0000000000139395
AUTHOR
Kevin Aanyu
Rift nucleation, rift propagation and the creation of basement micro-plates within active rifts
Abstract In this contribution we study the dynamics of rift nucleation and the interaction of propagating rift segments. We use the East African Rift System (EARS) as a case study with special emphasis on the Albertine rift system situated within the western branch of the EARS with the 5000 m high Rwenzori horst, a basement block that was captured by two rift segments. Fieldwork in the Rwenzori mountains shows that the range is not only affected by range parallel faults but that major fault sets cut across the Rwenzoris. In order to understand these complex fault patterns and the dynamics of the process that leads to the capturing of basement blocks within the extending rift system we devel…
Influence of pre-existing fabrics on fault kinematics and rift geometry of interacting segments: Analogue models based on the Albertine Rift (Uganda), Western Branch-East African Rift System
This study aims at showing how far pre-existing crustal weaknesses left behind by Proterozoic mobile belts, that pass around cratonic Archean shields (Tanzania Craton to the southeast and Congo Craton to the northwest), control the geometry of the Albertine Rift. Focus is laid on the development of the Lake Albert and Lake Edward/George sub-segments and between them the greatly uplifted Rwenzori Mountains, a horst block located within the rift and whose highest peak rises to >5000 m above mean sea level. In particular we study how the southward propagating Lake Albert sub-segment to the north interacts with the northward propagating Lake Edward/George sub-segment south of it, and how this i…