Basaltic Pulses and Lithospheric Thinning—Plio‐Pleistocene Magmatism and Rifting in the Turkana Depression (East African Rift System)

Research on the Turkana Depression within the East African Rift System reveals that pulsed basaltic magmatism, characterized by distinct eruptive events followed by periods of quiescence, is linked to variations in lithospheric thinning rather than changes in the upper mantle's thermo-chemical state. The study demonstrates that while elevated mantle potential temperature alone may not trigger melt generation, an increase in the rate of plate thinning can produce significant magma volumes, such as those observed in the Pliocene Gombe Stratoid Series. Using geodetically measured rates of plate thinning and solving the 1D advection-diffusion equation, the authors show that these basaltic pulses may precede the localization of tectonic-magmatic activity in the rift, suggesting a potential mechanism for the onset of strain localization.

Cancel Vazquez, S. M., Rooney, T. O., Brown, E. L., Bollinger, A., Bastow, I. D., Steiner, R. A., & Kappelman, J. (2024). Basaltic Pulses and Lithospheric Thinning—Plio‐Pleistocene Magmatism and Rifting in the Turkana Depression (East African Rift System). Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 129(8). Portico. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024jb029166