A discussion on the structure and evolution of the Red Sea and the nature of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Ethiopia rift junction - The structure of afar and the northern part of the ethiopian rift

Abstract

The major structural feature of the northern part of the Main Ethiopian Rift is an en échelon belt of Quaternary tensional faulting with the individual faults trending approximately N 20° E. Farther north, towards central Afar, this structural pattern gives way to a zone of complex faulting. Northern Afar is dominated by a linear, axial central rift region, marked by active fissure volcanism, normal faulting and open tensional faults, all trending generally NNW. However, this central rift zone dies out northwards as it is traced towards the Gulf of Zula. Left-lateral shear along the length of the Main Ethiopian Rift is proposed as the cause of the en echelon tensional fault zone, which can be traced into Afar, but is apparently not continuous with the zone of faulting associated with the median trough of the Red Sea. The latter appears to be replaced in an en echelon fashion southwards by zones of crustal extension in central and northern Afar.