Journal ArticleDOI
Timing of the Ethiopian flood basalt event and implications for plume birth and global change
C. Hofmann,Vincent Courtillot,Gilbert Féraud,Pierre Rochette,Gezahegn Yirgu,E. Ketefo,Raphaël Pik +6 more
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
In this paper, geochronological (40Ar/39Ar) and magnetostratigraphic results for the Ethiopian traps, one of the last remaining flood basalts for which few such data were available, were presented.Abstract:
Continental flood basalts are often considered as fossil evidence of mantle plume heads impinging on the lithosphere1,2 and have been related to continental breakup3,4,5. Many of these flood basalts erupted within a short time span—of the order of 1 Myr—and were apparently synchronous with crises in global climate and with mass extinctions6. Here we present geochronological (40Ar/39Ar) and magnetostratigraphic results for the Ethiopian traps, one of the last remaining flood basalts for which few such data were available. The bulk of the traps, which have been inferred to mark the appearance of the Ethiopian-Afar plume head at the Earth's surface, erupted approximately 30 Myr ago, over a period of 1 Myr or less. This was about the time of a change to a colder and drier global climate, a major continental ice-sheet advance in Antarctica, the largest Tertiary sea-level drop and significant extinctions.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Mediterranean extension and the Africa‐Eurasia collision
Laurent Jolivet,Claudio Faccenna +1 more
TL;DR: A number of tectonic events occurred contemporaneously in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East 30-25 Myr ago as discussed by the authors, which are contemporaneous to or immediately followed a strong reduction of the northward absolute motion of Africa.
Journal ArticleDOI
Complex Shear Wave Velocity Structure Imaged Beneath Africa and Iceland.
TL;DR: A model of three-dimensional shear wave velocity variations in the mantle reveals a tilted low velocity anomaly extending from the core-mantle boundary region beneath the southeastern Atlantic Ocean into the upper mantle beneath eastern Africa, suggesting that Cenozoic flood basalt volcanism in the Afar region and active rifting beneath the East African Rift is linked to an extensive thermal anomaly at the CMB.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Basins
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors summarize the evolution of the greater Red Sea-Gulf of Aden rift system, which includes the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden marine basins and their continental margins, and the Afar region.
Journal ArticleDOI
Cenozoic magmatism throughout east Africa resulting from impact of a single plume
TL;DR: In this article, a model of a single large plume impinging beneath the Ethiopian plateau is presented, which takes into account lateral flow and ponding of plume material in pre-existing zones of lithospheric thinning.
Journal ArticleDOI
On the ages of flood basalt events
TL;DR: This paper reviewed available data constraining the extent, volume, age and duration of all major Phanerozoic continental flood basalts (CFB or traps) and oceanic plateaus (OP), together forming the group of large igneous provinces (LIPs).
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Subcommission on geochronology: Convention on the use of decay constants in geo- and cosmochronology
R.H. Steiger,E. Jäger +1 more
TL;DR: The IUGS Subcommission on Geochronology (FOOTNOTE 4) as discussed by the authors recommended the adoption of a standard set of decay constants and isotopic abundances in isotope geology.
Journal ArticleDOI
Chronology of fluctuating sea levels since the triassic.
TL;DR: An effort has been made to develop a realistic and accurate time scale and widely applicablechronostratigraphy and to integrate depositional sequences documented in public domain outcrop sections from various basins with this chronostratigraphic framework.
Journal ArticleDOI
Revised calibration of the geomagnetic polarity timescale for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic
Steven C. Cande,Dennis V. Kent +1 more
TL;DR: An adjusted geomagnetic reversal chronology for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic is presented that is consistent with astrochronology in the Pleistocene and Pliocene and with a new timescale for the Mesozoic.
Book ChapterDOI
A revised Cenozoic geochronology and chronostratigraphy
TL;DR: Cande and Kent as mentioned in this paper presented a revised (integrated magnetobiochronologic) Cenozoic time scale (IMBTS) based on an assessment and integration of data from several sources.
Journal ArticleDOI
Magmatism at rift zones: The generation of volcanic continental margins and flood basalts
Robert S. White,Dan McKenzie +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that the production of magmatically active rifted margins and the effusion of flood basalts onto the adjacent continents can be explained by a simple model of rifting above a thermal anomaly in the underlying mantle.