- Magmas move rapidly beneath the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), suggesting that an efficient rift magmatic system has already developed despite its relative tectonic immaturity! New research in Nature Geoscience: doi.org/10.1038/s415... 1/6
- Rifts shape Earth’s surface. Young rifts extend by faulting, but mature rifts extend by magmatic activity. Determining when efficient crustal magma delivery systems develop in intermediate-stage rifts (like the MER) can help constrain the seismic-to-magmatic transition. 2/6Aug 15, 2025 09:21
- Compositional zones in olivine crystals are evidence for pre-eruptive chemical disequilibrium resulting from magma movement. We see two types of zoning from MER scoria cone fields: higher Mg cores/lower Mg rims (a), and vice versa (b, c). 3/6
- Modelling Fe-Mg diffusion across these crystals, we conclude that high-Mg magmas and olivine crystals from the lower crust are injected and mixed into lower Mg magmas and crystals in the mid-crust, weeks–months before eruption. 4/6
- Our timescales are similar to time intervals between intrusions recorded by geophysical means in more mature rifts. The magmatic systems that facilitate late-stage rifting have already developed before substantial thinning of the rifting plate under Ethiopia. 5/6
- This work was supported by UKRI NERC Leeds-York DTP SPHERES, and concludes the research performed during my PhD. A big thank you to all the coauthors and collaborators who helped me tackle basaltic volcanism in the Ethiopian Rift! 6/6
