The initiation of segmented buoyancy-driven melting during continental breakup

Ryan J. Gallacher (), Derek Keir, Nicholas Harmon, Graham Stuart, Sylvie Leroy, James O. S. Hammond, J-Michael Kendall, Atalay Ayele, Berhe Goitom, Ghebrebrhan Ogubazghi and Abdulhakim Ahmed
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Ryan J. Gallacher: Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton
Derek Keir: Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton
Nicholas Harmon: Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton
Graham Stuart: School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds
Sylvie Leroy: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC - ISTEP - CNRS UMR7193
James O. S. Hammond: Birkbeck, University of London
J-Michael Kendall: School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol
Atalay Ayele: Institute of Geophysics, Space and Astronomy, Addis Ababa University
Berhe Goitom: School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol
Ghebrebrhan Ogubazghi: Eritrea Institute of Technology
Abdulhakim Ahmed: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC - ISTEP - CNRS UMR7193

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Melting of the mantle during continental breakup leads to magmatic intrusion and volcanism, yet our understanding of the location and dominant mechanisms of melt generation in rifting environments is impeded by a paucity of direct observations of mantle melting. It is unclear when during the rifting process the segmented nature of magma supply typical of seafloor spreading initiates. Here, we use Rayleigh-wave tomography to construct a high-resolution absolute three-dimensional shear-wave velocity model of the upper 250 km beneath the Afar triple junction, imaging the mantle response during progressive continental breakup. Our model suggests melt production is highest and melting depths deepest early during continental breakup. Elevated melt production during continental rifting is likely due to localized thinning and melt focusing when the rift is narrow. In addition, we interpret segmented zones of melt supply beneath the rift, suggesting that buoyancy-driven active upwelling of the mantle initiates early during continental rifting.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13110

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