses. (For
interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

possibly fed by large caldera structures (Chefe Donsa pyroclastics of
Abebe et al., 2005), with ages ranging between 2.5 and 1.7 Ma (e.g.,
Morton et al., 1979; Mazzarini et al., 1999; Boccaletti et al., 1999a,b;
Abebe et al., 2005). Wolfenden et al. (2004) described the occurrence
in the Adama basin of a sequence of predominantly felsic volcanism
(Balchi Formation) between 3.5 and 2.5 Ma.
The subsequent, Quaternary bimodal volcanic activity (lava,
pyroclastics and volcanoclastic strata; Wonji Group; e.g., Meyer et al.,
1975; Kazmin et al., 1980; WoldeGabriel et al., 1990 and references
therein) is spatially associated with the oblique faults of the Wonji
Fault belt affecting the rift floor (Figs. 9, 10, 27). Silicic rocks (Wonji
Group Silicics of Chernet et al., 1998; Bora–Bericha Rhyolites of Abebe
et al., 2005) form large central volcanoes, some characterised by well-
developed calderas, which give rise to ignimbrites, lava flows, domes
and phreatomagmatic deposits, with compositions ranging from
trachyte to peralkaline rhyolites. Basalts (Wonji Group Basalts of
Chernet et al., 1998; Wonji Basalts of Abebe et al., 2005) form small lava
flows, scoria cones and phreatomagmatic deposits mostly aligned in a
NNE–SSW-direction along the faults of the Wonji Fault Belt (e.g., Abebe
et al., 2005; Fig. 27). Specific relations between the Wonji Fault Belt
segments and magmatism have been proposed (see Section 5.2.2),
with each segment being characterised by one or more silicic centre,
and associated basaltic eruptions (e.g., Chernet et al.,1998; Ebinger and
Casey, 2001; Acocella et al., 2002; Abebe et al., 2007; Kurz et al., 2007;
see also below Section 6.3). Radiometric ages of this activity are
generally Quaternary (b1.8 Ma; e.g., WoldeGabriel et al., 1990; Chernet
et al., 1998; Wolfenden et al., 2004; Abebe et al., 2005), whereas the
last eruptions are estimated to be Holocene-historical in age (see
Abebe et al., 2005 and references therein). Ongoing volcanic activity is
testified by historic fissural basalt flows at Fantale and Kone volcanoes
as recently as 1810 (Harris, 1844; Gibson, 1969).
The genetic relationships between the basalts and rhyolites and the
absence of intermediate products (the so-called Daly Gap) are still
debated (e.g., Peccerillo et al., 2003). Many petrological indications
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 21

Fig. 17. Geometry of WFB segments in the different MER sectors. The WFB is oblique to the rift trend; at the rift margins, the Wonji faults curve to adjust to the boundary faults giving
rise to a typical S-shaped curvature and an overall sigmoidal geometry. a) Fantale–Dofen WFB segment (Northern MER); b) Boseti and Kone WFB segments (Northern MER); c)
Gedemsa WFB segments (boundary between Northern and Central MER); d) Awasa–Shala and Langano–Ziway WFB segments (Central MER). Insets in the top, left corners
schematically illustrate the local architecture of the WFB segments; insets in the bottom, right corners display a schematic structural pattern illustrating the adjustment of the Wonji
faults to the trend of the boundary faults (trends of both structures and the obliquity angles between them are also reported). Inset in bottom, right corner modified from Kurz et al.
(2007).

suggest that silicic rocks may have been generated by fractional
crystallization of transitional basaltic magmas in shallow-level magma
chambers, with some degree of crustal assimilation (e.g., Gasparon et al.,
1993; Boccaletti et al.,1995; Trua et al.,1999; Peccerillo et al., 2003, 2007;
Rooney et al., 2007). The chemistry of 28 to 2.5 Ma-old silicic rocks
indicate a possible increase in crustal involvement with time, suggestive
of a progressive thermal and mechanical weakening of the crust in
response to thinning and magmatic modification of the lithosphere
(Ayalew et al., 2006), as imaged by geophysical data (see Section 5.4). At
shallow levels, magmas can fractionate in predominantly small magma
bodies (dikes) and some larger magma chambers (e.g., nested calderas),
where zoned reservoirs are produced with a peralkaline silicic upper
layer and basalts at the bottom (e.g., Peccerillo et al., 2007). In this
system, eruption preferentially taps the silicic layer, giving rise to the
abundant silicic activity, whereas mafic melts reach the surface when
fractures intersect the lower layer of the shallow chamber or reach some
22 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Fig. 18. a) Photo of the Asela escarpment showing the large vertical offset of the border fault system (indicated in the close up of panel b). c) Photo a Wonji fault northeast of Lake
Ziway showing the small vertical displacement (indicated in the close up of panel d) typical of the WFB. Note the difference in deformation style. Photo A. Agostini.

deep underplated basalt reservoirs (Fig. 28a; Peccerillo et al., 2007).
Remnants of the crystallized magmatic material, basically consisting of
mafic magmas and their cumulates, are imaged by geophysical data
beneath the rift (see Section 5.4). Rooney et al. (2005) and Furman et al.
(2006) suggest that this model may be applicable for the large centres
but cannot work for cindercones and fissures; their petrological data
indicate that each cinder cone has magmas derived from slightly
different sources precluding large magma chambers feeding multiple
cones. Rooney et al. (2007) indicate that Wonji magmatic segments in
the Northern MER represent well-developed magmatic system that
allow magmas to rise quickly through existing conduits from melt
generation zones to shallow levels (Fig. 28b); geochemical analysis
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
Fig. 19. Symmetrical spatial distribution of surface deformation type and style within
the different WFB tectono-magmatic segments in the Northern MER (after Kurz et al.,
2007).
indicate that Quaternary magmas are generated at ~15–25 kbar (~50–
90 km; Rooney et al., 2005; Furman et al., 2006).
A temporal evolution from silicic volcanism from the shallow
magma chambers to basaltic activity within the Wonji segments has
also been suggested (Abebe et al., 2007). In this model, the successive
cooling, faulting and fracturing of the silicic centres may allow the
upraising and eruption of basaltic lava flows, which may have led to an
increase in basaltic activity in the last 0.65 Ma (Abebe et al., 2007).
This temporal trend mimics the northward increase in basaltic
volcanism toward Southern Afar (see Hayward and Ebinger, 1996).
In Afar, during the last 4 Myr magmatism has been bimodal, but with
predominance of basaltic rocks over silicic products (e.g., Lahitte et al.,
2003). Volcanism indeed mainly consisted in the eruption of a thick
stratiform sequence of fissure-fed basaltic to hawaiite lava flows
(‘Stratoid Series’; e.g., Barberi et al., 1975). Silicic (trachy-rhyolites to
pantellerites) central volcanoes locally grew on the upper part of the
Stratoid Series (see Lahitte et al., 2003 and references therein). Further
to the north, in Central and Northern Afar, the zone of Quaternary
extension and magmatism is marked by clusters of voluminous fissure
basalts and basaltic shield volcanoes of a transitional alkali/tholeiitic
composition. These axial basalt ranges are interpreted to be sub-aerial
equivalents of oceanic spreading centres (e.g., Barberi and Varet, 1977;
Hayward and Ebinger, 1996).
5.3.2. Central MER
In the Central MER, early eruption of the ~ 30 Ma-old flood basalts
was locally followed by undersaturated intermediate and acidic rocks
(at ~17–12 Ma; Shebele Trachyte of WoldeGabriel et al., 1990) and by
eruption of Late Miocene (~11–8 Ma) basalts and trachybasalts with
subordinate silicic flows (Guraghe basalts of WoldeGabriel et al., 1990;
Guraghe–Anchar basalts of Abebe et al., 2005 and Bonini et al., 2005;
see also Morton et al., 1979; Kazmin et al., 1980; WoldeGabriel et al.,
1990; Abebe et al., 1998; Chernet et al., 1998; Mazzarini et al., 1999).
Comparison with time-correlative basaltic units in both the western
and eastern plateaus and correlation with volcanic sections away from
the rift, suggest that the volcanics of this Late Miocene event erupted
23
over a low-relief landscape and preceded the main rifting phases
(Bonini et al., 2005; Abebe et al., 2005).
This volcanic event was followed by minor local volcanic activity
such as some basaltic flows characterising the Addis Ababa area
(Addis Ababa basalts; Abebe et al., 2005), with ages ranging between
7.5 and 5 Ma (Morton et al., 1979, Chernet et al., 1998).
As in the Northern MER, the onset of major deformation is
accompanied by volcanism with fundamentally bimodal character,
with predominant acid products and associated basalts (Fig. 26). In
particular, the syn-rift volcanism starts with eruption of voluminous
silicic pyroclastic material (Butajira Ignimbrites of WoldeGabriel et al.,
1990; Nazret pyroclastics of Abebe et al., 2005) that largely
characterises the rift floor and attains a maximum estimated thickness
of about 700 m. This silicic unit consists of peralkaline pantelleritic
ignimbrites with minor intercalated basaltic lava flows, and rhyolitic
and trachytic lava domes associated with lava flows. Major ignimbritic
layers are believed to have formed by cataclysmic eruption related to
the collapse of large caldera structures (such as the 3.5 Ma-old
“Munesa crystal tuff” Caldera now buried beneath the Ziway–Shala
lake basin system; see Le Turdu et al., 1999). The ages of the Nazret
pyroclastics typically range between 5.2 and 2.6 Ma, with a maximum
concentration at about 3.5 Ma (e.g., Abebe et al., 2005 and references
therein). The sequence is followed by upper Pliocene basalts and
pyroclastic deposits analogous to those described in the Northern
MER.
During the Pliocene the volcanic activity also characterises the
eastern and western plateaus, close to the rift margin (Fig. 29). On the
western margin, volcanic activity gives rise to some central silicic
volcanoes (such as Wechacha, Furi and Yerer) that are preferentially
aligned in a E–W trend and are intimately related to the deformation
along the transversal Yerer–Tullu volcano-tectonic lineament (Abebe
et al.,1998; Chernet et al.,1998; Mazzarini et al.,1999; see Section 5.2.3.).
Radiometric ages of 4.6–3.3 Ma were obtained for the western marginal
volcanoes (Miller and Mohr, 1966; Kunz et al., 1975; Mohr and Potter,
1976; Morton et al., 1979; Kazmin et al., 1980; WoldeGabriel et al., 1990;
Mazzarini et al., 1999). On the Somalian plateau, trachytic and basaltic
central volcanoes grew during Pliocene times, giving rise to an
important phase of off-axis volcanism (see Section 5.3.4).
The subsequent volcanic activity is spatially associated with the
oblique faults of the Wonji Fault belt (Wonji Group) and is
characterised by a typical bimodal association, as explained in
Section 5.3.2. Major ignimbritic eruptions, related to large caldera
Fig. 20. Simplified cartoon showing the development of faults and fissures during a
single dyke injection event (after Tentler 2005 and Rowland et al., 2007). I: A dyke
injection event occurs at depth at a critical moment governed by the balance between
the magma pressure and the tectonic stress state. II: Normal faults are initiated or
reactivated ahead of and above the laterally and possibly upward propagating dyke. III:
Pre-existing sub-vertical cooling joints are reactivated as opening mode fissures in the
region of induced stress above the upper tip line of the normal faults. Once the upward
propagating normal faults and the fissures are fully linked, vertical displacement
accrues at the surface.
24 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
Fig. 21. Simplified model of formation and growth of the normal faults in the axial part of the Ethiopian Rift (after Acocella et al., 2003). a) Initial development and growth of
extension fractures. b) Fractures reach a critical depth is reached where the tensile stresses can no longer be sustained. c) At this stage, a failure behaviour controls the further
propagation of the ruptures at depth and the extensional fractures turn into normal faults.
collapses (e.g., Gademotta, O'a, Corbetti) blanketed the rift floor,
especially at around 0.20–0.30 Ma, when a regional paroxism of silicic
and basaltic volcanism is recognised (Fig. 30; e.g., Morton et al., 1979;
Le Turdu et al., 1999). Radiometric ages of this activity are generally
Quaternary (b1.6 Ma; e.g., WoldeGabriel et al., 1990; Chernet et al.,
1998; Abebe et al., 2005), whereas the last eruptions are estimated to
be Holocene-historical in age (see Abebe et al., 2005 and references
therein).
As in the Northern MER, the bimodality of magmatic products with
predominance of acidic products over mafic volcanics has been
explained in terms of zoned magma chambers containing rhyolitic
melt at their top and erupting preferentially acid magmas, with
subordinate mafic melts erupting when fractures reach the lower
layer of the chamber or deep underplated basalt reservoirs (Fig. 28a;
e.g., Peccerillo et al., 2007). Rooney et al. (2007) suggested a more
complex magmatic system in the Central MER, characterised by two
different sub-parallel tectono-magmatic zones (the volcanic chains of
Debre Zeyt and Butajira to the West, and the Wonji Fault Belt
segments to the East) differing in terms of depths of melt fractiona-
tion, which in turn reflect the different maturity of the magmatic
plumbing system. In this model, the Wonji Belt is characterised by a
well-developed magmatic system, analogous to that of the Northern
MER and possibly representing its southwards propagation; con-
versely, the Debre Zeyt and Butajira volcanic chains display a less
evolved magmatic system, with less defined conduits and melt
fractionation at various depths within the crust, which may be related
to the northwards propagation of the EARS (see Section 6.1.2).
5.3.3. Southern MER
The Tertiary volcanic activity in the Southern MER started earlier
than in the other MER sectors, since the pre-rift flood-basalt event is
dated at about 45 Ma (Amaro–Gamo basalts of Ebinger et al., 1993; see
also Davison and Rex, 1980; WoldeGabriel et al., 1991; George et al.,
1998; Yemane et al., 1999; Ebinger et al., 2000). This initial mainly
basaltic activity ended around 30 Ma (Zanettin et al., 1978). According
to Levitte et al. (1974) and Zanettin et al. (1978) a second phase of
mainly basaltic volcanism started in the Early Miocene with the
eruption of stratoid basalts (equivalent to the Getra–Kele basalts of
Ebinger et al., 1993). Dykes intruding the Amaro–Gamo sequence on
the Chencha escarpment and on the opposite rift margin (the western
margin of the Amaro horst) have been dated at about 21 Ma (Levitte et
al., 1974) and may represent feeding dykes for the Getra–Kele basalts.
Volcanic activity continued in this area during the Miocene up to
11 Ma, with eruption of basalts, trachytes and rhyolites (Zanettin et al.,
1978; Ebinger et al., 1993).
After these events, volcanic activity drastically decreased in the
Upper Miocene–Lower Pliocene, with only a limited eruption of
~7 Ma-old basalts that crop out scarcely in the plateau above the
Chencha escarpment. Volcanic activity was then resumed in the Late
Pliocene(?)–Early Pleistocene (Zanettin et al., 1978), with bimodal
volcanism on the rift floor. This late activity started with the eruption
of widespread Pleistocene ignimbrites (1.6–0.5 Ma) that, although
younger, may be correlated to the Nazret unit that largely char-
acterises the Northern MER (Bonini et al., 2005). The volcanic
succession is closed by the Nech Sar olivine basalts (1.34–0.77 Ma;
Ebinger et al., 1993), by 0.66 Ma-old trachybasalts of the Bobem
volcano, and by pumiceous tuffs, obsidian flows and basalts in the
Bridge of God area (Ebinger et al., 1993; George and Rogers, 1999;
Bonini et al., 2005). Some olivine basalts derived from N10°E-striking
fissures and cinder cones located along the eastern Chamo basin and
Bridge of God may have erupted in historic times (Ebinger et al., 1993).
The Nech Sar basalts and successive volcanic activity are coeval with
the Wonji basalts of the Northern MER, although they show a higher
alkalinity suggesting that the Southern MER underwent a compara-
tively minor degree of extension (Zanettin et al., 1978).
5.3.4. Spatio-temporal distribution of volcanic activity
The spatio-temporal distribution of volcanic activity in the MER is
characterised by a two-phase evolution that mimics the two-phase
evolution of faulting, with the transition from large boundary faults to
en-echelon Wonji faults.
During the Mio-Pliocene, concomitant with the activity of the large
boundary fault systems, there is widespread volcanic activity, with
volcanism encompassing the whole rift depression (Fig. 31). Localisation
of volcanic centres is mainly controlled by boundary fault systems and
by pre-existing fabrics both parallel and transversal to the rift. Influence
of boundary faults on localisation of volcanism in these initial stages of
rifting is well testified in the different rift segments (e.g., WoldeGabriel
et al., 1990, 1999; Ebinger et al., 1993; Wolfenden et al., 2004). Similarly,
pre-existing fabrics represented important features controlling the
localisation of volcanism during initial rifting, as they acted as weakness
zones and represented preferential pathways for ascending magmas,
whereas during progressive rift evolution their influence is expected to
have decreased (e.g., Mohr, 1983). Transversal fabrics corresponded to
NW–SE-trending pre-existing structures (see Section 5.2.3) and gave
rise to the localisation of magmatic activity at major transfer zones, as
currently observed in the weakly extended Western Branch of the EARS
(e.g., Ebinger et al., 1989; Ebinger, 1989; Corti et al., 2003) and other rift
zones worldwide (e.g., Wilson, 1993). The influence of rift-parallel pre-
existing fabrics is still testified by the alignment of off-axis volcanoes
that grew on the Somalian plateau during the Mio-Pliocene (Fig. 29; e.g.,
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 25

Fig. 22. a) Landsat image and structural interpretations of Wonji fault segments north of Lake Abaya. b) Detail of small-scale analogue model of oblique rifting (after Corti, 2008) with
structural scheme showing the en-echelon fault pattern resulting from the left-lateral transcurrent component of motion. Note the similarity between the model and natural
structural pattern.

Mohr and Potter,1976). Although different hypothesis have been applied
for explaining the development of these off-axis volcanic centres (see
Corti et al., 2003 and references therein), Corti et al. (2004) suggested
that lateral magma migration may have favoured magma accumulation
below the rift shoulders with the final emplacement controlled by rift-
parallel pre-existing weaknesses (Mohr and Potter, 1976) aided by an
extensional stress field developing on the plateaus flanking the rift
(Ellis and King, 1991). The close correspondence between the volcanic
trend and the basement fabric (although locally obscured by the flood-
basalt cover) supports a strong control exerted by pre-existing
weaknesses on the development of off-axis volcanism (Fig. 29; Mohr
and Potter, 1976).
26 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Fig. 23. Recent and active tectonics in the Bridge of God area (from Bonini et al., 2005). (a) Satellite Landsat TM image. (b) View from the south of the axial graben, marking a riftward
deformation, extending from Lake Abaya to Lake Chamo (Bridge of God area). (c) View from the west of the fault bounding to the east the fault-controlled axial basin. Ongoing
deformation of this structure is demonstrated by the sharp and fresh west-dipping fault scarp, indicated by the tip of black triangles.

At the end of the Pliocene there is a substantial change in the
distribution of volcanic activity, concomitant with the activation of the
Wonji fault belt. Quaternary volcanism is indeed focused within the
rift depression and strongly localised along the Wonji faults, giving
rise to magmatic segments with only minor activity outside the en-
echelon deformation belt (Fig. 31). At surface, the alignment of
volcanic centres strikingly mimics the trend of the Wonji faults
(compare plots of faults/eruptive centres distribution in Figs. 10–12,
27); at depth, geophysical data indicate a strong magma intrusion
below the deformation segments, with trend and en-echelon
architecture mimicking that of Wonji structures (e.g., Keranen et al.,
2004; see Section 5.4.1). The strong association between deformation
and magmatism along the Wonji Fault belt gives rise to magmatic
segments (see Ebinger and Casey, 2001) that are well developed in the
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 27

Fig. 24. Schematic representation of the main volcano-tectonic features along the Yerer-Tullu Wellel and Goba–Bonga transversal structures.

Northern MER; conversely, consistent with a southwards decrease in
extension and rift evolution, magmatic segments are less expressed in
the Central MER where extension and magmatic modification seem to
be less developed (e.g., Rooney et al., 2007).
Similarly, a northward increase in basaltic activity is observed,
with fissural basalts dominating over silicic products in the Afar
depression (see Section 5.3.1). Mohr and Wood (1976) also noted a
northward decrease in the separation between large eruptive centres
in the MER and Afar, a pattern that may be controlled by a decrease in
the effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere (see Section 5.4; Ten
Brink, 1991).
5.4. Geophysical data constraining the crustal and mantle structure in
the MER
5.4.1. Crustal structure
Knowledge of the crustal and lithospheric structure of the Main
Ethiopian Rift has increased significantly in recent years. This is
28 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Fig. 25. Simplified structural sketch of the Lake Tana region (modified from Mege and Korme, 2004) superimposed on a SRTM digital elevation model. Location indicated in the inset.

mainly due to the large amount of data collected for the Ethiopian Geoscientific Lithospheric Experiment; Maguire et al., 2003) pro-
Broadband Experiment (Nyblade and Langston, 2002; Dugda et al., jects. This latter in particular collected new seismic (Keranen et al.,
2005; Benoit et al., 2006a,b), and the EAGLE (Ethiopia–Afar 2004; Bastow et al., 2005; MacKenzie et al., 2005; Kendall et al.,

Fig. 26. Total alkali silica diagram for volcanic products from the MER (after Abebe et al., 2005). Ages and main lithologic characteristics (see main text; Abebe et al., 2005): Guraghe–
Anchar Basalts (basaltic and trachybasaltic lava flows, intercalated with minor rhyolitic tuffs; Late Miocene), Addis Ababa Basalts (basaltic lava flows; Late Miocene), Nazret
Pyroclastic Rocks (ignimbrites, lava flows and domes; Late Miocene–Pliocene), Gash Megal Rhyolites (lava flows and pyroclastic deposits; Late Miocene?–Pliocene), Wechacha
Trachytes (lava flows and lava domes with minor pyroclastics; Pliocene), Bofa Basalts (basaltic lava flows; Pliocene–Pleistocene), Chilalo Volcanics (basaltic to trachytic lava flows,
Pliocene–Pleistocene), Chefe Donsa Pyroclastic Deposits (volcanic ash flow and fall deposits; Pliocene–Pleistocene), Akaki Basalts (basaltic lava flows and scoria cones; Pliocene),
Zikwala Trachytes (lava flows and subordinate pyroclastic deposits; Pleistocene), Bora–Bericha Rhyolites (ignimbrites, lava flows, domes and phreatomagmatic deposits;
Pleistocene–Holocene), Wonji Basalts (basaltic lava flows, scoria and phreatomagmatic deposits; Pleistocene–Holocene).
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
Fig. 27. Satellite (Landsat) image (left panel) and digital elevation model (right panel) of the Boseti volcano, showing the alignment of Quaternary volcanic centres along the Wonji
Fault Belt. For the location of the volcano see Fig. 10.
2005, 2006; Maguire et al., 2006; Stuart et al., 2006; Daly et al.,
2008), gravity (Cornwell et al., 2006; Mickus et al., 2007), seismicity
(Keir et al., 2006a,b), geodetic (Bendick et al., 2006), magnetotelluric
(Whaler and Hautot, 2006), and geochemical (Rooney et al., 2005;
Furman et al., 2006; Rooney et al., 2007) data, which – although
unevenly distributed along the MER and mainly concentrated in
the Northern MER–Central MER and adjacent plateaus – allowed
to greatly improve the knowledge of the crustal and lithospheric
structure of the rift.
Although it is outside the scope of this paper to review all the
details of the geophysical data acquired in the MER, I will summarise
below the main findings of these geophysical projects that are
relevant for the process of rifting and break-up.
5.4.1.1. Ethiopian and Somalian Plateaus. The crust beneath the
Ethiopian and Somalian Plateaus has not been modified significantly
by the Cenozoic rifting and magmatism; both plateaus are char-
acterised by thick crust, which are generally N38–40 km (Figs. 32, 33;
Berckhemer et al., 1975; Kebede et al., 1996; Mackenzie et al., 2005;
Dugda et al., 2005, 2007; Stuart et al., 2006; Keranen and Klemperer,
2008; Keranen et al., 2009). The Somalian Plateau is of relatively
constant thickness from north to south whereas the Ethiopian Plateau
has a strong north–south decrease in crustal thickness. This variation
occurs rather sharply at 9°N latitude in correspondence to the YTVL
transverse structure where the western shoulder thins rapidly from
N 38–40 km thick to 34–36 km thick (Berckhemer et al., 1975; Dugda
et al., 2005; Stuart et al., 2006; Dugda et al., 2007; Keranen and
Klemperer, 2008; Keranen et al., 2009). In both the Somalian and
Ethiopian (northwest of latitude 9°N) plateaus, there is a rather sharp
transition to a thinner crust (of ~ 5 km) below the rift (Fig. 33).
Rayleigh wave/receiver function joint inversion analysis by Keranen
et al. (2009) suggests the presence of a widespread, low lower-crust
(and uppermost mantle, see Section 5.4.2) shear-wave velocity beneath
the rift, the NW shoulder and the region of the Somalian Plateau covered
by flood-basalt volcanism. This velocity anomaly has been interpreted to
29
be caused by high temperatures and the presence of melt (up to 20% of
melt; Keranen et al., 2009), as also supported by analysis of electrical
conductivity (Whaler and Hautot, 2006), shear-wave splitting (Keir et
al., 2005), bulk-crustal Vp/Vs ratios (Dugda et al., 2005; Stuart et al.,
2006) and also consistent with the presence of Quaternary eruptive
centres as far north as Lake Tana and with an off-rift low-velocity
anomaly in the upper mantle (Bastow et al., 2005, 2008).
A high-velocity layer in lower crust, evidenced by controlled-
source seismic survey from the EAGLE experiment has been
interpreted to be an underplated mafic material emplaced in
association with the voluminous flood basalts and thickening the
crust to 40–50 km (MacKenzie et al., 2005; Maguire et al., 2006). This
layer is believed to be a localised feature and not to be a widespread
characteristic of the NW shoulder (Keranen et al., 2009).
Based on the geophysical observations, Keranen and Klemperer
(2008) suggested that the Ethiopian and Somalian Plateaus corre-
spond to two major Proterozoic basement terranes (Fig. 34). The
difference in geophysical characteristics is evident in crustal thickness
(variable in a north–south direction in the Ethiopian Plateau, rather
constant in the Somalian Plateau), in an observed difference in Vp/Vs
ratio between the two plateaus that may reflect a difference in pre-rift
crustal composition (Stuart et al., 2006), and in upper-mantle
velocities (e.g., Bastow et al., 2005). The difference in crustal structure
from shoulder to shoulder implies a pre-existing boundary between
the two distinct basement terranes, which probably corresponds to a
roughly NE–SW-trending Proterozoic suture (Fig. 34; Keranen and
Klemperer, 2008). Coincidence of the MER extensional structures with
this terrane boundary strongly suggests that the location and initial
evolution of the extensional process in the MER was strongly
controlled by the presence of this ancient lithospheric-scale hetero-
geneity (see also Section 6.1; Keranen and Klemperer, 2008).
5.4.1.2. Northern MER. The Northern MER is characterised by a large
dataset of geophysical data (source and passive seismic, gravity and
30 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
Fig. 28. a) Schematic cross-section showing a possible model for the distribution of
magma chambers along the northern sector of the main Ethiopian rift (after Peccerillo
et al., 2007). b) Schematic representation of the magmatic plumbing system beneath
the Wonji Fault Belt and Debre Zeyt–Butajira volcanic chains (after Rooney et al., 2007).
This cartoon shows that the magmatic plumbing system beneath the Wonji Faults is
more developed than that beneath the Debre Zeyt–Butajira volcanoes. This results in
magmas within the Wonji Fault Belt rising toward the surface more rapidly,
fractionating close to the surface. Beneath the Debre Zeyt–Butajira volcanic chains the
magmas may fractionate at various crustal depths prior to eruption. Note that this
cartoon best explains the crustal structure of the Central MER, where the volcano-
tectonic activity is localised at the two rift margins; conversely, the Northern MER is
characterised by a single rift-centred zone of magmatism (beneath the Wonji Fault
Belt). See text for further details.
magnetotelluric experiments), mainly collected in the frame of the
EAGLE project.
The cross-sectional crustal thickness profile is typical for a
continental rift profile, with large border faults bounding the rift,
and rift shoulders that are ~ 5 km thicker than the crust beneath the
rift valley (Mackenzie et al., 2005; Dugda et al., 2005; Stuart et al.,
2006; Maguire et al., 2006; Dugda et al., 2007; Mickus et al., 2007;
Keranen et al., 2009); the seismic and structural data show large
asymmetries in the basin infill, with tilting towards the large-offset
border fault system (see Section 5.2.1.1). Along the rift axis, the crust
in this rift sector gradually thins to the north, from about 33–35 km
at the Northern MER–Central MER boundary to about 24–26 km in
southern Afar (Fig. 32; Kebede et al., 1996; Dugda et al., 2005;
Maguire et al., 2006; Mickus et al., 2007; Stuart et al., 2006). North-
ward thinning of the crust is mostly accommodated in the upper
crust (e.g., Mackenzie et al., 2005); the lower crust is instead of
rather constant thickness. Locally (as beneath the Fantale–Dofen
magmatic segment) the crust is thicker than the surroundings; this
is associated with the highest upper-crustal seismic velocity and
highest Poisson's ratios, suggesting that magmatic processes may
have locally thickened the crust (with respect to the rest of the
Northern MER) in a zone of overall extension (see below; Keranen
and Klemperer, 2008).
Crustal tomography reveals the presence of anomalously fast,
elongate bodies in the mid- to lower crust extending along the rift axis
and rising to a ~ 10 km subsurface (Fig. 35; Keranen et al., 2004; Daly
et al., 2008). These 20-km-wide and 50-km-long bodies are separated
and laterally offset from one another in a right-stepping en-echelon
pattern, approximately mimicking surface segmentation of Quatern-
ary volcanic centres. The anomalously fast bodies are also charac-
terised by a high Vp/Vs ratio (Daly et al., 2008), which increase from
beneath the margin of the northwestern plateau into the rift (and
northward along the length of the MER; Dugda et al., 2005; Stuart
et al., 2006), and by relative positive Bouguer anomalies (Mahatsente
et al., 1999, 2000; Tessema and Fontaine, 2004; Tiberi et al., 2005;
Cornwell et al., 2006); both features are interpreted as indicating the
presence of mid- to lower-crustal cooled mafic intrusions (Keranen
et al., 2004; Daly et al., 2008). Results of gravity analysis by Cornwell
et al. (2006) suggest that these intrusions contain at least 40% gabbro.
The magnitude of the Vp/Vs ratios and P-wave velocity anomalies
along the rift axis could also indicate the presence of a molten fraction
in fractures within the solidified mafic intrusions (Dugda et al., 2005;
Stuart et al., 2006; Daly et al., 2008), as suggested on the basis of
petrological evidences (Rooney et al., 2005).
Geophysical data support the presence of melt in the crust and
upper mantle beneath Wonji segments. Patterns of seismic velocity
anisotropy determined from shear-wave splitting studies (Kendall
et al., 2005; Keir et al., 2005; Kendall et al., 2006) suggest magma
intrusion throughout the continental lithosphere beneath Wonji
segments. In particular, the magnitude of anisotropy and its
parallelism with aligned chains of eruptive centres and fissures
suggest the presence of melt-filled cracks and/or dykes that penetrate
both the upper crust and the uppermost mantle to a depth of ~75 km
(Kendall et al., 2005; Keir et al., 2005; Kendall et al., 2006). Similarly,
the low lower-crust (and uppermost mantle, see Section 5.4.2) shear-
wave velocity beneath the rift imaged by Keranen et al. (2009)
indicates high temperatures and the presence of melt. Magneto-
telluric analysis (Whaler and Hautot, 2006) image a low resistivity
zone at ~ 1 km depth beneath Boseti volcano, which may represent a
shallow magma body (Fig. 36); presence of magma bodies in the
uppermost crust is also supported by gravity modelling (Cornwell
et al., 2006).
The above findings indicate that the crust beneath the rifted
regions in Ethiopia has been extensively modified by magmatic
processes and by the addition of mafic rock in the mid- to lower crust.
Geophysical data support that magmatic modification increases
northwards from the Northern MER to the Southern Afar, i.e. towards
the more oceanic part of the rift (e.g., Kendall et al., 2006), consistent
with a northward increase in thinning. Notably, this thinning is mostly
accommodated in the upper to middle crust, whereas the lower crust
has relatively constant thickness along the length of rift suggestive of a
low strength and viscous behaviour, possibly caused by high
temperatures and presence of melt (Keranen et al., 2009).
5.4.1.3. Central MER. The MER in its central sector is characterised
by a thicker crust than the Northern MER with a clear and abrupt
transition in crustal properties coincident with the Boru Toru
structural high at the Northern MER–Central MER boundary (Bonini
et al., 2005; Maguire et al., 2006; Keranen and Klemperer, 2008). In
particular, crustal thickness increases rapidly from 33–35 km in the
southernmost Northern MER to 38–40 km in the Central MER
(Figs. 32, 33; Dugda et al., 2005; Maguire et al., 2006; Mickus et al.,
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 31

Fig. 29. Digital elevation model (left panel) and structural scheme (right panel) showing the main off-axis volcanoes that developed during the Mio-Pliocene on the Somalian
Plateau. Dashed lines indicate the trend of pre-existing fabrics that possibly feed the volcanoes.

Fig. 30. Schematic time chart of volcanism in the Lakes region of the Central MER from middle Pliocene to present-day. After Le Turdu et al. (1999).
32 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Fig. 31. Distribution of volcanic rocks in the MER in the Mio-Pliocene and Quaternary.

2007; Stuart et al., 2006; Keranen et al., 2009), although local
estimates in volcanic areas indicate thicknesses b30 km (Mazzarini,
2004). The majority of the crustal thickness variation is accommo-
dated in the upper crust, whereas the lower crust is of relatively
constant thickness. In cross-section, crustal thickness gradients
between the plateaus and the rift depression are sensibly lower in
the Central MER than in the Northern MER. The upper crust has a
significantly lower seismic velocity (Maguire et al., 2006). All these
observations point to a significant change in crustal (and upper
mantle, see below) structure between the Northern MER and the
Central MER, which may be interpreted as reflecting a discontinuity in
the amount of extension and magmatism between the two rift sectors

Fig. 32. Cross-sections across (a) and along (b) the rift axis from the EAGLE controlled-source experiment (after Mackenzie et al., 2005; Maguire et al., 2006; Keranen and Klemperer, 2008).
P-wave velocities are given in km/s. The superjacent elevation profiles are plotted with respect to sea level. HVLC – high-velocity lower crust; solid black lines – reflectors; vertical lines –
segment boundaries (dashed at the poorly localised monoclinal boundary between the Ethiopian Plateau and the NMER); solid gray line – Moho; dashed gray line – approximate location of
Moho. The dashed black line in (b) shows the boundary between an upper mantle with density of 3.25 kg/m3 and 3.15 kg/m3 from the model of Mickus et al. (2007). (For interpretation of
the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 33

Notably, a high P-wave anomaly and high Vp/Vs ratio is observed

beneath the Debre Zeyt volcanic field, at the intersection between the
MER faults and the transversal YTVL. This area is underlain by hot
asthenosphere (Bastow et al., 2005, 2008) and is probably associated
to the presence of melt in the crust (e.g., Whaler and Hautot, 2006;
Stuart et al., 2006). Seismic tomography (Keranen et al., 2004) has
identified a high-velocity anomaly underlying the Debre Zeyt region
that may represent a cooled intrusion; xenolith evidence (Rooney
et al., 2005) suggests that this large geophysical anomaly may reflect
pervasive dyking/veining (to a depth of at least 30 km) rather than a
single large intrusion. Magnetotelluric data (Whaler and Hautot,
2006) highlight a zone of conductive material at lower-crustal depths
(beginning at ~15 km and becoming more conductive and wider at
20–25 km) indicating the presence of melt within the cooled mafic
intrusion or dyking region. These observations suggest that the Debre
Zeyt region may be a zone of extension and focused decompressional
melting (Rooney et al., 2005), although the lack of typical deformation
features (Wolfenden et al., 2004; Casey et al., 2006) and seismic
activity (Keir et al., 2006a, see Section 5.5) that characterise the Wonji
segments in the Northern MER led Keir et al. (2006a) to suggest that
the Butajira and Debre Zeyt volcanic chains are either unfavourably
oriented ‘failed’ magmatic segments, or incipient zones of strain
related to Wonji segments branching off from the western rift margin
(Bonini et al., 2005; Abebe et al., 2005).

Fig. 33. Contour map of Moho depth after Keranen et al. (2009). The dashed gray lines
show the rift outlines. Solid black lines are the rift border faults. For the mapped area,
sensitivity testing indicates an uncertainty in the depth of the Moho discontinuity of
about 2.5 km; comparison with active source wide-angle profiles from the EAGLE
experiment (Maguire et al., 2006) confirms the reliability of the Moho depth estimates
(Keranen et al., 2009). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
(e.g., Keranen and Klemperer, 2008). In particular, the differences in
geophysical characteristics (thicker crust, lower magnitude upper-
crustal velocities and higher uppermost mantle density, see below) in
the Central MER reflect the lower amount of extension and magmatic
modification in the crust (and upper mantle).
5.4.1.4. Southern MER. Few geophysical data are available for the
southern sector of the MER. Receiver function analysis from the
Ethiopian Broadband Seismic Experiment (Dugda et al., 2005) suggest
a crustal thickness decrease in the Southern MER to values of ~30 km
(Fig. 33), consistent with gravity modelling (Mahatsente et al., 1999,
2000). The low Poisson's ratio at one station in the Southern MER and
the lower surface volcanic activity within the rift depression suggest
the absence of significant magmatic processes in this rift's sector.
These observations point to a further decrease in extension and
magmatic modification in the Southern MER. The lower-crustal
thickness in this rift sector with respect to the Central MER is probably
related to the superposition of multiple phases of rifting in the
Mesozoic and Cenozoic that created a thinner-than-normal crust in the

Fig. 34. Pre-existing lithospheric domains, crustal thickness, and locations of Cenozoic extension and volcanism in the MER (after Keranen and Klemperer, 2008). Cenozoic extension
follows the rheological boundaries between two distinct Proterozoic basement terranes, underlying the Ethiopian and Somalian plateaus; this lithospheric weakness zone
corresponded to a suture zone. Crustal modification occurred within the MER and the Yerer–Tullu Wellel volcano-tectonic lineament; this latter developed in correspondence to the
sharp north–south decrease in crustal thickness which characterises the Ethiopian plateau at 9°N latitude.
34 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Fig. 35. Three-dimensional seismic velocity model of Keranen et al. (2004). Horizontal slice at 10 km depth (left) and rift-perpendicular cross-sections (right) highlighting the
occurrence of high-velocity (Vp) bodies below rift axis interpreted as solidified magmatic intrusions. Magmatic segments are shown by dotted lines in left panel. H – Hertale, LHF –
Liado Hayk field, D – Dofan, F – Fantale, K – Kone, B – Boseti, Y – Yerer, Z – Zikwala, G – Gedemsa, TM – Tullu Moje, Al – Aluto, Sh – Shala. The vertical arrow in the right-upper panel
indicates the high-velocity body. Depth of slice (DS) in left panel is marked by horizontal line in the cross-sections. ABF–Arboye border fault. (For interpretation of the references to
colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

area (Benoit et al., 2006c). The first rifting event at 20 Ma (caused by
the northward propagation of the Kenya rift) further thinned the crust
before the Pliocene southward propagation of the Ethiopian rift (see
Bonini et al., 2005).
5.4.2. Upper mantle structure
The magmatic modification that is evident in the crust beneath the
rift is also mimicked in the upper mantle. In the Northern MER, a low-
velocity (Mackenzie et al., 2005) and low-density (Cornwell et al.,
2006) uppermost mantle characterises the region below the rift,
indicating the presence of hot rocks containing a small percentage (3–
5%) of melt in an upwelling mantle immediately beneath the Moho.
Shear-wave splitting studies (Kendall et al., 2005, 2006) support the
presence of melt-filled cracks and/or dykes in the upper mantle that
penetrate to a depth of ~ 75 km. According to Keranen et al. (2009) the
Northern MER corresponds (together with YTVL) to the region with
the lowest upper-mantle shear-wave velocity in the 5 km below
the Moho, further supporting the presence of hot temperatures and
melts.
Joint inversion of receiver functions and Rayleigh wave group
velocities by Dugda et al. (2007) suggest that due to these magmatic
modifications, the mantle lithosphere is nonexistent of greatly
thinned beneath the MER and the Afar depression. This is consistent
with estimates of a very low elastic thickness of the lithosphere of ~ 8
(±2) km in the Northern MER and Central MER (Ebinger and
Hayward, 1996), with values further decreasing to ~6 (±2) km in
Southern Afar. A thin lithospheric mantle extending from the Moho to
60–80 km depth is identified below the Ethiopian and Somalian
plateaus by Dugda et al. (2007); below the Ethiopian plateau, the
mantle lid is indentified in the southwestern part only, whereas a
similar layer is not observed beneath the northwestern portion
(Keranen et al., 2009). The thinned lithosphere beneath the Ethiopian
Plateau can be explained by a mantle plume model, if a plume rapidly
thinned the lithosphere at the time of the flood-basalt event (at
around 30 Ma), and if warm plume material has remained beneath the
lithosphere since then (Dugda et al., 2007). The removal of the mantle
lithosphere beneath the rift is attributable to the extension-related
thinning, in addition to the plume-related effect (Dugda et al., 2007).
Beneath Afar, the lithosphere/asthenosphere structure approaches
that of an active spreading ridge system (see for instance exempli-
ficative cross-sections in Panza, 1980), and the crust has been
interpreted to consist predominantly of new igneous rock, emplaced
through dyking, sill formation and underplating during the late syn-
rift stage (Dugda and Nyblade, 2006), although the nature of the
lithosphere is still debated (e.g., Beyene and Abdelsalam, 2005).
Southwards, influence of magmatic activity seems to decrease
towards the Central MER, consistent with what suggested for the
crustal structure. A segmentation between the Northern MER and
Central MER is modelled in the along-axis EAGLE gravity model, which
shows a step in upper-mantle density of ~100 kg/m3 at the Northern
MER–Central MER transition (Mickus et al., 2007).
Rooney et al. (2005) suggest, on the basis of analysis of xenoliths
from locations in and along the sides of the MER, that the lithospheric
mantle beneath Ethiopia has been modified significantly by silicate
melts. Modification of the lithosphere decreases southwards, as
indicated by the general increase in the strength of the lithosphere
(the elastic thickness of the lithosphere is estimated to be of ~ 17 (±2)
km in Southern MER; Ebinger and Hayward, 1996).
Analysis of the P- and S-wave velocity structure beneath the rift
and plateaus indicates that the low-velocity mantle zone continues to a
depth ≥75 km (Bastow et al., 2005; Benoit et al., 2006a,b; Pasyanos
and Nyblade, 2007; Bastow et al., 2008). Tomographic images reveal
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 35

Fig. 36. 2D model of resistivity structure across the MER (after Whaler and Hautot, 2006). Note the presence of red areas, which indicate low resistivity zones. These are interpreted as
indicating the presence of a shallow magma body beneath the Boseti volcano, and melts within the cooled mafic intrusions at lower-crustal depths. Station numbers, the extent of the
Boseti magmatic segment and Adama basin and a projection of the Silti Debre Zeyt Fault Zone (SDFZ) onto the model are indicated along the profile. (For interpretation of the
references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

indeed a ~ 500 km wide low P- and S-wave velocity zone at 75 to
≥ 400 km depth in the upper mantle that extends from close to the
eastern edge of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) westward beneath the
Ethiopian Plateau (Fig. 37). Within the broad anomaly, the lowest
velocity zones are not centred beneath the highly thinned Afar but
beneath the MER at ~9° N, 39°E; these low velocities are interpreted as
evidence for the presence of melt beneath the MER and adjacent NW
Plateau (Bastow et al., 2008) to depths in excess of those inferred for
the source of Quaternary lavas in the MER (50–90 km; Rooney et al.,
2005; Furman et al., 2006). It is unclear whether these low-velocity
zones result from focused mantle upwelling and/or enhanced
decompressional melting. Significant lateral smaller-scale heteroge-
neity at sub-lithospheric depths also characterise the rift shoulders
where a relatively faster velocity structure, down to depths of ~ 100 km
(Fig. 37), may indicate a strong/old/cold lithosphere whose greater
residual strength compared to the surrounding lithosphere may have
played an important role in rift development (Bastow et al., 2008).
Beneath the axis of the Northern MER and Southern Afar, the low-
velocity region is narrow and tabular, and is offset toward the side of
the rift with the higher rift flank topography (Ankober Border Fault);
this anomaly extends to ~ 150 km depth and then it broadens laterally
with depth. Southwards, the narrow, tabular low-velocity region
extends to ≥300 km depth (Fig. 37). At 75 km depth, a limb of low-
velocity structure extends from the NNE-trending Ethiopian rift more
than 100 km in a westerly direction from the Boseti magmatic
segment to the YTVL fault zone and the Debre Zeyt volcanic field
(e.g., Bastow et al., 2005, 2008).
At depths ≥150 km the centre of the anomalous upper mantle is
located beneath the Ethiopian plateau, not the MER or Afar, indicating
that rifting developed at the Eastern edge of the low-velocity zone.
Overall, the structure of the broad low-velocity anomaly has been
interpreted to be consistent with the upper-mantle continuation of
the African Superplume found in the lower mantle beneath southern
Africa (e.g., Benoit et al., 2006a,b; Bastow et al., 2008); the
heterogeneities imaged in the low-velocity region at 200–400 km
depth could be indicative of smaller upwellings from the underlying
superplume as suggested on the basis of geochemical findings (e.g.,
Furman et al., 2006; see Sections 4.1 and 4.3). However, the existence
of this large-scale whole-mantle structure and its connection with the
upper-mantle structures are highly debated (see Section 4.3).
36 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

5.5. Seismicity and distribution of current deformation

The MER is characterised by diffuse seismic activity, which is

usually represented by small to intermediate size events. Historical
records spanning the past 150 years show that large magnitude
(M N 6) earthquakes are rare throughout the rift (e.g., Gouin, 1979;
Asfaw, 1990; Kebede and Kulhanek, 1991; Foster and Jackson, 1998;
Ayele and Kulhanek, 2000; Hofstetter and Beyth, 2003; Keir et al.,
2006a,b), although seismic analysis suggests a maximal expected
magnitude of ~ 7, with a return period of about 80 yr (Horsfetter and
Beyth, 2003). Despite the widespread seismic activity, a comparison of
the expected released seismic moment and observed seismic moment
for the period 1960–2000 suggests that less than 50% of extension
across the MER may be accommodated by rapid slip on faults
(Hofstetter and Beyth, 2003). Thus most of the extensional deforma-
tion (N50%) seems to be accommodated aseismically, although the
time window over which seismicity data are analysed is rather short
to justify statistically significant conclusions since earthquake catalo-
gues of very limited duration may be not representative of long-term
tectonic processes.
Detailed data about the seismicity of the Northern and Central
MER have been acquired in the period from October 2001 to January
2003 by the EAGLE network of seismic stations (Keir et al., 2006a,b)
and during 2000–2002 by the stations of the Ethiopia Broadband
Seismic Experiment (Brazier et al., 2008). These data show that the
seismic activity in the Northern and Central MER is typically localised
within Wonji segments (Keir et al., 2006a; Fig. 38), pointing to a close
correlation between seismicity and alignments of Quaternary vol-
cano-tectonic zones. However, this does not occur for the Debre Zeyt
and Butajira chains of eruptive centres that have been largely aseismic
during the period of data acquisition. Major boundary faults are
largely aseismic, although cluster of events may characterise the
border escarpments in structurally complex region that still experi-
ences some strain (as the Arboye border fault system, at the
intersection between the north striking Red Sea rift and the NE
striking MER; Keir et al., 2006a). Historical data support the inactivity
of border faults, highlighting the lack of large magnitude earthquakes
on these fault systems over the last ~ 50 years in the Northern and
Central MER (Ayele and Kulhanek, 1997). Conversely, although less
constrained, seismicity in the southern part of the MER seems to be
mostly concentrated in the escarpments bounding the rift (e.g.,
Kebede and Kulhanek, 1991). Moreover, historical data suggest that
large magnitude events may also affect the plateaus surrounding the
rift, as suggested by a 1906 major (M = 6.8) event that ruptured the
eastern shoulder of the Central MER (Ayele and Kulhanek, 2000).
Clusters of earthquakes are located in narrow regions within Wonji Fig. 37. Vertical cross-sections through the P-wave velocity model of Bastow et al.
(2008). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is
segments, with elongation paralleling the surface expression of major
referred to the web version of this article.)
Quaternary faults and volcanic fissures (Keir et al., 2006a). In the
Northern MER, the area affected by seismic events is only 10-km wide,
whereas in the Central MER seismicity is comparatively more diffuse
than to the north and located within a 30- to 40-km wide zone (Fig. 38). Fantale and Dofen volcanoes (Fig. 39d; Keir et al., 2006a), although the
The regions connecting the right-stepping en-echelon WFB zones are short time window of observations does not allow to draw solid
largely aseismic. Most earthquake hypocentres are located at a depth of conclusions on the (long-term) characteristics of seismic activity.
~8–16 km (Fig. 39a–c), which coincides with the top of the middle- to Focal mechanism solutions indicate predominantly normal dip-
lower-crustal extensive mafic intrusions (see Section 5.4); hypocentre slip on steep faults that strike approximately north to approximately
depths increase with increasing distance from major volcanoes. The NNE (e.g., Foster and Jackson, 1998; Ayele, 2000; Hofstetter and Beyth,
temporal distribution of seismicity in the Fantale–Dofen WFB segment is 2003; Keir et al., 2006a; Fig. 38), sub-parallel to the dominant
characterised by earthquake swarms that punctuate largely aseismic orientation of WFB faults. Exceptions to these normal dip-slip focal
periods; conversely, in the Central MER seismicity is relatively low and mechanisms are strike-slip or oblique-slip events, interpreted as
lacks the periods of swarm activity observed further north close to the resulting from a left-lateral motion on approximately NE to

Fig. 38. Upper panel: seismic activity of the Horn of Africa since 1960. Triangles indicate Quaternary volcanoes. Lower panel: Seismicity of the Northern and Central MER from October
2001 to January 2003, as recorded from the EAGLE network of seismic stations. Heavy black lines show major border faults; dashed lines mark Quaternary volcano-tectonic segments.
The star shows the location of the October 2003 earthquake swarm near Dofen volcano. Fault plane solutions are lower hemisphere projections. The size of the solution is scaled to
magnitude between ML 1.17 and 5.3. All panels are modified from Keir et al. (2006a).
G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 37
38 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

approximately ENE striking faults (Foster and Jackson, 1998; Ayele,
2000; Keir et al., 2006a). Left-lateral strike motion is also observed in
focal mechanisms located in between magmatic segments, near
segment tips (especially near Fantale and Boseti; D. Keir, personal
communication); this kinematics is consistent with the transcurrent
component of motion in the regions of complex deformation connects
Wonji segments predicted by analogue models (Corti, 2008). Stress
inversion from these focal mechanisms indicates that the trend of the
minimum principal stress is N103°E, coherent with sub-E–W direction
of extension (see Section 5.1; Keir et al., 2006a).
Laser ranging and GPS (geodetical) observations in the rift zone
support the seismic observations and indicate that about 80% of the
extensional deformation is currently accommodated in correspondence to
the narrow regions of seismic activity, along the en-echelon faults of the
Wonji fault belt (Fig. 40; Billham et al., 1999). The measured opening
velocity (~4 mm/yr) is nearly a factor of two slower than the opening rate
estimated from global plate motion models (see Section 5.1). Geodetical
observations by Bendick et al. (2006) suggest that rift opening near their
geodetic array during the period 1992–2003 was accommodated by a
single dike injection event in 1993, spatially coincident with active
magmatic segments. This supports that extension within the rift is
accommodated at least partially by aseismic dike injection.
All these observations suggest that slip on faults appears to have
slowed in favour of dike injection associated with magmatic segments in
the past ~1.8 Ma (e.g., Keir et al., 2006a) and that a combination of
dyking and normal faulting within the Wonji segments appears to be the
predominant mechanism of extension in the MER (see Section 6.3).
6. The evolution of the Main Ethiopian Rift: Continental rifting
from initiation to incipient break-up
6.1. Rift initiation: Localisation and propagation of extensional structures
6.1.1. Rift localisation and propagation
Analysis of continental rifts worldwide suggests that “in the same
way that tensile cracks in the side of a brick building generally follow
the mortar between bricks, rifts initially follow the weakest pathways
in the pre-rift materials” (Versfelt and Rosendahl, 1989). Thus, since
continental rifting results from the application of extensional stresses
to a pre-deformed, anisotropic lithosphere, rift structures are not
randomly distributed but tend to follow the trend of pre-existing
weaknesses (such as ancient orogenic belts) avoiding stronger regions
(such as cratons; e.g., Dunbar and Sawyer, 1989; Versfelt and
Rosendahl, 1989; Tommasi and Vauchez, 2001; Corti et al., 2003;
Ziegler and Cloetingh, 2004). Recent geophysical investigations in the
MER support this observation and suggest that rift location and initial
evolution has been probably controlled by a NE–SW-trending litho-
spheric-scale pre-existing heterogeneity (Bastow et al., 2005, 2008;
Keranen and Klemperer, 2008; Corti, 2008; Keranen et al., 2009). This
lithospheric weakness zone corresponded to a suture zone separating
two distinct Proterozoic basement terranes, underlying the Ethiopian
and Somalian plateaus (Fig. 34; Keranen and Klemperer, 2008).
Extensional deformation occurred in correspondence to an upraising
hot mantle material, possibly connected to the African Superplume
found in the lower mantle beneath southern Africa. Typically, the
reactivation of the weakness zone occurred at the eastern edge of the
upwelling mantle not above its centre (e.g., Bastow et al., 2008), as
documented in other flood-basalt provinces (Courtillot et al., 1999)
and suggested by theoretical modelling (Tommasi and Vauchez,
2001). The rheological and dynamical effects of the warm plume
material may have persisted in the last 30 Ma (e.g., Dugda et al., 2007),
thinning and weakening the lithosphere and leading to the reactiva-
tion of the pre-existing weakness when external boundary conditions
(e.g., plate-boundary forces) allowed the initiation of extensional
deformation (e.g., Courtillot et al., 1999; Coulié et al., 2003). Notably,
reactivation of an inherited weakness can explain the development of
a narrow rift (sensu Buck, 1991; i.e., extensional deformation localised
in regions 80–100 km wide) in a weak lithosphere characterised by
presence of a hot lower crust and uppermost mantle, with the absence
of a strong lithospheric mantle (Fig. 41). This rheological layering,
indeed, should prevent the localisation of strain and result in a
distributed deformation over very wide regions, giving rise to the so-
called wide rifts (i.e., extensional deformation distributed in regions
1000 km wide; Buck, 1991; Brun, 1999). A pre-existing weakness can
solve this mechanical inconsistency by localising deformation since
the early stages of extension and leading to a lithosphere necking (e.g.,
Sokoutis et al., 2007; Dyksterhuis et al., 2007). The development of the
EARS as a narrow rift in regions characterised by vastly different
lithospheric strength profiles (i.e., weak lithosphere in the MER and
strong lithospheres in the eastern and western branches of the EARS
to the south; Fig. 41) indicates that inherited structure, not rheological
layering, may be the primary control on the mode of extension in
these continental rifts (Keranen et al., 2009).
Results of extensive field work, summarised in Section 5.2.1.,
suggest a diachronous development of the different MER segments
(e.g., Bonini et al., 2005): rift propagation was not a smooth process
but rather a process with punctuated episodes of extension and
relative quiescence (see also Keranen and Klemperer, 2008).
Deformation started in the Early Miocene (20–21 Ma) in the Southern
MER, where activation of the N–S trending structures was most probably
related to a northward propagation of the Kenya Rift-related deformation
(e.g., Bonini et al., 2005); this event probably lasted until 11 Ma, then
deformation in the area decreased radically. No major extensional
deformation apparently affected the Central and Northern MER segments
between 21 and 11 Ma, whereas Africa–Arabia separation in the Red Sea
and Gulf of Aden system was active since about 30 Ma (e.g., Wolfenden et
al., 2005). Deformation in the Northern MER started in the Late Miocene
at ~11 Ma (Wolfenden et al., 2004). In the Central MER, recent analysis by
Bonini et al. (2005) indicate that no major extensional faulting was active
in the Late Miocene, as testified by the emplacement at 12–8 Ma of
extensive basalts currently outcropping on both rift margins and
interpreted as representing a pre-rift flood-basalt phase. According to
this study, extensional deformation in the Central MER started at about
5–6 Ma, although WoldeGabriel et al. (1990) suggest an earlier
development of boundary faults in the area in the Late Miocene (at 8–
10 Ma). Further to the south, in the Southern MER, the early (mid-
Miocene) extensional structures were probably reactivated during Late
Pliocene–Pleistocene times roughly concomitant with (or slightly
preceding) the development of the Ririba and Marsabit volcanic
lineaments between the Ethiopian and Kenyan domes (WoldeGabriel

Fig. 39. Characteristics of October 2001–January 2003 seismic events in the Northern Main Ethiopian Rift (from Keir et al., 2006a). a) Earthquakes in the Ankober region and Fantale–
Dofen magmatic segment, plotted on 90 m resolution SRTM topographic data. b) profiles A–A′ and B–B′ project earthquakes within 30 km of the line of section onto the profile. The
thickened portions of the profiles show where the profile crosses the Fantale–Dofen magmatic segment. c) Histograms of number of earthquakes per 4 km depth interval for the
Fantale – Dofen magmatic segment (left) and Ankober region (right), redrawn from figure 7 of Keir et al. (2006a). Of the 2139 local earthquakes recorded at four or more EAGLE
stations, only 280 well-located events were used for the plots and statistical analysis; tests on hypocenter accuracy gave estimates of about ±600 m in horizontal direction and ±2000 m
in depth for these earthquakes (Keir et al., 2006a). Note that the graph of number of earthquakes with depth may not be an entirely representative measure of depth-distribution of
seismicity, as for instance may be the total energy released by the earthquakes with depth (e.g., Panza and Raykova, 2008). d) Cumulative number of earthquakes versus recording time of
the regions 1 (Ankober), 2 (Fantale–Dofen), and 3 (south of Aluto–Gedemsa), indicated in the inset of panel a. e) Results of the stress inversion using 36 focal mechanisms in MER from
EAGLE stations. Circle shows σ3, the minimum compressive stress. Square shows σ2, the intermediate compressive stress. Triangle shows σ1, the maximum compressive stress. The 95%
confidence limits are shown by regions of gray shading.
G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 39
40 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Southern MER during the Late Pliocene–Pleistocene (Fig. 42). This

Fig. 40. Velocity in the N135°E direction and distribution of current deformation across
the rift from geodetic data (after Billham et al., 1999).
and Aronson,1987; WoldeGabriel et al., 1990; Ebinger et al., 2000; Bonini
et al., 2005; Vetel and Le Gall, 2006). Currently, the MER and the Kenya
Rift remain kinematically linked across a 200-km-wide zone represent-
ing the eastern part of the Broadly Rifted Zone of south Ethiopia (Ebinger
et al., 2000), which has been interpreted as a regional transfer zone
separating the two major rifts (Corti et al., 2002).
Overall, the diachronous development of the different MER
segments has been interpreted in terms of different models of rift
propagation (Figs. 42, 43).
At one end-member, Wolfenden et al. (2004) suggest that the
MER-related deformation initiated at ~ 18 Ma in southwestern
Ethiopia, and propagated northwards through the Central and North-
ern MER into the Afar depression after ~ 11 Ma (Fig. 43a).
At the other end-member, Bonini et al. (2005) suggest a Miocene-
recent southwards rift propagation from the Afar depression, with
deformation affecting the Northern MER in the Late Miocene, the
Central MER in the Pliocene and then further propagating into the
process, which is in agreement with the north–south decrease in
extension-related crustal and lithospheric modification imaged by
geophysical–geological data, has been interpreted as triggered by a
counterclockwise rotation of the Somalian Plate starting at around
10 Ma (Fig. 42; e.g., Bonini et al., 2005).
Keranen and Klemperer (2008) build on this model to suggest a
more complex southwards propagation of extensional deformation
(Fig. 43b). According to these Authors, rift propagation from north to
south began smoothly in the Northern MER at ~11 Ma, then stalled
upon reaching the Northern–Central MER boundary and was diverted
westwards along the YTVL. Extension eventually affected the Central
MER in the Late Miocene/Pliocene, then connecting the Northern MER
with the Southern MER. A rotation of the stress field (i.e., of the
direction of plate motion) would have made extension along the YTVL
less favourable and extension along the Central MER more favourable
(see Keranen and Klemperer, 2008).
Alternatively, Rooney et al. (2007) suggest that the MER records
the unification of two rift systems, the Red Sea Rift and the East
African Rift System (Fig. 43c). The Red Sea-related deformation affects
the Northern MER and propagates southwards from the Afar region,
whereas the East African-related affects the Southern and Central MER
and propagates to the north. These two different structural and
tectonic domains (Red Sea and East African Rifts) now link and
interact within the Central MER (Rooney et al., 2007).
Further analysis is thus required to better define the timing of the
main volcano-tectonic events in the different rift segments and the
modalities of rift development in the MER.
6.1.2. The Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Ethiopian rifts triple junction history
The present-day Red Sea–Gulf of Aden–Main Ethiopian rift triple
junction lies in a complex zone at ~ 11.5°N along the Tendaho-Goba'ad

Fig. 41. Graphs showing the thermal structure (a), strength profiles (b) and integrated resistance of the lithosphere (c) of the Eastern branch of the East African Rift System (blue
curves) and adjacent to the Main Ethiopian Rift (red curves), beneath the Ethiopian Plateau (from Keranen et al., 2009). Note the difference in geotherms and strength envelopes,
which results in an integrated strength of the lithosphere surrounding the Eastern branch an order of magnitude higher than surrounding the MER. Also note that no lithospheric
mantle is predicted below the Ethiopian Plateau. See Keranen et al. (2009) for details about the calculations. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the
reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 41

Discontinuity (TDG) within the central Afar depression (e.g., Tesfaye
et al., 2003). Models for the formation of this archetypal rift–rift–rift
triple junction have assumed the synchronous development of the
three rift arms soon after flood-basaltic magmatism at ~ 30 Ma.
Tesfaye et al. (2003) suggested that a paleo-triple junction first
formed in an arcuate accommodation zone at latitude of ~10° N in the
Oligo-Miocene, then migrated to the NE in the TDG at ~ 11.5°N latitude.
The chronology of initial rifting in the different rift segments sum-
marised above suggests however a more complex scenario with a
diachronous development of the link area between the different
rift systems (Fig. 44). Particularly, development of southern Afar at
~ 11 Ma (Wolfenden et al., 2004) and Main Ethiopian Rift at ~ 5–6 Ma
(Bonini et al., 2005) or 8–10 Ma (WoldeGabriel et al., 1990), occur-
red well after the flood-basaltic magmatism and the beginning of
rifting in the Gulf of Aden–Red Sea systems at ~30 Ma (Watchtorn
et al., 1998; Wolfenden et al., 2005). Consequently, the flood-basaltic
magmatism and separation of Arabia from Africa are widely separated
in time from the opening of the Main Ethiopian rift, which marks the
incipient Nubia–Somalia plate boundary. Nubia–Arabia separation
and Nubia–Somalia rifting are thus distinct and diachronous events,
thus ruling out the application of the archetypal rift–rift–rift triple
junction model above the Afar mantle plume (see Wolfenden et al.,
2004).
Thus, although Tesfaye et al. (2003) individuated an early (pre-
11 Ma) triple junction at 10°N latitude, the data by Wolfenden et al.
(2004) and Bonini et al. (2005) argue against the development of a
triple junction in the Afar depression before ~11 Ma (Fig. 44). Rather,
Wolfenden et al. (2004, 2005) showed that the southern Red Sea
existed as far south as 10°N at 27 Ma, suggesting that the arcuate
accommodation zone (paleo-triple junction) of Tesfaye et al. (2003)
marked the southern termination of the Oligocene Red Sea rift
(Fig. 44). Later development of the MER created a triple junction at
11 Ma in this area; then the triple junction migrated north–eastwards
to the present-day TDG (Wolfenden et al., 2004), most probably in
response to the along-axis propagation of the Gulf of Aden and Red
Sea spreading centres.

Fig. 42. Cartoon showing the schematic evolution of the main rift segment structures at the northern termination of the East African Rift System according to Bonini et al.
(2005). Black arrows indicate the direction of propagation of the extensional deformation. In (e) and (f), the red numbers indicate the approximate timing of onset of
extensional activation, or reactivation, of structures. MER: Main Ethiopian Rift; SA: Southern Afar; SMER: Southern Main Ethiopian Rift; YTVL: Yerer Tullu–Wellel volcano-
tectonic lineament. Modified from Bonini et al. (2005). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this
article.)
42 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Fig. 43. Models for the propagation of extensional deformation in the Main Ethiopian Rift. a) Model of northward propagation of deformation from southwestern Ethiopia to the Afar
depression (Wolfenden et al., 2004). b) Complex rift propagation as hypothesised by Keranen and Klemperer (2008). In this model, rifting propagated smoothly from Afar into the
Northern MER at ~ 11 Ma, then stalled upon reaching the Northern–Central MER boundary and was diverted westwards along the Yerer–Tullu Wellel Volcanotectonic Lineament
(YTVL). Extension eventually affected the central MER in the Late Miocene/Pliocene, connecting the Northern MER with the Southern MER. In this model, a rotation of the stress field
is responsible for the migration of extensional deformation from the YTVL to the central MER. c) Alternative model proposed by Rooney et al. (2007) in which the MER records the
propagation of two rift systems, the Red Sea Rift and the East African Rift System. At ~ 10 Ma the Red Sea-related deformation (represented by the Wonji Fault Belt) is propagating
southwards from Afar into the Northern MER, whereas the East African-related deformation (represented by the Silti–Debre Zeyt volcano-tectonic alignment) affects the Southern
and Central MER and propagates to the north. At this stage, deformation has not affected the Boru Toru Structural High (BTSH) that separates the central from the Northern MER.
Further extension led to breaching of the BTSH by the Wonji Fault Belt and to interaction of the two different structural and tectonic domains (Red Sea and East African Rifts) within
the central MER (Rooney et al., 2007).

6.1.3. Activation of boundary fault systems characterised by a general en-echelon arrangement. These faults gave
The initial phases of continental rifting in the MER corresponded to rise to major fault-escarpments separating the rift depression from
the activation of long, widely-spaced and large-offset boundary faults, the Ethiopian and Somalian plateaus (Fig. 45). Deformation on these
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 43

(Fig. 45). At about 2 Ma, the deformation style changed dramatically:

extension shifted from the few widely-spaced boundary faults with
large vertical displacements, to the right-stepping arrangement of
dense fault swarms with small vertical offset of the Wonji segments
obliquely affecting the rift floor (Fig. 45). This shift was concomitant
with a focusing of Quaternary volcanic activity within the rift
depression along the Wonji faults, giving rise to magmatic segments
with only minor activity outside the en-echelon deformation belt
these fault zones. This process is well expressed in the Northern MER,
where field and geophysical data suggest that large-offset boundary
faults are no longer active and most of deformation is accommodated
within the oblique fault segments, where focusing of magmatic
activity is observed at all lithospheric levels in the upper ~ 75 km. In
the Central MER, this process may be in a less evolved stage, with
Wonji segments that start to propagate from the rift margins towards
the rift centre, as illustrated by analogue models (Corti, 2008).
Several models have been applied to explain the transition from
the boundary to the Wonji faults (Figs. 46, 47).

(1) Chorowicz et al. (1994) related the development of the Wonji

Fig. 44. Tectonic development of the Afar triple junction, illustrated with snapshots of
representative stages (after Wolfenden et al., 2004). a) Between 35 and 27 Ma,
continental rifting commences in Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Arcuate accommodation
zone (AAZ) of Tesfaye et al. (2003) marks previous location of southwestern Arabia.
b) Rifting continues in the Red Sea, and seafloor spreading has commenced in the
eastern Aden rift. Extension between Nubia and Danakil microplate may have initiated.
c) After 11 Ma, extension in the Main Ethiopian rift initiates to form a triple junction for
the first time. Greatest stretching has occurred in southern Afar, where some oceanic
crust may have been created by 8 Ma. d) Then the triple junction migrated north–
eastwards to the present-day Tendaho-Goba'ad Discontinuity (TDG; Wolfenden et al.,
2004), most probably in response to the along-axis propagation of the Gulf of Aden and
Red Sea spreading centres.
faults was accompanied by progressive subsidence of the rift
depression and the development of locally asymmetric basins (as
shown for instance by seismic refraction studies in the Northern MER)
with up to 5 km of syn-rift sediments accumulation. As summarised
above, the large-offset border fault system developed diachronously
along the rift between 11 and 6 Ma, has been mostly active until about
2 Ma and is now considered (at least in the Northern MER) largely
inactive. This first (Mio-Pliocene) rift phase was associated to diffuse
bimodal volcanic activity, which encompassed the whole rift depres-
sion. Eruption of widespread volcanic products mainly occurred
through boundary faults and pre-existing weaknesses (e.g., transfer
zones); contemporaneously, lateral magma migration favoured
magma accumulation outside the rift valley, with development of
large volcanic centres on the eastern and western rift shoulders (off-
axis volcanism).
6.2. Rift maturity: Abandonment of boundary faults and development of
Wonji segments
Once rift structure was developed in the whole MER, deformation
continued (during Pliocene times) along large boundary fault systems,
with slip on these faults giving rise to a deepening of the rift floor
faults as due to the reactivation of pre-existing fabrics (Fig. 46a).
However, as noted by Bonini et al. (1997), with this hypothesis it
is difficult to explain why the weakness were not reactivated
during the initial stages of rifting but later during rift evolution.
The rift lithosphere was indeed already strongly attenuated at
the time of WFB strain initiation, and any pre-existing crustal
structures would largely have been modified or obliterated by
“pre-stressing” (Mohr, 1983). Moreover, as noted by Mohr
(1983) the uniformity of the WFB orientation over a distance of
1000 km argue against a reactivation of inherited fabrics but
rather supports its development as a response of the lithosphere
to a regional stress field.
(2) Polyphase kinematics models (e.g., Bonini et al., 1997; Boccaletti
et al., 1999a,b; Wolfenden et al., 2004) suggested a change in the
Nubia–Somalia kinematics to explain the change in deformation
style with the activation of the differently-oriented boundary
and Wonji fault systems (Fig. 46b). In these models, a Mio-
Pliocene phase of NW–SE-directed orthogonal extension con-
trolled the development of the boundary faults, whereas a
Quaternary, roughly E–W extension, producing sinistral oblique
rifting, activated the en-echelon Wonji segments; localisation of
magmatic activity along the Wonji faults is normally interpreted
as a passive feature in these models (e.g., Corti et al., 2003).
Geodetic, seismic and stress-field data, as well as field geological
investigations, confirm a current oblique rifting kinematics (see
Sections 5.1 and 5.2.2.), but recent plate kinematics models
(Royer et al., 2006) suggest that the roughly ESE–WNW
direction of extension in MER may have remained steady over
the past 11 Myr, thus apparently contradicting the polyphase
kinematics models. However, the Mio-Pliocene kinematical
boundary conditions of rifting remain poorly defined.
(3) According to magma-assisted rifting models (e.g., Kendall et
al., 2005), the strong alteration of the lithosphere exerted by
magmatic processes suggest a magmatic control on the
change in deformation style from the boundary faults to the
magmatic Wonji segments (Fig. 46c). With the ready supply
of hot and weak magma, strain accommodation by magma
intrusion and dyking occurs at lower stress levels than are
needed to activate the large displacement faults (Buck, 2004,
2006). In these conditions, magmatic processes induce the
abandonment of boundary faults and the activation (and
architecture) of oblique volcano-tectonics Wonji segments.
Thus, in these models, magmatism has an active role in the
evolution of the MER.
(4) More recently, Corti (2008) showed by using analogue models
that the two-phase evolution with the activation of the two fault
44 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
Fig. 45. Two-phase volcano-tectonic evolution of the Main Ethiopian Rift (after Corti, 2008). Left panel: Mio-Pliocene deformation along the boundary fault systems generates a
subsiding rift depression and asymmetric basins (as shown in the Northern MER); this deformation phase is associated to widespread volcanic activity encompassing the whole rift
depression. Right panel: abandonment of boundary faults and localisation of deformation and volcanism along the Wonji segments, obliquely affecting the rift floor.
systems do not require neither a change in plate kinematics, nor
magma weakening. In these models, the reactivation of a NE–
SW-trending pre-existing weakness under a constant, roughly
ESE–WNW (~N100°E) extension induces oblique rifting condi-
tions (Fig. 47). Oblique rifting evolves from fault-bounded
asymmetric basins in an initial rifting stage to later en-echelon
regions of faulting and lithospheric thinning obliquely cutting
the rift floor, with trend, architecture and kinematics matching
those of Wonji segments in the Northern and Central MER. The
modelling results suggest thus that rift architecture and
evolution are controlled by rift obliquity and independent
from magmatic processes: comparison of the results with
numerical models of oblique rifting with similar initial
boundary conditions (Van Wijk, 2005) suggests instead that
the en-echelon regions of lithospheric thinning are the locus of
upraising of warm mantle material and enhanced melt produc-
tion, with ascending magmas then focused by the oblique fault
segments (Figs. 45, 47; Corti et al., 2003, 2004).
It is likely that the progressive thinning of the continental lithosphere
under constant, prolonged oblique rifting conditions may have
controlled this migration of deformation and the resulting Quaternary
volcano-tectonic segmentation, although it cannot be excluded that the
weakening related to magmatic processes and/or a change in rift
kinematics may have contributed to the change in deformation style
(see above points). As the magmatic activity focused on Wonji faults, the
lateral magma migration feeding off-axis volcanism ceased consistent
with the cessation (or strong reduction) of this volcanic activity at the
end of the Pliocene (Corti et al., 2003, 2004; Bonini et al., 2005),
although some boundary faults may remain important in controlling the
location of mantle upwellings and melt migration pathways, as recently
imaged by geophysical data (Bastow et al., 2008).
6.3. Wonji magmatic segments and continental break-up
Geophysical data from the Northern MER evidence the extensive
presence of magma beneath the Wonji segments from melt genera-
tion zones up to the surface (see Section 5.5). Magma intrusion has a
segmented nature and occurs in right-stepping en-echelon pattern,
approximately mimicking the 20-km wide, 60-km-long surface
segmentation of Quaternary volcanic centres and faults. Seismic
tomography images the presence of mid- to lower-crustal cooled
mafic intrusions below major Wonji volcanoes with shape, elongation
and en-echelon arrangement that follow the Quaternary tectono-
magmatic zones at surface (Keranen et al., 2004; Daly et al., 2008).
Petrologic data (Rooney et al., 2005) argue for the presence of a
molten fraction in fractures within the solidified mafic intrusions, as
also supported by several geophysical data (e.g., seismic analysis,
magnetotelluric data; Dugda et al., 2005; Stuart et al., 2006; Whaler
and Hautot, 2006; Daly et al., 2008). The patterns of seismic velocity
anisotropy (Kendall et al., 2005; Keir et al., 2005; Kendall et al., 2006)
indicate a pervasive dyking in the upper crust and the uppermost
mantle to a depth of ~ 75 km. The low lower-crust and uppermost
mantle shear-wave velocity beneath the rift suggest high tempera-
tures and the presence of melts (Keranen et al., 2009). In the
uppermost crust, shallow magma bodies below major volcanoes are
imaged by magnetotelluric analysis (Whaler and Hautot, 2006) and
supported by gravity modelling (Cornwell et al., 2006). Geochemical/
petrological data (Rooney et al., 2005, 2007) have been used to
suggest a well-developed magmatic system beneath the Wonji
segments in the Northern MER, where magmas can rise quickly
from melt generation zones at ~50–90 km before undergoing more
significant fractionation at near surface levels; however, as stated
above (see Section 5.3.1) the modalities of magma migration are still
not well defined.
Overall, the extensive magma intrusion imaged by EAGLE
geophysical data suggests that as soon as the deformation shifts
from boundary to Wonji faults and the volcano-tectonic activity
focuses on the en-echelon magmatic segments, a strong interaction
between magmatic and deformation processes develops. Extension
is – within the Wonji magmatic segments – accommodated by a
combination of magmatic intrusion, dyking and faulting (e.g., Ebinger
and Casey, 2001; Keranen et al., 2004; Kendall et al., 2005; Keir et al.,
2006a), as supported by several evidences. A comparison of the
expected released seismic moment and observed seismic moment in
the period 1960–2000 shows that less than 50% of extension across
the Northern MER is accommodated by rapid displacement on faults
(Hofstetter and Beyth, 2003), although the seismic activity is analysed
over a too short time interval and thus may be not necessarily
representative of ongoing tectonic processes. GPS measurements
show that approximately 80% of current extensional deformation
across the Northern MER is accommodated in a ~20-km-wide zone of
faulting and volcanism within Wonji segments (Billham et al., 1999).
The measured velocity is however much lower than that predicted by
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 45

Fig. 46. Different models applied to explain the transition from the boundary to the Wonji faults: a) reactivation of NNE–SSW-trending pre-existing fabrics (Chorowicz et al., 1994);
b) polyphase plate kinematics (e.g., Bonini et al., 1997; Boccaletti et al., 1999a; Wolfenden et al., 2004); c) magma-assisted rifting (modified after Ebinger, 2005). See text for details.

plate kinematic models. Seismicity data support localisation of
deformation in narrow zones in the brittle upper crust: elongate
clusters of earthquakes are associated with observed faults, fissures
and active eruptive centres in the Wonji segments (Keir et al., 2006a).
Low-magnitude earthquakes are concentrated at 8–14 km depth
which coincides with the top of the ~ 20- to 30-km-wide zone of
extensive mafic intrusions imaged beneath Wonji segments at 8–
10 km depth (Keranen et al., 2004). Seismic anisotropy of the upper
crust is highest in the magmatic segments and attributed to melt-
filled cracks and dikes aligned perpendicular to the minimum stress
(Keir et al., 2005), supporting petrological data (Rooney et al., 2005,
2007). Overall, these data indicate that below a depth of ~10 km,
extension is mostly aseismic and controlled by magma injection in a
hot, ductile middle to lower crust (Fig. 48; e.g., Keranen et al., 2004;
Keir et al., 2006a) from magma generation zones in the upper mantle.
Seismicity is mostly concentrated in the upper ~10 km above axial
mafic intrusions, where extension is accommodated by both dyke
intrusion and faulting (Fig. 48; Keir et al., 2006a). Earthquakes and
rapid fault slip may be induced by injection of dykes, with swarms of
seismicity spatially reflecting areas of magma intrusion (Keir et al.,
2006a). Analysis of the spatio-temporal distribution of seismic events
suggests that episodic rifting events within one magmatic segment
are independent of other magmatic segments, in turn arguing for
spatially and temporally discrete magma source regions (Keir et al.,
2006a). This is in agreement with models of dykes fed by magma
chambers and propagating sub-parallel to the segment axis and
normal to the extension direction (Ebinger and Casey, 2001), as also
indicated by characteristics of Quaternary faults within Wonji
46 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53

Fig. 47. Analogue modelling results of fault evolution during oblique rifting (30° of obliquity; after Corti, 2008). a) Initial boundary conditions and rheological stratification of the
model (for details see Corti, 2008). b–c) Top-view photos of the experiment during the initial phases of rifting corresponding to the activation of large boundary faults. Reported are
the plots of weighted fault azimuths; εh1, εh2: direction of the maximum and secondary horizontal extensional strain. d–e) Top-view photos of the experiment during the subsequent
phases of rifting corresponding to the activation of internal faults. Fault distribution illustrated as above. Note that the two-phase evolution of rifting does not require a change in rift
kinematics but results from a constant roughly ESE–WNW (~N100°E) extension. f) Structural scheme. g) Results of numerical models of oblique rifting with initial conditions similar
to those of analogue models (30° of obliquity and similar rheological layering; after Van Wijk, 2005), illustrated as crustal thinning factors (calculated as ratio between the initial and
final model thickness) in map view after 4 My of model evolution. Boundaries of the weak trend are super-positioned (black dashed lines). Similarly to analogue models, numerical
modelling results show the development of en-echelon regions of maximum lithospheric thinning; these regions follow the weak trend location as a group, but are individually
oriented according to the extension direction (i.e., rotated with respect to the weak trend). As in the analogue models, rift segmentation results from the oblique rifting kinematics
and is not influenced by magmatic processes; rather, warm mantle material wells up below the en-echelon segments of strong lithospheric thinning (Van Wijk, 2005).

segments (e.g., Casey et al., 2006; Kurz et al., 2007). A similar process
has been observed in southern Afar (2005-present Dabbahu dyking
episode), where injection of lateral dikes fed from magma reservoirs
in middle to lower crust or upper-mantle beneath rift segment centres
is a key component in creating and maintaining the regular along-axis
rift segmentation during the final stages of continental rupture
(Wright et al., 2006; Keir et al., 2009). Repeated episodes of magma
injection into the crust may explain the strain deficit indicated by the
gap between expected and observed seismic moment and by the
discrepancy in plate separation velocity predicted by plate kinematic
models and measured with GPS.
The combination of magmatic intrusion, dyking and faulting at all
lithospheric levels within magmatic segments fundamentally modifies
the rheological properties of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath
the rift. Buck (2004, 2006) has shown that dyke intrusion throughout
the lithosphere is able to reduce the yield stress by an order of
magnitude (Fig. 49), leading to the strong strain localisation within
magmatic segments supported by the geodetical and seismicity data
summarised above. With the ready supply of hot magma, the process
of strain localisation, rift axial injection of magma and accompanying
lithospheric strength reduction via localised heating is self-reinforcing,
facilitating the break-up of the continental lithosphere (e.g., Hayward
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53 47

Fig. 48. Combination of magmatic intrusion, dyking and faulting within magmatic segments and relations with the depth-distribution of seismic activity. Below a depth of ~ 10 km,
extension is mostly aseismic and controlled by magma injection in a hot, ductile middle to lower crust and uppermost mantle (e.g., Keranen et al., 2004; Keir et al., 2006a). Seismicity
is mostly concentrated in the upper ~10 km above axial mafic intrusions, where extension is accommodated by both dyke intrusion and faulting (Keir et al., 2006a).

and Ebinger, 1996; Ebinger, 2005). The characteristics of magmatic
segments outlined above point indeed to a new, shorter, narrower and
magmatic along-axis segmentation evident at all lithospheric level
developed within the broad rift depression in the last ~ 2 Ma. The
morphology and architecture of this new tectono-magmatic segmen-
tation, defined by 60–80 km long, 20 km-wide zones of magmatic
intrusions at depth and faulting and dyke intrusion in the upper crust
in the centre of the rift valley, is comparable to slow-spreading mid-
oceanic ridges (e.g., Ebinger and Casey, 2001; Keranen et al., 2004;
Ebinger, 2005; Daly et al., 2008). For instance, the crustal structure
beneath the magmatic segments in the Northern MER shares striking
similarities with that shown by the Northern Neovolcanic Zone in
Iceland, consisting of rift segments arranged en echelon along the Mid
Atlantic ridge plate boundary (see Daly et al., 2008 and references
therein). This suggests that the Wonji magmatic segments in the
Northern MER may represent a precursor to seafloor spreading
centres, developing within a lithosphere that is transitional between
continental and oceanic (e.g., Ebinger and Casey, 2001; Keranen et al.,
2004; Rooney et al., 2007; Daly et al., 2008). Comparison of the crustal
between the MER and the Woodlark Rift in Papua-New Guinea, a
highly evolved backarc rift where break-up has occurred without
extrusive volcanism, suggests a similar pattern of extensive mafic
addition to the crust within a narrow zone of localised strain, despite
the crustal stretching is much more limited in MER than in the
Woodlark basin (see Daly et al., 2008 and references therein). The MER
magmatic segments, therefore, suggest that transitional crust can be
produced at relatively small stretching factors where basaltic melt is
available. The uppermost mantle beneath the MER has however not yet
organised itself into a series of punctuated magmatic upwellings as is
expected beneath a fully developed seafloor spreading centre;
punctuated upwellings in the mantle are probably only occurring
northwards beneath the Afar depression where break-up and spread-
ing are in a more advanced stage (Bastow et al., 2008).
Rooney et al. (2007) relate this incipient spreading in the Northern
MER to the southwards propagation of the Red Sea Rift system, now
interacting with the EARS-related deformation in the Central MER.
Irrespective of the of the propagation model (see Section 6.1.1),
geophysical indications (such as thicker crust, lower magnitude

Fig. 49. Different ways to extend normal-thickness continental lithosphere. Upper panel: tectonic stretching; lower panel: magmatic stretching. Note the large difference in yield
stress (the stress difference needed to get extensional separation of two lithospheric blocks) with and without magma injection. After Buck (2004, 2006) and Ebinger (2005).
48 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
upper-crustal velocities and higher uppermost mantle density; see
Section 5.4) together with rift marginal axes of extension (instead of a
single rift-centred volcano-tectonic axis) and – possibly – a more
complex magmatic system (see Section 5.3.2) suggest that the Central
and Southern MER are characterised by a lower degree of extension
and magmatic modification of a lithosphere with continental affinities
(Rooney et al., 2007). This in turn suggests that the temporal evolution
of deformation (from incipient rifting and boundary fault activity to
magmatic segments and continental break-up) summarised above for
the Northern MER is also currently spatially observable in the different
MER/Afar segments, whose characteristics of structure/magmatism
reflect different stages in the development of a continental rift. The
general south to north decrease in the amount of tectono-magmatic
modification of the crust and the lithosphere indicated by geological/
geophysical data (see Sections 5.2–5.4), together with a systematic
variation of magmatism (northward increase in volume of fissural
basalts, with onset of voluminous basaltic volcanism in Afar) suggests
indeed a transition from continental rifting stages in the Southern/
Central MER to oceanic spreading in Afar (e.g., Hayward and Ebinger,
1996).
7. Conclusions
Fig. 50 summarises the different stages of the evolution of the Main
Ethiopian Rift (MER), from rift initiation to break-up and incipient
oceanic spreading (see also Ebinger, 2005). The first tectono-
magmatic event related to the Tertiary rifting was the eruption of
voluminous flood basalts, which seems to have occurred in a rather
short time interval at around 30 Ma; strong plateau uplift, resulting in
the development of the Ethiopian and Somalian plateaus now
surrounding the rift valley, has been suggested to have initiated
contemporaneously or shortly after the extensive flood-basalt
volcanism, although its exact timing remains controversial. Volumi-
nous volcanism and uplift started prior to the main rifting phases,
suggesting a mantle plume influence on the Tertiary deformation in
East Africa, possibly in connection with a hypothetical African
superplume. The main rifting phases started diachronously along
the MER in the Mio-Pliocene with a discontinuous rift propagation
interpreted in terms of southwards or northwards rift propagation or
more complex evolutive scenarios. Rift location was most probably
controlled by the reactivation of a lithospheric-scale pre-existing
weakness; the orientation of the weakness (roughly NE–SW) and the
Late Pliocene (post 3.2 Ma)-recent Nubia–Somalia relative motion
(roughly ESE–WNW) suggests that oblique rifting conditions have
controlled rift evolution. However, it is still unclear if these
kinematical boundary conditions have remained steady since the
initial stages of rifting or the kinematics has changed during the Late
Pliocene or at the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary.
Continental rifting in the MER evolved in two different phases. An
early (Mio-Pliocene) continental rifting stage (Fig. 50b) was char-
acterised by displacement along large boundary faults, subsidence of
rift depression with local development of deep (up to 5 km)
asymmetric basins and diffuse magmatic activity. In this initial
phase, magmatism encompassed the whole rift, with volcanic activity
affecting the rift depression, the major boundary faults and limited
portions of the rift shoulders (off-axis volcanism).
Progressive extension led to the second (Pleistocene) rifting stage
(Fig. 50c–d), characterised by a riftward narrowing of the volcano-
tectonic activity. In this phase, which is well expressed in the Northern
MER the main boundary faults were deactivated and extensional
deformation was accommodated by dense swarms of faults (Wonji
Fig. 50. Schematic model of rift evolution in the Main Ethiopian Rift (modified after
Ebinger, 2005). a) Flood-basalt event affecting Ethiopia before the main extensional
events. Note the presence of an inherited weakness zone that localises rifting in the
subsequent deformation phases. b) Activation of large boundary faults (11–2 Ma),
giving rise to major fault-escarpments and rift-floor subsidence. This first (Mio-
Pliocene) rift phase was associated to diffuse volcanism, which encompassed the whole
rift depression. c) Abandonment of large boundary faults and shift of deformation
within the rift valley, with activation of the oblique Wonji Fault Belt (~2 Ma). This
riftward narrowing of deformation does not require a change in Nubia–Somalia
kinematics and is independent of magmatic processes (Corti, 2008). Rather, the oblique
deformation zones focus magmatic activity that becomes then localised along Wonji
segments (d). As soon as, the volcano-tectonic activity is localised within Wonji
segments, a strong feedback between deformation and magmatism develops: the
thinned lithosphere is strongly modified by the extensive magma intrusion and
extension is facilitated and accommodated by a combination of magmatic intrusion,
dyking and faulting. e) With further thinning, heating and magma intrusion, the
tectonically and magmatically thinned lithosphere may rupture in the heavily intruded
zones, and new oceanic lithosphere created. The solidified mafic intrusions in the mid-
to lower crust and the thick piles of lavas in the magmatic segments load the weak plate,
flexing it towards the new ocean basin to form seaward-dipping lavas. The passive
margin subsides as heat transferred from the asthenosphere dissipates (Ebinger, 2005).
 G. Corti / Earth-Science Reviews 96 (2009) 1–53
segments) in the thinned rift depression. The progressive thinning of the
continental lithosphere under constant oblique rifting conditions,
possibly aided by magmatic processes and/or a change in rift
kinematics, may have controlled this migration of deformation and
the resulting Quaternary volcano-tectonic segmentation. Owing to the
oblique rifting conditions, the fault swarms obliquely cut the rift floor
and are characterised by a typical right-stepping arrangement. Warm
mantle material uprose below these en-echelon segments of strong
lithospheric thinning; ascending magmas were focused by the Wonji
segments, with eruption of magmas at surface preferentially occurring
along the oblique faults. As soon as the volcano-tectonic activity was
localised within Wonji segments, a strong feedback between deforma-
tion and magmatism developed: the thinned lithosphere was strongly
modified by the extensive magma intrusion and extension was
facilitated and accommodated by a combination of magmatic intrusion,
dyking and faulting. At this stage, magmatic segments in the Northern
MER act as incipient slow-spreading mid-ocean spreading centres
sandwiched by continental lithosphere (e.g., Ebinger, 2005). With
further thinning, heating and magma intrusion, a new oceanic litho-
sphere will be created along the magmatic segments (Fig. 50e).
Overall the above-described evolution of the MER documents a
transition from fault-dominated rift morphology in the early stages of
extension toward magma-assisted rifting during the final stages of
continental break-up. A strong increase in coupling between deforma-
tion and magmatism with extension is documented, with magma
intrusion and dyking playing a larger role than faulting in strain
accommodation as rifting progresses to seafloor spreading (e.g.,
Ebinger and Casey, 2001; Ebinger, 2005).
Acknowledgments
Part of the material presented in this paper was collected for three
solicited talks given at the European Geosciences Union General
Assembly 2008 (Vienna, Austria, 13–18 April 2008), the RiftLink
Workshop (Neustadt/Weinstr., Germany, 24–2 June 2008) and the
First Joint Meeting of S.I.M.P. – Italian Society of Mineralogy and
Petrology – and A.I.C. – Italian Crystallographic Association – (Sestri
Levante, Genova, Italy, 7–12 September 2008). I thank Daniel Koehn,
Friederike Bauer, Ulrich Glasmacher, Giovanni Piccardo, Georg
Rümpker for these invitations. I warmly thank Marco Bonini, Fabrizio
Innocenti, Francesco Mazzarini, Piero Manetti and Tsegaye Abebe for
greatly contributing to my background on the Main Ethiopian Rift and
for the stimulating discussions concerning its evolution. This research
also benefited from discussions with Andrea Agostini, Marco
Benvenuti, Derek Keir, Genene Mulugeta, Federico Sani. I express my
gratitude to Antonio Zeoli for the patience he demonstrated by
answering a large number of questions related to the elaboration of
digital elevation models. Simon Klemperer and Katie Klemperer are
thanked for providing me a pre-print of their 2009 work and for
discussions. I also thank Tyrone Rooney, an anonymous Reviewer and
the Editor G. Panza for the detailed, constructive comments and
suggestions that helped to improve the manuscript.
Research on the Main Ethiopian Rift is supported by CNR Funds
(RSTL no. 105 “Evoluzione della parte Nord del rift Afroarabico e
distribuzione regionale delle georisorse”).
During the writing of this paper, the picture of my little Alessandro
on my desktop always reminded me that “three things remain with us
from Paradise: stars at night, flowers in the day and the eyes of
children” (attributed to Dante Alighieri).
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